Duke

Desktop video conferencing uses software on your personal computer along with a webcam and microphone to participate in a video conferencing conference call with hardware-based video conferencing systems.

This is not the same as personal video conferencing software such as Skype or iChat as these are not standards-based and cannot be used to connect to standards-based hardware video conferencing systems.

The Cisco Movi program at Duke University is offered at no cost to faculty and staff. Our licenses allows for distribution of the software to any participant of a Duke-sponsored video conference—whether or not they are affiliated with Duke directly.

Having the software installed on your on a portable computer provides the freedom to connect with people from any location with a good network connection. You can connect to traditional multipoint video conferences and even Cisco TelePresence systems using Duke's Cisco TelePresence Interop Service.

The most notable limitation is that the number of users that may participate from in front of a single computer is limited by physical space, the limited camera view and the surrounding environment. Typically, this approach allows one person to participate in a call when a room-based system is not available or convenient. Generally, no more than three people would be expected to use a desktop conferencing system.

The Cisco Movi service is administrated with and supported by your departmental/school IT staff. Contact your school or department IT staff if you are interested in the program.

Participating Schools, Departments & Programs

School/Department	Site Administration	Request Access
Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies	Bill Broom	william.broom@duke.edu
Divinity School	Jeff Mimnaugh Jean Quintus Joshua Martin Ron Mimnaugh	divinity-helpdesk@div.duke.edu
Duke Institute for Brain Sciences	Yimin Wei Kisan Upadhaya	dibs-help@duke.edu
Duke Law School	Media Services	media@law.duke.edu
Duke Perkins Library	Angela Bryant Antonio Fields Dorothy Coletta Paul Wilshire Debra Kurtz	lib-desktop-support@duke.edu
Fuqua School of Business	Tim Searles	multimedia@fuqua.duke.edu
Nicholas School of the Environment	Katheryne Doughty Andy Minnis	it@nicholas.duke.edu
Nicholas School of the Environment - Marine Lab	Jeffrey Priddy	it@nicholas.duke.edu
Office Of Information Technology	ITS	oit-its-info@duke.edu
Pratt School of Engineering	John Vincent	jlv11@duke.edu
Student Affairs	Student Affairs	service@studentaffairs.duke.edu
Talent Identification Program-TIP	Terence Costello	tcostello@tip.duke.edu
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences	TTS-Classroom Support	tts-av@duke.edu

If you would like more general information, please complete our Cisco Movi Interest Form and someone will be in touch with you within five (5) business days.

If you are a current Duke Movi user, you can view Duke's Cisco Movi user guide here.

Participation in the Cisco Movi program is completely free to any Duke school or department. The only requirement is that user support be provided by the school or departmental IT staff. If you are a school or departmental IT professional and would like to learn what is involved in the site administration of Cisco Movi, please review the document Administration Of Cisco Movi At Duke. After review of that document, if you would like to obtain a test license to evaluate the functionality, and you are a staff IT professional representing your school or deparment, please complete our visual collaboration interest form and indicate your desire for an evaluation for your school or department.

If you are a current Cisco Movi program participant at Duke, your school or departmental site administrator should have provided you with documentation to use the software. We would suggest you check this documentation first, as there may be specific documentation for using Cisco Movi within your school or department. OIT has prepared general user documentation which can be viewed here.

Yes! Our Movi licenses allows anyone, Duke or non-Duke to use Movi, as long as they are using it to participate in a Duke sponsored conference. How broadly or narrowly this support is offered is up to each individual school or departmental IT staff that are supporting Movi for their users. If your school is currently participating in the Movi program, contact your IT department by the contact information provided by this page to learn how non-Duke users are supported for your school or department.

Macintosh System Requirements & User Guide

• Hardware: Minimum Intel 2 GHz Core 2 Duo with 1GB of RAM running
• OS: OSX 10.6 or later (with all security updates) is recommended
• Movi will work well using the built in webcam, speakers and microphone on most modern systems, but using any of the external webcams, USB echo canceling speakerphones and headsets listed below will also work well
• Cisco's Movi User Guide For Macintosh (Software Guide)
• Using Cisco Movi At Duke (Duke OIT User Guide)

Windows System Requirements & User Guide

• Hardware:
  
  • Minimum: SSE3 (such as Pentium 4 Prescott) or better with 512MB RAM or better
  • Recommended: 2 GHz Core 2 Duo processor or better with 1GB of RAM or better
  • Graphics Card: OpenGL version 1.2 or higher. Hardware support for DirectX 8 or higher
  • Sound card: Any standard sound card (full-duplex, 16-bit or better)
• OS: Windows XP SP2 (and later), Vista and Windows 7 are supported
• While some built in webcams, speakers and microphones may work, it is highly recommended that Windows users select a webcam, headset or USB echo canceling speakerphone from the list below
• Cisco's Movi User Guide For Windows (Software Guide)
• Using Cisco Movi At Duke (Duke OIT User Guide)

Network Requirements

• Although Movi's requirements say a 128 kbps sustained (upload/download) is the minimum required, we recommend a 448 kbps minimum sustained (upload/download) for best performance.
  
