VTEL WG500, Руководство по установке

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1.1
SmartStation
TM
Chapter 1
Videoconferencing Basics
In the past all you needed to make a video call was a phone number (or two) and a line
rate. With the advent of new standards, you can now bypass the phone company
altogether, but it takes a little understanding.
Calls using phone numbers and long distance carriers are known as Wide Area Network
(WAN) calls. These calls use the H.320 standard. A new standard, H.323, allows
companies to place calls using their computer network. This Local Area Network
(LAN) system uses the Ethernet that a company already has in place to transfer the
video data—thus avoiding any phone company difficulties, as well as the per call phone
charge.
LAN (H.323) calling
Naming conventions
IP addresses and aliases
Each computer on a network, including your WG500 system, is called an endpoint.
Each endpoint is assigned an Internet Protocol (IP) address. This IP address is used when
making a LAN-based call. It has the form of xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx. This system works quite
smoothly, but it is often difficult to remember IP addresses. Thus, aliases have been
developed as an easier way of accessing other endpoints. For example, “Bob_Smith” is
an alias that can be used to address the computer in Bob’s office, rather than entering
his IP address of 255.146.208.190. This technique is the same system that allows e-mail
to use names and not IP addresses.
Typically, your IP alias will be the same as your e-mail address. However, you should
contact your system administrator to verify this.