[Videoconferencing] Changes to TRIUMF eZuceSRN/SeeVoghRN service
John Behr
behr at triumf.ca
Mon Oct 29 15:44:37 PDT 2018
I will happily add that TRINAT and FrPNC (mostly AMO physicists) once
the client is installed have used eZuce for awhile with few problems.
Mostly Mac and Linux users, I guess. But problems have flared up lately.
Agreed the client reinstallation happens with annoying frequency, and the
initial learning curve is steep. [You will solve most trivial installation
complaints by following the first instruction and using the research
network version...]
The latest version of eZuce causes installation problems for the latest
version of Mac because of default device permissions on the Mac.
>From this conversation (which I'm finding pretty depressing, actually), I
will probably fight through the re-registration and try Vibe.
Gerald Gwinner (Mac) indeed noticed I (Ubuntu18) would be on a web-based
thing for Vidyo if he switches to that, anticipating Art's reported
dissatisfaction.
So I guess I'm siding with Art, until I hear something I can try with
Linux. I hope I don't have to revert to Skype if Vibe is tossed, but it
does sound like I'll end up defaulting to my laptop and Chat150 USB
speakerphone for my meetings for a long time to come, as I'm doing now.
[p.s. In some desperation I used that hardware in the auditorium for an
ISAC Science Forum... worked fine both ways even with one question
from the back row :)]
Agreed I'm not going to bug
someone else's admin asst for 2 meetings a week (since they frequently get
their times adjusted by people's lives).
cheers,
John
On Mon, 29 Oct 2018, Akira Konaka wrote:
> Hi Art and all.
> Both BlueJeans and ZOOM are very easy to use, even for me. I was able to
> use it
> from the first time. It automatically load the program, and the
> video/sound/screen
> sharing buttons can be found easily. When I hosted EZuce meeting for NNN18
> international advisory committee meeting, only half of the 20 members were
> able
> to connect. I subscribed to ZOOM, it worked well with both network and
> phone
> connections. We can manage the meeting with EZuce with those who are used
> to it, but it is difficult to use it with someone who has no experience,
> e.g. organizing
> committee of conferences or search committees of scientists.
> I heard about the TRIUMF subscription to BlueJeans. Each meetings has to be
> booked by Erin Madill, and thus not realistic as a video conference platform
> with
> many users.
>
> Best,
> Akira
>
>
>
> On Oct 29, 2018, at 2:49 PM, Arthur Olin <olin at triumf.ca> wrote:
>
> My experience seems the opposite of everyone else. I've been using
> Ezuce for two sets of meetings, and in the past year I can't remembe a
> serious problem. Audio and video testing are simple and the share
> works easily. I use it on linux. Might the reported problems be
> specific to Mac users?
>
> I use vidyo for the cern meetings and there have a number of issues
> this year. The desktop stopped working or being supported on linux.
> The web interface that replaced it was OK but stopped working with
> Firefox for some months. Chrome was OK but it requires an extension
> for screen shares. The vidyo cafe for audio testing is available
> irregularly. And I've occasionally lost sending audio till I
> reconnected. The vidyo room scheme is useful c/w simple meetings, but
> the addressing scheme with keys/ extensions/room names is confusing.
> Apparently EZuce vibe has a similar scheme. Vidyo's integration with
> indico is a strength
>
> Unforunately both CERN and KEK are on Vidyo now so I'll be using it
> regardless of its problems, and am not motivated to learn another
> system.
>
> My experience with Bluejeans is several years old, and I found it not
> very intuitive.
>
> On 2018-10-29 2:00 p.m., Fabrice Retiere wrote:
>
> I also vote for zoom because it is now widely used in our community.
> Stanford also has a license.
>
> I have used uberconference and freeconference. They are not bad but
> uberconference only work well on Chrome and muting is sometimes unreliable.
>
> Fabrice
>
>
> On 2018-10-29 10:27 AM, Kel Raywood wrote:
>
> I've not used eZuce but agree with Thomas about zoom and bluejeans.
>
> I've had recent experience with Webex and gotomeeting and both were
> problematic under Linux. Joining a gotomeeting through the
> web-interface worked, with audio (didn't try the video) but I found it
> clumsy and there was no option to share a desktop from Linux. Webex
> was very dissappointing. I've used their java client on Linux in the
> past (5y ago I think) and it worked then. But they haven't updated it
> recently and it just doesn't work now. I had to remote-desktop to our
> windows-server to use it. Fortunately phone-dialin was an option for audio.
>
> I mentioned in a message to Davis a little while back that if TRIUMF is
> purchasing a commercial subscription to something for the lab, then I
> think bluejeans is the no-brainer choice because of its integration with
> Office-365 and good platform-independent and cross-platform support.
>
> Also, FWIW, bluejeans list BCNet on the featured-customers section.
>
>
>
> On 2018-10-29 10:09 a.m., Thomas Lindner wrote:
>
> Hi Andrew,
>
> My two cents: I have used zoom, bluejeans and eZuce for the last couple
> years. My opinion is that zoom and bluejeans are far superior
> products. They have better features and more reliable connections. We
> also found that eZuce often put out software updates which didn't work
> on all operating systems. I always recommend people to use Zoom or
> Bluejeans and I actively discourage using eZuce.
>
> I'm sure we would need to pay for Zoom and bluejeans. I know that
> SuperCDMS people use a zoom instance at Fermilab; don't know how much it
> costs.
>
> We might pay a little more for these other services. But ezuce is
> cheaper because it is a worse service.
>
> Cheers,
> Thomas
>
>
> On 2018-10-26 5:25 PM, Andrew Daviel wrote:
>
> On Thu, 25 Oct 2018, Akira Konaka wrote:
>
> Dear Andrew.
>
> Recently, some collaborations are moving away from eZuceSRN which
> sometimes
> have connection problems. ZOOM and Bluejeans seem to have stable
> connections,
> and I found both are very reliable. KEK has recently adopted
> Vidyo.developed
> at CERN as well. Is Vibe considered providing more stable
> connections? Would it be
> worth considering some of these other tools?
>
> Vibe has some changes, described as
>
> New Features!
>
> H.264 SVC Codec: Better video over poor connections
> Enhanced Chat Experience: Persistent chat for rooms and
> private chat
> SIP Softphone: Connect to your organizations phone system
> Applications Tabs: Web apps open while in meetings
> Easy access to community meetings: Connect with colleagues easier
> And many more!
>
> They have also updated the Panda servers (the concentrators that do
> transcoding and replication, such as the one we host here).
>
> So there may be some noticable improvements.
>
> Vidyo as I recall was an existing commercial product which CERN
> decided to adopt, not a CERN software. (irrelevant, I know)
> As I recall, CERN host a Vidyo server, which is used for e.g. ATLAS
> meetings. That costs something like $30,000. There is one at BC.net
> which we might be able to use. I don't doubt there are some ongoing
> service costs as well.
>
> I don't know the costing model for Bluejeans or Zoom.
>
> For Vibe/eZuce, we pay an annual fee, prorated since we host a Panda
> server, giving us unmetered usage for any TRIUMF user. There are still
> a fair number of meetings being booked.
>
> The issues in room 223 are separate
>
> Andrew
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> --
>
> Art Olin
> Research Scientist Emeritus
> TRIUMF Canada's particle accelerator centre
> Adjunct Professor
> University of Victoria Department of Physics and Astronomy
> t 604.222.7349 h 604.222.0650
> olin at triumf.ca
> 4004 Wesbrook Mall
> Vancouver BC V6T 2A3 Canada
>
>
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