Self Testing and Live Connection Instructions

Northwestern Information Technology provides a self testing service for remote videoconference sites to verify their compatibility with our infrastructure.   Testing is critical for success when participating in a videoconference hosted by Northwestern. The self testing service is available 24/7 and will support two concurrent tests from off campus locations. Try again 5 or 10 minutes later if your initial connection was unsuccessful as it may be in use at the moment.

Register with the NU Gatekeeper

In order to test and connect to our infrastructure, we recommend that you first connect with our gatekeeper. The gatekeeper allows you to dial directly to the MCU session in which you are participating.

1. Find the Admin menu and then locate the H.323 section
2. Enable the gatekeeper function and set it to specify (not auto)
3. Enter gk.northwestern.edu or 129.105.253.250
4. Assign an E.164 number to your endpoint (Non-NU off campus systems should begin with the number 3 and have a total of six digits (we recommend using the last 5 digits of your phone number - for example 399484)
5. Verify that the gatekeeper registration was successful (you should get feedback from your system) and then save your settings

Connect to the 24/7 Test Session or to a Videoconference hosted by Northwestern

H.323 Dialing (500012345) - Our continuous test session has a connection number of 500012345. If you are registered with the NU gatekeeper, enter this number in your videoconferencing dialing system and connect at speeds up to 2mbps. Once connected, you will see a pre-recorded looping videoconference that will have audio, video and H.239 content. If your system supports H.239, the content will display in a separate window from the video.

To connect to a live videoconference hosted by Northwestern, dial the MCU session number provided by the conference coordinator or the video number of the room.

ISDN connection (1 847 467 0001) - Our incoming ISDN Gateway number for Northwestern University is 1 847 467 0001 When dialing, make sure that you are NOT using auto-negotiate for any settings when making a connection to our Gateway. We recommend a call speed of 256Kbps or 384Kbps, H.263 or H.261 for video and G.722 for audio. Once connected, verify that all necessary ISDN channels have connected.

1. When connected to the Gateway auto-attendant, you will be prompted to enter an extension number (same concept as the MCU dial in number)
2. Use your ISDN system to enter the 24/7 Test MCU number of 500012345 followed by the # sign (without the # sign, or an incorrect number, you will be be automatically connected to our looping 24/7 videoconference test conference).
3. Or, you can wait 45 seconds and you will be automatically routed to the 24/7 Test MCU videoconference.

To troubleshoot ISDN connections, start with using H.261 video and G.711 audio and then in adjust the video and audio codecs accordingly.  We can support ISDN call speeds up to 384kbps.

Repeat these steps for a live videoconference, except you'll need to enter the MCU number provided by the conference coordinator. If special arrangements are needed to support the connection, such as you cannot enter additional numbers, please let us know via email.

Telephone Connections (7-0001 or 1 847 467 0001) - are identical to how an ISDN call is made. For on campus telephone connections, just dial the 5 digit extension of 7-0001 and then enter the 24/7 Test number of 500012345 to connect. Off campus telephone connections require the full number including the area code (847 467 0001).

To connect to a live videoconference via the telephone, follow the instructions above and enter the MCU session number provided by the conference coordinator. Once you enter the MCU number followed by the # sign, you will be routed to the conference.

Note: If you enter an incorrect MCU number followed by the # sign, you will be routed to the test session automatically. You should disconnect and try again making sure that the MCU number was entered correctly.

Unable to Register with our gatekeeper or already have your own gatekeeper?
Our MCU supports direct IP dialing as well as gatekeeper neighboring as defined by the ViDe.Net global dialing scheme (GDS).

Dial our MCU directly using an IP address:

1. Dial 129.105.223.154 to connect to the Northwestern MCU
2. Once connected to the auto-attendant, press the # key on your remote control or use Far End Camera (FEC) controls
3. Enter the MCU dial in number, followed by the # sign (500012345#)
4. You will now connect to the 24/7 test videoconference

For a live videoconference connection using an IP address, follow the instructions above and enter the MCU number provided by the conference coordinator followed by the # sign. This will connect you to the conference.

The GDS prefix for Northwestern University is 0011169. If your site supports this method of dialing, you can connect to our 24/7 test session by dialing 0011169500012345. Use the same prefix for NU and a different MCU number for the live videoconference (which should be provided by the coordinator).

The instructions for each of these connection types should be followed for the live videoconference session. Contact the conference coordinator for the MCU session, IP address or video number of the room you are trying to connect with. Verify audio, video and connection quality for all tests and report back to the videoconference coordinator or NUIT videoconference technician with your results.