Re: GnuGk as a H323 GateKeeper for Cisco Telepresence (Chris Partsenidis)

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Hi Joe,

I've worked with the SX20 for 2 months now as I got it as a 'demo' from
Cisco Systems and sent it out to a couple of customers so they can see it.

While I plan to write about this experience on my website, firewall.cx, here
is how the story goes:

According to Cisco, if you want to use the SX20 directly for internal
conferencing (lan to lan, or via leased line) it will work without a
problem, You can have two sx20's and they can perfectly communicate via sip
or h323.

The first question here that usually arises in mind is 'what if I want to
use a client that's on a laptop or PC?'  Ask Cisco and they'll tell you that
you must purchase CUCM (CallManager) + Presence sever, so that users can
install Cisco Jabber and log into CUCM. The sx20 can then also register to
CUCM and users can make conference calls.....   

If you try to search for video conference clients, you'll quickly discover
that all of these clients need to register to a Gatekeeper or some type of
server in order to make calls - a scenario that doesn't work well for
intra-site video conference calls.

After much searching and multiple conversations with the Cisco TAC teams, I
finally found possibly the only type of software that will allow you to make
a video conference call directly to the SX20 (or any other VC system) using
an IP address only and does not require registration with any VC server.
The answer is polycom's Polycom RealPresence Desktop software.  This is
perhaps one of the best VC clients out of the 17 I've tried and the only one
that supported direct video conference calls without registration.  You run
the software and provide the IP address to which you want to make the call
and it works.

The software costs around 70 euros for Windows/MAC clients and its also
available free of charge for smartphones. I tried it on my Samsung Galaxy
SII (Android) and it  worked nicely.  Supports application sharing,
3-way/4-way video conferencing and more.

Next questions is usually "What about if I want to make a VC to another
endpoint?".  This is where it gets tricky, even for other VC endpoints.
Cisco tells you that you must have the Express Way servers installed on your
network. Express Way server C is placed in your internal network and Express
Way Server E in your DMZ. They take care of dynamically opening
ports/sessions with your remote clients.   

The other alternative is to place the SX20 directly on the Internet with a
Static Public IP address. In this setup, the SX20 is capable of calling
other VC endpoints (video conference machines or software clients), however
the problem arises when the client is a Windows/MAC pc, because he is behind
a firewall in their own network (home / office etc).  The solution I've
found and seems to work is this:  The endpoint client can install Cisco's
Jabber Video ,   www.ciscojabbervideo.com,  a free service that installs the
Cisco Jabber Video on the client. 

The SX20 will have no problem calling a Free Jabber video client - while
Cisco says its not official supported, it works and I've tried it.  You just
tell the SX20 to call the client e.g user@xxxxxxxxxx  and it makes the call.
You'll need to ensure some settings on the SX20 are properly configured (let
me know when the time comes so you can save yourself a lot of time and
trouble), however the Jabber video client will not be able to call the SX20
unless it is registered to some Gatekeeper (Cisco Express Way/CUCM) or the
GnuGk gateway (which is what I'd like to try).   

Another thing I tried, and worked, is the following:
Placed the SX20 in a DMZ zone ( with a private IP address) and using my PC,
I connected to the office's VPN and placed a direct call to the SX20's
private IP using the Polycom RealPresence Desktop client.  This also works
without a problem.

Since it has been confirmed that the SX20 can and will work with GnuGK, all
that's left is for someone to provide us with a sample/working configuration
so we can set it up and test it. If this works, I'll be writing a full
article on Firewall.cx and Cisco's Support Forums (to which we also
contribute) to help make the public aware of these inexpensive alternatives.


If someone can also take the time to help me get a working GnuGK, it would
be highly appreciated.

Hope I've helped clear things up with the above and please excuse me if I
'talk' to much - I just feel that knowledge and experience must be  shared
with the rest of the world and let others benefit from it.

Chris. 

_______________________
Chris Partsenidis
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
http://www.Firewall.cx
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