Video communication enables virtual face-to-face interaction in real time between two or more people/places using video and audio technologies. This includes utilizing room-based video conferencing hardware units (codecs) that are integrated into conferencing rooms, meeting rooms, or classrooms.
Available Services
- Video Scheduling
- Video Conference Recording - Vbrick
- Polycom/Pexip Desktop Video
- Web Streaming
- Video Consulting
- NDIT provides video consulting services to state agencies, local governments (political sub-divisions), and K-12 and higher education communities. These services range from a basic description of what room-based video conferencing is and what it is used for, to a more detailed discussion about what steps a particular entity would need take in order to start utilizing video conferencing at their location.
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An NDIT business consultant is willing to:
- Discuss a video vendor's equipment proposal with the requesting entity
- Review any network connectivity issues and costs associated with installing a video unit
- Provide a description of, or access to web-training on, the state's video conference scheduling system
Requesting Service
NDIT’s Self Service Portal may be used to submit a “Video Codec Registration” service request for new equipment installation, location change of equipment, equipment upgrade.
NDIT's Enterprise Service Level Agreement includes Service Level Objectives and Standard Intervals for Request Fulfillment.
Billing:
Video services are included in the Enterprise Service. For more billing information, please visit the NDIT Billing Page.
Resources
H.323 is a standard communication protocol approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to promote compatibility in videoconference transmissions over IP networks. The H.323 standard facilitates how multimedia communications occur between terminals, network equipment and services, and is part of a larger group of ITU recommendations for multi-media interoperability called H.3x. H.323 was originally promoted as a way to provide consistency in audio, video and data packet transmissions in the event that a local area network (LAN) did not provide guaranteed quality of service (QoS). It is now considered to be the standard for interoperability in audio, video and data transmissions as well as Internet phone and voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications because it addresses call control and management for both point-to-point and multi point conferences as well as gateway administration of media traffic, bandwidth and user participation.
Polycom/Pexip Desktop Video
Desktop video is a merger of video, telephone, and computer technologies for the purpose of delivering multimedia information and telecommunications capabilities at the individual computer workstation.
Desktop video is a service available for an individual's computer workstation in order to use voice and video to connect with room-based video conferencing systems or other desktop video users. Prominent video protocols used with desktop video applications include H.323, SIP, and WebRTC. Depending on the use case, sometimes a software client will need to be installed on the computer workstation that will utilize the system's web cam and microphone for inputs and sometimes a standard web browser is all that is necessary. However, a USB headset for audio (microphone and speakers) is always recommended to avoid echo cancellation issues that can often plague a desktop video session. A desktop video client is regarded as a "single-user interface" and is not meant to replace a room-based video conferencing system that is capable of capturing video and audio from an entire room more accurately.
NDIT currently uses desktop video clients from Polycom including the RealPresence Desktop client and also uses the browser-based WebRTC protocol using the Pexip bridging platform. State agencies that participate in the Microsoft O365 tenant also have access to Microsoft Teams for desktop video and collaboration.
If you need access to a software client that can dial outbound and connect to H.323 endpoints/bridges, you can use Polycom's RealPresence Desktop client. Just submit a Network Services WMS request to NDIT and you'll be given instructions on how to register your installed desktop video client with the Polycom Resource Manager.
The instructions below explain how to connect to a Pexip bridge call using just a Chrome web browser for client-less desktop video connections.
Video Conference Recording - Vbrick
NDIT has integrated a new video conference recording solution from Vbrick into the Renovo/ViaPath video conference scheduler. If you have requested to have the NDIT Service Desk schedule the video conference on your behalf, they will add one of the available Vbrick recording devices into your video conference.
If your education entity or state agency schedules video conferences on their own through the Renovo/ViaPath web interface, you'll notice that there are generic Vbrick recording devices to choose from inside the Renovo/ViaPath video conference scheduler. The generic recorders are typically named after the entity and what bridge will be hosting the call. A Vbrick recording device that is not "in use" can be selected from the ROOMS page when scheduling a video conference. Search on Vbrick. The two video bridge choices available are Pexip and RMX. However, it’s important to note that the Polycom RMX bridges will be phased out of operation in the near future, so all new events should be targeted towards the Pexip bridge.
