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Using the Access Grid / EVO Bridge

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Using the Access Grid - EVO Bridge

With the Access Grid-EVO Bridge, users of ARCS’ two video collaboration tools can take part in the same meeting. The bridge allows for common meeting spaces accessible to both Access Grid and EVO users. In addition to video capability, the bridge also enables researchers to dial in on a phone line for audio-only participation during meetings.


Researchers using either Access Grid or EVO must navigate to one of three virtual locations (Venues in AG parlance, and Meetings in EVO parlance). These locations are named Emu, Kangaroo and Platypus.


To use the chosen meeting room, simply enter the location. Regardless of the ARCS video collaboration tool being used, all participants must use the same room. Please note that the three bridging rooms are always available – they cannot be booked or password-protected.


Using the Bridge from Access Grid

In the Venue client, from the APAG lobby (https://vv3.ap-accessgrid.org:8000/Venues/default), navigate to the AG-EVO@AU Bridge Lobby and enter the desired bridge Venue.


 

 

Using the Bridge from EVO

In Koala, you need to subscribe to the "APAG Bridges" Community. To do so, follow these steps:

  • go to the "Search menu" and select "Search for Communities"
  • expand the "National Education and Research Networks" list item
  • expand the "EVO@AU" list item
  • select "APAG Bridges", then click the right-facing arrow to subscribe to it
  • click "OK" to finish the process

Then, from the "APAG Bridges" Community tab, select the desired Meeting (such as “AG Venue Kangaroo”)

and enter as usual.


new_bridged

 

Audio-Only EVO Phone Bridge

The EVO Phone Bridge allows people to connect to an EVO meeting by phoning in. It can also be used in an AG-EVO bridged meeting, so that the phone user's audio will be heard by all parties.  For the cost of a local phone call, researchers can enjoy two-way audio communication without needing access to the Internet or a computer.  (Note: If an Access Grid meeting is being held in one of the three bridging venues –  Emu, Kangaroo and Platypus – the EVO phone bridge is available for use.)

To use the phone bridge, dial the phone number closest to your location, enter the meeting ID and press the # symbol.

Emu Meeting ID : 946548

Kangaroo Meeting ID : 946560

Platypus Meeting ID : 946559


Caveats (as at 22/7/2011)

*        AG users should be using AGTK version 3.2 or higher and have HD/H.264 node services (particularly video consumers) in use.

*        In EVO, the bridging Meetings cannot be booked- they are always open and cannot be reserved or password-protected. This may change in future releases.

*        EVO users should set their transmitted video to use either H.264 (default) or H.261, as using H.263 may cause issues with AG users.

*        AG users should set their transmitted video to use either H.261 or H.264 (may be problematic), as using MPEG4 encoding streams cannot be seen by EVO users.

*        Desk Share (EVO) can be seen and both AG and EVO users;

*        VPCScreen (when using H.261AS encoding) can only be seen by AG users.