Patent Application
20080072159
In order to make the invention more readily understandable, the discussion that follows will refer to the accompanying drawings.
In the following, the present invention will be discussed by describing a preferred embodiment, and by referring to the accompanying drawings. However, people skilled in the art will realize other applications and modifications within the scope of the invention as defined in the enclosed independent claims.
A content server (CS), as presented above, may be accessible through a service provider or be part of a enterprise communication network. Either way, multiple users with different setup requirements are most likely to use the same device. Therefore, a template system where each user is associated with a self defined template would therefore be the most adequate solution.
The basic idea of the present invention is to provide a system and a method allowing users to record/stream a video conference by dialing a Content Server from any endpoint using a personal alias or aliases, or by dialing an endpoint from a content server using a personal alias or aliases. The alias(es) will define their preferred streaming/archiving template(s) and call configuration(s), allow them to set specific viewing rules for the conference and identify them as the owner of the conferences created through this alias. The alias owner can also assign default meta data (title, description, etc.) and an access list for determining who can view the recorded and/or streamed conference. By allowing this, each user can easily stream/record a conference with their preferred settings without having to check or change the settings each time a new call is made, and without changing the settings for other users.
H.323 Terminals are the endpoints on the LAN that provide real-time two way communications. Terminals are usually a personal computer (PC) or a stand alone-device (e.g. video conferencing endpoint). Gatekeepers are responsible for providing address translation between an endpoints current IP address and its various H.323 ID aliases, call control and routing services to H.323 endpoints, system management and security policies. An H.323 gateway provides connectivity between an H.323 network and a non-H.323 network (e.g. ISDN). Finally, the MCUs provide support for conferences of three or more H.323 terminals.
As mentioned above, in order to produce streaming and recording outputs from a video conference, the content server (106) acts like a video conferencing endpoint (terminal). The CS (106) can join a point-to-point or a multipoint video conference just like any other endpoint, but instead of displaying the output on a screen like most regular video conferencing endpoints, it processes the data into other useful outputs.
As an endpoint the CS may also have one or more alias addresses associated with it. The alias addresses provide an alternate method of addressing the endpoint. These addresses include E.164 (network access number, telephone number, etc.), H.323 IDs (alphanumeric strings representing names, e-mail-like addresses, etc.), and any others defined in Recommendation H.225.0. Alias addresses are unique within a Zone, Domain, among Zones, and among Domains.
As discussed above, a gatekeeper (103) is a network device that provides addressing service for H.323 videoconference devices. Use of a gatekeeper (103) allows a videoconference device to “dial” another device using the videoconference alias rather than an IP address (which could be changed by DHCP). In order for a gatekeeper (103) to know where to direct a call, terminals (101) and gateways (102) must register with the gatekeeper (103), informing the gatekeeper (103) of their present IP addresses and their associated aliases. The called endpoint's E.164 address may consist of an optional service prefix followed by the E.164 alias. The service prefix consists of n digits from the set of 0 to 9, * and #, where n is a predetermined number of digits. One purpose of such a service prefix might be to request access to a Gateway. The Gatekeeper may alter this address prior to sending it to the destination.
According to the present invention, the CS (106) registers with its local gatekeeper (103) as a gateway with one or more service prefixes and/or suffixes. By doing this, all calls directed to an address starting with one of the registered service prefixes, or ending with one of the registered service suffixes, are forwarded to said content server by the gatekeeper, regardless of the remaining digits (or alphanumeric characters) in the address. The remaining digits (or alphanumeric characters) are referred to as an internal alias, and together with the service prefix or suffix they constitute a personal alias.
Personal aliases are created in the distribution device for each user through a web based user interface. The personal aliases are stored in the content server as separate records in a database. As mentioned above, a personal alias consists of two parts:
An example personal alias based on the use of E.164 aliases would be:
Access to the alias (both E.164 and H.323 alias) is preferably restricted to the administrator, but access may of course be granted to the users if necessary. However, the prefix and/or suffix portion of the personal alias is not user modifiable so it is important to present the full alias to the user rather than the internal alias to prevent confusion on what alias to dial. The full alias however is not necessary to store in the content server database.
