You have to review documents with a research colleague or a project partner from industry, but do not have time for a business trip?
You would like to hold a course together with a partner institute in Germany or abroad?

In such cases, a video conference is the easiest and often cheapest way to communicate with the partners not only audiovisually, but also to present digitally available documents and, if necessary, to work on them together.

The new platform of the video conferencing service DFNConf is now available at KIT. With this service, all KIT staff members can set up, organize, and conduct video conferences with guests and partners worldwide easily and platform-independently.

The new PEXIP-based system relies fully on the WebRTC standard for PCs, which allows easy access (even across firewalls) via a web browser. One of the DFN's main concerns when selecting the product was to remain compatible with all VC systems/protocols. All common standards, such as old room systems, SIP and telephony are still used very well. Apps (Pexip) are also available for mobile clients under Android and iOS. If you want to get to know the service from scratch, you can get a first overview here. Details can be found in the presentation held during the VCC workshop: https://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/files/termine/ws_2018-06-07/Vortraege/VCC-Workshop2018-CM.pdf .

WebRTC, the technology used for PC-based communication, is a standard currently agreed upon by most browser manufacturers. This standard is constantly being further developed, so that in the future new possibilities will be added continuously, such as higher bandwidth tolerance, better resolutions and new video codecs. However, this development is dependent on many factors and the implementation of the individual functions is not synchronized by all browser manufacturers.

Further information and services in the field of video conferencing can also be found at the Competence Center for Video Conferencing Services at the TU Dresden .

For the integration of your "old" equipment (e.g. set-top boxes from Polycom) into the Global Dialing Scheme (GDS), the SCC operates a so-called gatekeeper where you can register your equipment. This registration is useful, for example, if you want to use the video conference service of DFN or if your video conference system is to be accessible via a so-called E.164 number. Please contact your supervisor for an entry. Alternatively, you can also enter the DFN public gatekeeper pgk.vc.dfn.de for access to the service.

The new platform of the video conferencing service DFNConf withthe new Pexip server is now available at KIT. In parallel you can use the Adobe Connect Server of the DFN. For both services a comfortable VoIP or telephony dial-in is available.

DFN offers an organizer portal where videoconferences can be managed by the organizer himself. Only if you want to set up and organize a videoconference yourself you need this portal. For the pure participation the address of the meeting room, which you get from the organizer, is sufficient.

The access is via the purple button Veranstalter-Login on the top of the website DFNConf .

Auf den folgenden Seiten können Sie dann das Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) auswählen, sich dann mit Ihrem KIT-Account einloggen.

You will reach on the portal's homepage, where you can manage your events. Alternatively, you can access the Adobe Connect server of DFN directly via DFNconf - Organizer Portal Web Conferences with Adobe Connect.

If you click on NEW MEETING ROOM + or NEW LECTURE +, you can create new conferences. Now enter the Name and the Host PIN. All other settings are preselected and hidden.

If you want a meeting room without PIN, leave the field for the organizer pin empty and go to More settings (Show) and set Allow guests to No. Please note that in meeting rooms without PIN all participants have organizer rights. You can find more information about this at ttps://docs.pexip.com/admin/pins_hosts_guests.htm .

With More Settings and a click on Show you can display all settings and change them if necessary. If you click on the SAVE button, the conference is created and you will return to the overview.

If you click on the Room Number in the overview, you enter the conference directly as organizer. For inviting guests to a conference you will find an Invitation (de) or a Invitation (en) in german and english directly on the overview page, which you can copy and send e.g. via email. This template contains all possible access paths for the selected conference.

The different conference types differ in the layout options, i.e. in the distribution and number of areas for video images and presentation. For more information, see the link in the top right-hand corner:

Slides KIT-EK 30.1.19 .

At IMPORT MCU CONFERENCE + you can transfer room numbers from the "old" structure to the new one. For example, the conference number can only be transferred in the form 97958350, i.e. without the leading 0049100.

For more information about the Infinity Connect Web App and how-to guides, please visit https://docs.pexip.com/end_user/infinity_connect_quickguides/using_webapp.htm 

In order to use the service, e.g. in a web browser, at least one audio device e.g. a headset and a camera, must be physically connected to the system and use must also be enabled in the browser.

Especially for multipoint conferences it is important to maintain a high level of language discipline. In this way, you avoid that during voice-activated switching

• constantly switch between the locations or
• switch over exactly when you do not want to.

Avoid any noise as far as possible.

At each location a sign with the name of the location should be constantly visible in the video image.

Introducing the participants

Each participant should always introduce himself personally at the beginning of the event.

Preparation of the event

At the beginning of the event the connection should be switched and all equipment (cameras, microphones, projectors, ...) should be tested and ready. Always take enough time for the preparation and calculate possible problems.

Avoid panning and zooming. If necessary, use multiple cameras and switch views. Test this in advance. Do not make any more changes to the configuration during the event.

The necessary data (room number,URL, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of the organisational and technical contact persons, telephone number of the conference room) of all conference locations should be available at all locations much earlier. A mobile wireless telephone in the conference rooms often makes it much easier to solve problems. A distributed chat tool facilitates "silent" communication between the locations.

A written agenda for the events should be available at each location. This and all other equipment should, if possible, be made available to all participants a long time before the event.

A punctual start to avoid unnecessary (sound) disturbances goes without saying.

Personal conduct

Remember that you can always be seen and heard. When you speak, always look into the camera and speak loudly and clearly. Avoid major and/or constant body movements and any activities that are not directly related to the event. Act as if all participants were gathered in the same room.

Colour design and lighting

Avoid garish colours (especially in the red area) and moving dress patterns. The tree moved by the wind, which can be seen through the window in the background, is just as bad as the poppy patterned wallpaper or the well-equipped bookshelf in the background. A darker grey-blue, for example, can be chosen as the background colour. Make sure that the faces of the participants are sufficiently illuminated. Avoid strong differences in brightness in the room or the sunlit windows in the video image. Pinstripes in a suit, on the other hand, are not a problem.

Presentations

If you are working with e.g. diagrams, posters or whiteboards for illustration purposes and this is recorded with a video camera, please remember that due to the resolution of the video technology only larger fonts can be read and coarser thicker lines and structures are clearly visible.

For a general avoidance of any kind of noise, automatic mixers are used, which activate the sound only when a sound profile typical for the language is present and raise or limit this speech signal to a predefined level. Optimal are devices that also have an automatic noise reduction and echo cancellation. In this case, a separate echo cancellation should be provided for each microphone used. If media are frequently played in, it is useful if the audio signal of these sources is automatically reduced when a speech signal is present (audio ducking).

For locations with only one participant, for example, a headset or lapel microphone can be used.

For groups, an appropriate number of micros and/or higher quality boundary microphones should be used. For audience questions, radio microphones have proven to be a good solution. They are passed around and thus automatically ensure a discipline of speech.