  • To check your speed, visit the speedtest.net website
  • Wireless networking may work, but when possible, a wired network connection may provide a better experience

Webcams

• Tandberg Precision HD Webcam (approx $300)
  • Available in single quantities through SKC
  • Available in lots of 10 through IVCI
• Logitech C905 (approx $80)
• Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 (approx $80) - Available at the Duke Computer Store
• Firewire based webcams or media converters are not supported and will most likely not be supported in the future

Headsets

• Logitech ClearChat Pro USB Headset (approx $50)
  
  • The use of older "analog" or "Elluminate" headsets is not recommended

USB Echo Canceling Speakerphone

• Phoenix USB Speaker Phone (approx $150) 

Cisco Movi software is extremely easy to use. The largest challenges are having enough bandwidth (a sufficiently fast internet connection) and having echo-free audio.

Network Speed

Visit the speedtest.net website from the location from which you will be connecting at the time you will be connecting. Network traffic at hotels and certain geographic areas may be very heavy at certain times of the day, so testing at approximately the same time as your planned conference is always a good idea. If your location will not support the required bandwidth, then consider using alternate means of communication such as the telephone

Audio

Echo is often a challenge.Some computers have built-in echo cancellation, so using the built-in microphone and built-in speakers will generally work well. However, if you have an external webcam connected to your computer, make sure you are not using that webcam's microphone, as the echo cancellation will not work as well. Checking your "Sound" control panel in "System Preferences" in the Apple Menu (upper left side of the screen) will tell you which input and output devices are being used for your audio. It is important to set this before you launch the Movi application.

Since Windows hardware varies widely, we recommend always using either a USB headset microphone* or a USB echo cancelling speakerphone. Examples of each of these are in the peripherals section above. Using your webcam's microphone and computer's built-in speakers will almost always cause severe echo as will using any external amplication/speakers with an external microphone (such as connecting your computer's audio into a classroom's audio system).

Bottom line for good audio is to test and experiment with your particular hardware. Your school/departmental IT professional may be able to assist you with your testing peripherals.

*Older style "Elluminate" analog headsets with headphone and microphone inputs are not recomended, as their headsets tend to leak audio and cause feedback, and their microphones generally do not provide enough volume.

For more information on using Cisco Movi software at Duke, you can view Duke's Cisco Movi user guide here.

The following FAQ's may help you diagnose and solve some common problems when using Cisco Movi.

My video is frozen into a still image

• This could be because of problems with the quality or overall bandwidth available from your location. You can visit the speedtest.net website to test your speed to see if it meets minimum requirements as specified on the OIT Cisco Movi program information page. Some webcams allow you to freeze video via a hardware switch on the webcam or via software in the webcam driver. You should also check to make sure you have not frozen or paused your webcam.

My audio is echoing.  This is a common problem and can be caused by a number of issues:

• You or someone in your call is not using a headset, USB echo canceling speakerphone or room based echo cancelled audio. While some computers (such as modern Macintosh laptops) have build in hardware echo cancellation for their built in microphone and headphones, generally, using a computer's built in microphone or an external webcam's microphone with your computer's internal speakers will cause echo

• If you are using a headset or other echo cancellation device, check your computer's settings to make sure your computer is set to use those as input or output. You can have a headset plugged in for example, but the computer could still be using the internal microphone on your computer.

• Use of older "analog" headset microphones (ones that plug into the mic and headphone jack and NOT USB) do not work as well and can sometimes cause echo. These analog headsets will not work on some newer model Macintosh computers.

My audio sounds bad - broken up or static.

• This is usually due to not enough network bandwidth or a poor quality network. You can visit the speedtest.net website to test your speed to see if it meets minimum requirements as specified on the OIT Cisco Movi program information page. Also, make sure all other applications are closed on your computer - especially those like email that use your network bandwidth.

I can't scroll my content when I am sharing

• If you are on an Apple computer and are full screen mode and try to share content, it will not allow you to scroll. If you exit out of full screen mode, you should be able to scroll your content again from the window you are sharing.

I can't share my content - the other side is not seeing it

• Unfortunately, while there is a "standard" for video conferencing, the sharing of content is highly dependent on the make and model of the other video conferencing systems in your call. We recommend testing prior to the conference to confirm content sharing will work.