Today, multipoint capability is a required component for any collaborative application. More than 40 percent of today’s meetings consist of individuals from three or more sites. The Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch provides this functionality, allowing TelePresence meetings to expand beyond two TelePresence systems. However, it is important that multipoint devices don’t compromise the overall experience by adding excessive delay resulting in unnatural user interaction. Cisco developed the CTMS from the ground up to specifically address user experience while maintaining the overall ease of use. The CTMS is also a key component in providing interoperability with non-TelePresence video systems allowing non-TelePresence systems to participate in TelePresence meetings.
The Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch is a server-based platform with capacity for up to 48 segments in a single meeting or spread across multiple meetings. Unlike with traditional Multipoint Control Units (MCU), features such as transcoding have been avoided to minimize delay. With its software switching architecture, the CTMS introduces very little delay, ~10ms, into each TelePresence multipoint meeting helping maintain the natural experience found in point-to-point meetings. Voice-activated switching determines which site, or segment, displays on CTS systems in a multipoint meeting. Traditional video conferencing MCUs provide two display options for multipoint meetings; voice-activated switching, which displays the active site on all systems in a meeting; and continuous presence, which provides a continuous view of multiple sites on each system. To maintain the in-person experience, the CTMS does not provide a continuous presence option for multipoint meetings. However, with the addition of three-screen systems, two switching modes are available:
- Room-based switching, which displays the entire room on all remote systems
- Speaker switching, which allows each segment to be switched independently
Figure 1 shows a basic example of the two switching modes.
Figure 1 provides a basic illustration of what is displayed in a CTS-3000 or CTS-3200 for both switching modes in a three-site multipoint call. As shown in the room switching example, participants always see a single room on their displays, while in speaker switching, it is possible for participants to see a segment from each site or any combination based on the active segments.
The CTMS is an integrated component of the overall Cisco TelePresence solution designed to provide multipoint telepresence meetings while maintaining a consistent user experience. Integration with the overall telepresence system enables users to book multipoint meetings, choose meeting preferences, and control meeting options during a call using the 7975 Series IP Phone in the telepresence room. This integration also allows the CTMS to communicate directly with the CTS system, providing end of meeting notifications and other relevant information to users during the meeting. The CTMS also communicates directly with CTS-Manager, providing its available resources, receiving scheduled meeting information, and providing system status.
As mentioned above, the CTMS is an integral part of the interoperability solution provided by Cisco TelePresence. Interoperability with existing video conferencing systems is an important feature allowing video conferencing systems to participate in Cisco TelePresence meetings. At press time, interoperability between telepresence vendors is limited because of the implementation of video standards and complexities with multiscreen Telepresence systems. The goal for Cisco TelePresence interoperability is to provide a solution that plugs into video conferencing deployments with as little change to the existing environment as possible while interoperating with >90 percent of the existing video systems on the market. For this reason, a simple solution providing a cascade link between the CTMS and the Cisco Unified Video Conferencing (CUVC) MCU is used. This model enables telepresence meetings to be scheduled using Outlook or Notes and initiated using One-Button-to-Push, whereas non-telepresence video systems use their current method of dialing to access the meeting. Figure 2 illustrates a view of interoperability.
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