The “Template” file stores information about the recording and streaming formats and outputs. It is in this file that the alias defines which streaming formats to use, what type of outputs to use within this streaming format and define information such as where the source media information is to be obtained from (e.g. normal video source, H.239/DuoVideo source etc). An example template file is shown in
The “Call Configuration” file contains the H.323 settings for the call. This includes what codec's to advertise (use), what bandwidths are available for outgoing calls and what the maximum bandwidth is for all calls, and call duration settings. Alternatively this file contains Session Initiation Protocall (SIP) settings for the call, if SIP is preferred. An example template file is shown in
The “Username” defines an owner for the personal recording alias.
“Default Access List” defines the default access list for a conference recorded or streamed based on the alias. This list defines who can view the conference and who can edit the conference details.
The “Default Category” is simply a way to assign the conference recording to a specific category if required.
“Default Meta data” allows the user to define information such as Title, Description, Presenter, Copyright, keywords etc for the conferences created with this alias.
When a user wishes to record or stream a video conference session using his/her preferred settings, he/her may dial the alias assigned to him/her by a administrator, from a terminal/endpoint. The user may choose which alias to use (E.164 or H.323 ID), if both are created in the profile. Upon receiving the call, the gatekeeper searched the dialed address for a prefix or suffix match. A prefix or suffix match is found if a part of the dialed address is identical to a registered prefix or suffix. To identify a match, the gatekeeper searched its internal storage for a prefix or suffix match. If such a match is found, the call is forwarded to the device registered with the matched prefix or suffix. E.g. a company named Acme registers its content server with a gatekeeper with the suffix @stream.acme.com. When a user dials the address john.henderson.stream@acme.com, the gatekeeper matches the prefix @acme.com to one its stored suffixes, and then forward the call to the content server at Acme.
The user may also stream and/or record a conference using his/her personal alias by initiating a call from the content server. This can be done in the web base user interface. The user may send a call request to any videoconferencing device by entering the address of the videoconferencing device in an address field in the user interface. In order for the content server to know which settings to use for the recording and/or streaming task, the user is required to select an internal alias from a list or enter the alias in a assigned field. If the user fails to enter a personal alias, the call handling unit uses a default alias for the call. The call handling unit then performs step 502-512 as shown in
Further, one or more public aliases may be created. Public aliases are basically the same as personal aliases; apart from that they are not user modifiable. An administrative user may create and edit a set of public aliases, where each public alias defines the most frequently used templates and call configurations when recording/streaming conference calls. Public aliases provide users quick and easy access to standard configurations without needing to change their own personal alias before a call.
According to the invention, the distribution device may also be registered at the gatekeeper as a terminal. Instead of registering a service prefix as in the gateway model described above, the distribution device will register all the personal aliases with the gatekeeper. This method of registration will limit the number of aliases a distribution device will support, based on the maximum registrations from a single endpoint that the gatekeeper supports. This will vary between gatekeeper manufacturers. While limited in the total number of supported aliases, this method provides advanced dialing profile features for distribution devices without gateway functionality.
Under the gateway registration method it is possible for the recording system to maintain Personal Recording Aliases in the magnitude of thousands. The distribution device shall be able to register a service prefix with the gatekeeper as well as registering standard aliases as if it were a terminal. However, gateway registration of the distribution device only requires registering one or more recording prefixes, and maintaining the remainder of the alias within its own system.
One of the advantages of the present invention is that the entire call configuration, recording and streaming configuration, conference information and conference access can be configured through the use of a single alias. Further, thousands of users can use one (or a few) recording alias, or thousands of users can each have their own personal recording alias, allowing great flexibility to users. Recording Aliases can be used for individuals, groups, teams, departments—basically any individual or group can be represented by an alias. A user can easily change the configuration of how their conference is recorded by simply dialing a difference alias. Contrary to prior art, the present invention is independent of “lines”, since the alias defines all the configuration that would normally be attached to a “line”, and is no longer limited by the X lines=X recording configurations.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20064164 | Sep 2006 | NO | national |