If you are scheduling video conferences for an education entity (i.e. K12 or Higher Ed campus) and need a specific access folder (Vbrick Channel) created for a particular class, you can create that Vbrick Channel inside of the Renovo/ViaPath interface.
When scheduling an event in the Renovo/ViaPath web interface, you will first need to select a recording room as depicted above and add that recording device to your event. Next, towards the bottom of the Bridge Setup page, you will notice three areas that need to be addressed in the Controlled Recorder section
- Check the first box if you need a new Vbrick Team created for this event that will be separate from all other Teams.
- Enter the e-mail address of the person you want assigned as the Team Admin for the new Vbrick Team (e.g. class instructor or event coordinator).
- If you do not enter a Team Admin e-mail address, the person assigned as the main contact for that recording device will be assigned as the Team Admin (e.g. K12 Video Consortium Director, Higher Ed IVN Coordinator, or State Agency IT Staff member. A Recording Template is setup by ITD for this purpose)
- If there is no main contact person assigned in the Recording Template, then the Reservation Requestor will become the Team Admin.
- If the Reservation Requestor’s e-mail address does not exist inside Vbrick, the Renovo Scheduler will become the default Team Admin.
- Check the last box if you want participants to be able to request access into the new Team. Typically, the Team Admin will be notified via e-mail that a potential participant is requesting access through Self-Registration (Requesting access to Vbrick Teams).
Once the video event has been validated inside the Renovo/ViaPath web interface, the corresponding Team will be created inside the Vbrick web portal.
In the example below, we’re using the Great Western Network (GWN) as the requesting education entity:
- Renovo Reservation Title = GWN Calculus 101 Fall 2023
- Renovo Reservation Number = 73711 (This number is generated after the class has been scheduled and validated)
- Vbrick TEAM created = GWN Calculus 101 Fall 2023-73711
A recording link will appear and be active in the e-mail notification that gets generated at validation time as shown below:
The Recording Link can also be retrieved again later by searching on the Reservation Number and loading it into the Summary page.
View the information on the Video Conference Viewing - Vbrick page and follow the instructions to use
the Recording Link to view the recorded video conference event.
Vbrick Options:
When scheduling the video event, on the General Information page where you type in the Title of your
video conference, you’ll notice that there are now three additional free-space categories available if you
would like to further categorize your video recordings.
Those categories are strictly optional and can be named anything you prefer as they are free-space
options. For example, an educator scheduling a class called Spanish II – Mrs. Smith, may want category
1 to just be called simply Spanish that would include all Spanish classes – I, II, & III. The second category
could just be Spanish II classes. And, ultimately, the third category could be the instructor’s last name.
A second example could be that a State Agency may want to put the word ‘Interview’ in category 1 to categorize all the interviews it has conducted in the last 45 days.
Again, these categories are strictly optional and are essentially metadata tags that can be searched on when trying to view the recorded video files inside Vbrick.
To view a recorded video conference event, follow the instructions on the Video Conference Viewing -
Vbrick page. The video file will reside on the Vbrick web portal for 45 calendar days after the conclusion of the video event.
Viewing a recorded video conference is a service offered by NDIT that will allow a state agency or education consortium the ability to view a video conference from the web. The Vbrick web portal can be viewed by individuals on a PC, Mac, or mobile device. It provides streaming video and audio of a recording and is used when remote users are unable to physically participate at one of the conventional video (room-based or desktop video) endpoints scheduled into the video conference or if video capture is required for archival purposes.
It is important to note that a Vbrick recording device needs to be added into the Renovo/GTL video conference reservation in order for a video file to be created. View the information located on Vbrick - Recording in Renovo/GTL for information on how to request a Vbrick recorder to be set up for your education entity or state agency.
Once the video conference has launched and a video file has been created and fully transcoded, it will then be ready for viewing (streaming). This process can sometimes take up to 60 minutes after the video event has ended depending on the workload of the device used for recording.
