VidMid VC Conference Call 12 January 2004

*Attendees*
Tyler Johnson, UNC
Nadim El-Khoury, UNC
Jill Gemmill, UAB
Jeanette Fielden, Internet2
Steve Olshansky, Internet2
Ann West, Educause

*Discussion*
Please review the Internet2 Intellectual Property Framework at: http://members.internet2.edu/intellectualproperty.html

The focus of the call was work items for 2004.

One item of interest is working on a secure profile for PKI. If the ITU accepts it there would then be a standards document the work could be focused around.

Jill said that PolyCom has indicated they are releasing a standards based solution for security. It has not been evaluated yet. She is a member of an Internet2 based group that will review the product after it is released, sometime in early 2004.

Another work item is the vconf idea for managing videoconferencing calls and tying middleware into it in some manner. This is a very broad area and needs to be carefully scoped as to what problems are middleware versus network and what is videoconference management. It will also be critical to involve people from the right areas outside of videoconferencing in this item.
[AI] Nadim will talk to Samir about vconf and managing videoconferencing.

Tyler proposed that another work item might be focusing on getting directories deployed on campuses. Jill talked about the PHP scripts that have been developed for searching and deleting. The scripts can be transported to other locations to make setting up commObject easier. Steve mentioned that inter-realm testing of two or three sites could provide useful information. It would also be advantageous to invite Jonathon Tyman to participate on a call.

Tyler also suggested that it might be possible to develop deployable pre-configured drop-in solutions would an expedient short-term approach. The people who deliver video services are typically the A/V staff and the people who implement H.350 are LDAP developers, so there is an organizational hurdle to get those two groups together. It’s a drop in solution if the zone administrators can implement it. If it needs a programmer or systems administrator then it’s not truly drop in. It could also be linked to the video middleware cookbook. Additionally, this could be coupled with a VIDE.net initiative.

[AI] Nadim will draft a list of discussed work items and send to the list.

Internet2 Spring Member Meeting
It was agreed that a BoF session but no track session for VC was needed. The BoF could include an introduction to the Cookbook, H.350, and work items that the VC group has undertaken. There should be coordination with the medical middleware BoF to avoid scheduling conflicts.

Tyler indicated he was concerned about overlapping efforts that might dilute overall progress so there is a need to closely align these efforts for maximum effect.