Using the Technology

In this section we aim to give you all the information you need to use VC technology successfully in your environment.


Making Calls within the BGFL Intranet

To make a call to another school that is also in Birmingham, just turn on your Polycom Videoconferencing unit. You will get a screen that displays among other things your IP Address, and an IP and GK ICON. Both these ICONs should turn green. If they do not then you have a connectivity problem. Contact your local ICT help person to resolve.
If the IP and GK ICONs are green you are ready to make a call.
You should be able to scroll to the various options on your Polycom VC screen. Choose the address book. Hit the red select button and scroll to the address you want to call. Then hit the green call button to make the call.
The address book is automatically populated with all the entries of connected VC units. However, you can also dial the school directly if you know its E164 number. Just select the Video box. You will be shown the Video phone screen. Punch in the E164 number, choose IP in the box on the below left and speed of 384. Hit your green call button to complete the call.


Making calls outside the BGFL Intranet

There are now two ways this can be done. The first is to use ISDN. You do not need an ISDN line at your school, you just use our gateway. Follow the instructions (Using ISDN) below.
The second way, is to connect using IP. Our BGFL Intranet is connected to WMnet which in turn is connected to SuperJanet. There is also an Internet feed via an ISP provider.Using our new H323 Gatekeeper and H323 Proxy services we can set up IP conections to other educational sites connected via IP. Quality is variable and not predictable on the public Internet so our recomendation for now is to use ISDN. For sites connected to WMnet/SuperJanet (other LEAs) quality over IP is useable. All you need to make the connection to the other site is its UKERNA E164 number. The site you are calling should supply you with this address, its like a telephone number for the VC unit that you are calling.


E164 Numbers

All Videoconferencing units in Birmingham have been provided with an E164 number. This number is part of a global address plan, a bit like the telephone system. It enables video calls to be connected via a hierarchy of H.323 gatekeepers anywhere in the Internet. Our E164 numbers have been allocated to us by UKERNA and are part of a worldwide videoconferencing numbering plan.