You can view (stream) a Vbrick video file with one of two ways:
1. Click on the URL that was sent to you from the scheduling entity. Each event that a Vbrick recorder is added to will create a specific URI that a student or state employee can click on and this link will take you to the login page for viewing. The Recording Link URI will look something like this: http://www.stagenet.nd.gov/VideoManager/viewLink.do?id=68048
2. Or, go directly to https://view.video.nd.gov and sign in with your Higher Ed, K12, or State Agency Active Directory credentials.
Using above option 1:
After clicking on the specific URI for your video event that was sent to you, you’ll see the Viewer page that will look similar to the following:
Click on the View button for the event you are interested in. There may be multiple events to choose from.
Next, you’ll be asked to sign in with your Higher Ed, K12, or State Agency Active Directory (AD) credentials that have been assigned to you. Use your full e-mail address for username.
If you do not have credentials already assigned to you, you may click on the Self Registration link to set up a new user account.
Click on Vbrick-Creating a new user account for the video web portal for details about how to request a new user account.
- After submitting your new user account information, a Team Admin affiliated with that Team will be notified via e-mail that you have requested access to the Vbrick Team. The Team Admin then will have to either allow or deny access to the Team.
- Once the Team Admin has allowed access to the Team, a new user can complete the registration process and enter a password for their new credentials.
After logging in successfully to the web portal with your AD or other credentials, you will see the option to play your video event. Click the Play button.
After viewing your video event, you can either click on the Media tab for more videos or type in a new search word for additional videos in the Search bar.
The web portal has a search function that will allow you to look for a specific video file if you are aware of any word in the title. Or, type in the initials of your K12 video consortium, Higher Ed Campus, or State Agency.
Using above option 2:
Go directly to https://view.video.nd.gov and sign in with your Higher Ed, K12, or State Agency Active Directory credentials. Use your full e-mail address for username.
Next, you can either click on the Media tab to see what videos you have access to or you can type in a search word for specific videos in the Search bar.
Vbrick - Creating a new user account for the video web portal
Always sign into the Vbrick video web portal (https://view.video.nd.gov) with your Higher Ed, K12, or State Agency Active Directory (AD) credentials that have been assigned to you.
If you do not have credentials already assigned to you, you may click on the Self Registration link and set up an account and then select New User.
Follow the instructions on the Self Registration page.
- Username should be full e-mail address.
- Select Channel is the class or video event you want to have access to. Five Teams can be requested at one time.
- In Comment, explain why you are requesting access to the Vbrick Channel(s).
- Acknowledge you are not a Robot
- Click Submit
After clicking Submit, you will receive an acknowledgement that your request has been submitted.
The Vbrick Channel Admin will then receive an e-mail that a new user has requested access into the Vbrick video web portal.
After clicking the link to process the request, the Channel Admin will be able to either Approve or Reject the request along with entering a rejection reason, if needed.
If the request for access is approved, the Channel Admin will receive an acknowledgement that the request was processed successfully.
The new user will also receive an e-mail notifying them that their request for access has been approved by the Channel Admin.
The new user will then need to complete the registration process into the Vbrick video web portal by opening the Confirmation E-mail and clicking on the Confirm button.
Vbrick password information and security questions will need to be set up at this time.
Once completed, the following acknowledgement will appear. Click OK and the process is complete.
The following are examples of e-mails that will be sent out to the new user requesting access into the Vbrick video web portal.
Access to a Vbrick Channel for viewing videos must be approved by a Channel Admin. The Vbrick Self Registration link can be reached with two separate URLs:
- the main Vbrick video web portal URL https://view.video.nd.gov or
- directly at https://selfreg.video.nd.gov.
First, if you prefer to use the main Vbrick URL of https://view.video.nd.gov, you can gain access to the Self Registration module by clicking on the Self Registration link at the bottom of the page.
However, you may prefer to go directly to the URL https://selfreg.video.nd.gov and then click on Existing User.
Enter your e-mail address that is registered to your existing Higher Ed, K12, State Agency Active Directory (AD), or Vbrick account.
Next, click in the box under Select Channel and a drop down menu will appear. Select all channels (Classes or Video Events) that pertain to you.
Next, please explain in the comment block why you are requesting access to the channel(s).
