Computer Hardware User Manual

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page (see Configuring global
conference settings).
This field will have no effect if H.323 Gatekeeper
usage is set to Disabled.
Select this option if you want the MCU to inform
the gatekeeper about its availability or non-
availability. This information will be used by the
gatekeeper when it is selecting where to place ad
hoc conferences.
Only use this option where multiple MCUs are
registered with the same MCU service prefix on
the same gatekeeper.
If you select this option, you must configure the
thresholds for conferences and/or video ports.
Thresholds:
: Enter any number of
conferences between 0 and 200. (A
value of 0 will mean that the MCU will
always indicate 'unavailable'.)
: Enter a number between 0
and the number of video ports on your
MCU; for example, on an MCU 4205,
there are 12 video ports, so enter a
number between 0 and 12. (A value of 0
will mean that the MCU will always
indicate 'unavailable'.)
The ability of the MCU to send resource
availability messages is useful in a network where
there are multiple MCUs or where there are
several media blades in an MSE.
In an environment with multiple conferencing
devices registered with the same gatekeeper, that
gatekeeper should favor devices in the available
state when choosing where to place new calls.
For example, when one MCU sends the
gatekeeper a message indicating that it is not
available, the gatekeeper will then attempt to use
a different MCU for new ad hoc conferences.
Resource availability indications are most useful
where the thresholds are configured such that the
MCU informs the gatekeeper that it is unavailable
when its resources are nearly used up.
Conferences without any active participants do
not contribute to the conference count; any video
port in use is added to the video port count.
When either threshold is equaled or exceeded,
the MCU sends a message to indicate that it is not
available; when the resource usage drops such
that neither threshold is equaled or exceeded, the
MCU sends a message indicating that it is
available.
You might choose to only configure one of the
thresholds. You are probably aware of how your
video conferencing resources tend to be used by
participants and you need to consider this when
configuring the thresholds. For example, you
could have four people who have each started an
ad hoc conference; you might know that it is
usual for such conferences to end up having ten
participants. In this case, on a 40-port MCU you
could set the conference threshold to 4 to
indicate that it will be out-of-resources very
soon. On the same MCU if you set the video port
threshold to 35 and left the conference threshold
empty, another four or more people could begin
ad hoc conferences on this MCU before the
participants expected in the original four
conferences had dialed in.