Then, acknowledge that you are not a robot for security purposes and click Submit.
A Channel Admin will either approve or reject your request for access and you will receive a notification via e-mail.
Next, refer to Vbrick - Video Conference Viewing for instructions on how to view the video recordings that you have access to.
Always sign into the Vbrick video web portal (https://view.video.nd.gov) with your Higher Ed, K12, or State Agency Active Directory (AD) credentials that have been assigned to you.
ADDING USERS:
As a Team Admin in Vbrick, you have the ability to add users into your Team so they can gain access to video recordings. Anyone that does not belong to your Team will not be able to view any content. You can either refer users to the Vbrick Self Registration page or you can add them manually to your Team. For instructions on how to use the Self Registration page, click Vbrick – Requesting access to Vbrick Teams.
After logging into the web portal, click on the Media tab and then click on any of the Team names that appear.
Next, click Edit Team in the upper left-hand corner.
If you are working from a student roster or other participant list:
- Search for the user with their name or e-mail address under Assign Users and Groups. E-mail address works much quicker and is more specific especially when duplicate accounts exist.
- Click the users name when it appears in the list. The “+” plus symbol will turn into a check mark to verify that they have been selected.
- Click Done
- Click Save Team ** this is the most important step **
Never manipulate the information contained in the NAME or DESCRIPTION fields as that information is used to link the Vbrick Team to the Vbrick Self Reg group and is also used to link the Vbrick Team to the recording room that was set up in the Renovo/GTL Scheduling system.
DOWNLOADING VIDEOS IN EDIT MODE:
Team Admins will also have the ability to download videos in edit mode from the web portal to their own local PC.
After logging in, click on the Media tab and then click All Videos to find a specific video file. Or, you can always use the search bar if you know a portion of the video title.
Once you’ve located the video file you are looking for, you can click on the thumbnail preview to open it.
Next, click on Edit in the upper right-hand corner. You’ll notice that you can also Delete a video from this location so be careful to click Edit.
A pop-up window will appear and warn against editing a video without first downloading the original copy. Click OK.
The Download button is located just to the lower right of the video preview window.
Clicking the Download icon will copy a version to your PC.
Channel Admin may edit a video recording to cut certain portions out of a video such as any sensitive material or information that is not relative to what you want to show with your content, such as roll call or conversation that occurred after the presentation. Once you have edited the video, you may save it as an entirely new video in Vbrick REV.
To select and cut out a thumbnail segment of a video:
Once inside your Team, select the video you want to edit and click the Edit icon on the Video Player.
A pop-up will appear suggesting that you download the original video file before any edits occur.
It is a good rule of thumb to download the original for backup purposes by clicking on the Download button.
It is now time to select the video segments that you want to cut out using the video timeline. If you need to see more granular detail for your cut, use the Scale slider in the lower left-hand corner.
You may make your timeline selection in one of two ways:
- Use Shift-Click: Left click on the thumbnail segment to set your cut starting point and then shift-click on the timeline or thumbnail segment to set your cut end point. Your video segment will be defined by two blue endpoints with the segment to be cut grayed out.
- Click and drag: Use your mouse and left click and drag over the thumbnail segment you want to cut. Your video segment will be defined by two blue endpoints with the segment to be cut grayed out once you release the mouse button.
Notice to the right of the Scale slider, the start and end point time of the selected segment is noted along with the total time of the segment.
Use the Cut button to remove the selected segment from the video. The blue endpoints will be removed, and the time notations will be gone next to Scale. The grayed-out thumbnails will remain, however, so you are able to see what portions of the video have been edited from the original.
Use the Play button on the Video Player to view the video before saving to make sure your edits are correct.
Use the Undo button if you want to undo the cut to the thumbnails. Undo will only undo the most recent cut.
You may make more than one cut to thumbnails in a video. After your first cut, for example, you may make another segment selection to cut.
Use the Reset button at any time to undo all changes you have made and reset the video to its original state. This will only work if you have not saved the video.
Click the Save button in the lower right-hand corner to save the video. Note that this saves the video and replaces the original video. If you want a copy of the original video, you should always use the Download button to download it first before you do any editing as described above.
The saved video will be retitled with the same name and the word "Edited" appended. Further, the Description of the edited video will note that the video has been edited. Metadata and analytics will remain unchanged.
Team Admins can delete video recordings in a bulk edit mode. This is useful after a series of special events have completed or at the end of a school semester for our education customers.
To delete video recordings in bulk edit mode, first browse to the Vbrick Team that you need to delete recordings from.
Once inside of the Team, click on the Bulk Edit icon on the far right-hand side of the screen.
Next, you can click on the check box at the very top of the recording list, which will subsequently check all the boxes in the list below. Or, you can check each box separately if you want to pick and choose which video files get deleted.
Now click on the Delete Videos icon (trash can) in the menu on the far right-hand side of the screen.
A verification prompt will pop-up asking if you would like to proceed with the deletion. Click OK only if you are positive you want to delete the video files.
Last, a final prompt will appear and explain that the Bulk Operation is in progress. Click OK.
After all the video files have been deleted from the Vbrick Team, you may also need to delete the corresponding Team name from the system. In that case, you’ll also need to submit a ticket to the ITD Service Desk to have the actual Team deleted from the Vbrick system. Only an ITD System Admin will be able to delete a Team name from the Vbrick application.
In the case where you need to allow viewers from off-network to view a video stream of a live event, you’ll need to set up your Renovo/GTL video reservation with a recorder that allows access to the general public.
In the Select Rooms page of your Renovo/GTL reservation, you’ll need to add all the video endpoints into your reservation you want to connect to, including a Vbrick Pexip Public recorder.
In the search bar in the upper right-hand corner, you’ll need to type Vbrick Pexip Public or Pexip Public. Make sure to UNCHECK the Favorites Only box. Once the Vbrick Pexip Public recorder displays, select it as one of your endpoints and Validate your reservation on the Pexip video bridge.
At validation time, the notification pop-up box will show the Recording Link with the connect information for the public live stream.
This Recording Link can also be retrieved later from the Conference Summary page from within Renovo/GTL.
You can now forward that Recording Link to any participant that wants to view the live event or embed the link inside of a hyperlink on a web page.
Once that remote viewer clicks on the link, they will be sent to a ‘Viewer’ page to access the live event. A participant will then need to click on the green View button.
A web page will open requesting some viewer information. Even though the live stream is open to the public, viewers will still need to identify themselves for reporting purposes before they sign in as a guest.
Viewers will need to enter a display name (real name or nickname) and an e-mail address. Then, they’ll need to click on the Consent checkbox. Last, they click on the blue box that reads ‘Sign in as guest’.
A browser window will now open showing a stream of the live event.
In order for state employees to gain access into the Vbrick video web portal (https://view.video.nd.gov), State Agency IT Coordinators must first add the employees into the corresponding Active Directory (AD) Organizational Unit.
- Open Active Directory Users and Computers
- Go to APPS
- Then itd
- Then VBRICK
- Select the corresponding agency folder
- Add users into the Security Group
After the State Agency employee active directory accounts have been imported into the Vbrick video web portal, see Vbrick-Team_Admins for instructions on how to add those users to specific Vbrick TEAMS (access folders) that have been created in Vbrick for each state agency.
Web Streaming
Web streaming is creating an audio/video broadcast for the purpose of viewing it online through a web browser. It is a way to convey information to a large audience in a one-directional format. This can be used to broadcast public meetings or trainings that may or may not be live and do not have a need for direct interaction or feedback from the audience as would a traditional video conference or web collaboration session. ITD currently offers a product from Discover Video called DEVOS as a web streaming solution.
DEVOS is a web streaming solution that is accessible from computers and mobile devices. It uses HTML 5 and Flash formats which can be accessed by many web-enabled devices supporting either of those formats.
DEVOS delivers live streams originating from the DVME (Discover Video Multimedia Encoder) or Streamsie PC encoders which will need to be installed on the individual entity's computer. A PC encoder is a software application that is capable of combining video, audio, and what is displayed on the content screen and delivers it as a single video stream that can be viewed on the web from computers, tablets, and mobile devices.
More information can be found at Discover Video.