TMCnet
ITEXPO begins in:   New Coverage :  Asterisk  |  Fax Software  |  SIP Phones  |  Small Cells
 
 

Genesys Conferencing � Secure, Global and Powerful

By Martin Milner

November 2006, Volume 9/ Number 11

 

�The Genesys Meeting Center is easy to deploy to my end users and the Genesys moderator interface and tools are intuitive and incredibly easy to use.�

�Craig Donald, IT Director, Veritas

Genesys Conferencing, based in Vienna, Virginia, showed its powerful Genesys Meeting Center. Services are specifically aimed at the larger enterprise customer and are rich in features that large companies care most about, with particular emphasis on the quality and the customization of feature set and interface based on specific needs, including branding, feature activation and deactivation, and integration capabilities. Genesys� own R&D departments work extensively with their clients during service implementation.

The company has more than 18,000 clients worldwide, presence in 25 countries and product available in 20 languages. Audio conferencing is available in 15 languages and help/support delivered 24/7 in the local language. Genesys also offers a global high quality video conferencing service allowing connection to multiple system types and platforms.

Genesys provides a fully hosted multimedia conferencing and collaboration service, the Genesys Meeting Center, incorporating comprehensive voice, web and desktop video conferencing features. Additionally, the company owns the distribution technologies for its services and can deliver these globally. It claims 2 billion collaboration minutes per year with more than 100,000 worldwide users and is a global powerhouse. Genesys also offers an Event Service that provides operator-assisted service for its clients� large scale and high profile events.







The flexibility and ease of use of Genesys Meeting Center are amply illustrated in the number of ways in which a meeting can be initiated
:

� A single click on a desktop icon.

� Via integration with existing desktop tools including links from MS Outlook Calendar and Lotus Notes.

� Via the Genesys.com public website, private extranet site and a client�s intranet.

� Via a link in an email invite sent by the meeting organizer.

� By an MSN Instant Messenger or Lotus Notes SameTime IM client link (and by the end of this year Genesys will have support for MS Communicator).

� Genesys� Xpress Meeting is suitable for a quick meeting not requiring the full features of the Genesys Meeting Center interface, useful if all colleagues need to do is to quickly share an application without using a browser.

First-time users have access to quick start windows that help them to initiate and run their meetings. As familiarity increases these can be turned off.

Participants can join in a call using a regular phone, a VoIP phone or by using streaming technologies. The Genesys Meeting Center can also be configured to dial out to conference participants.

Genesys� comprehensive meeting services have been designed to respond to company-wide meeting requirements and offer capabilities that all departments within the larger enterprise can use, including support for:

� Daily meetings (All departments, e.g. progress meetings)

� Interactive demonstrations (All departments)

� Training programs (Training)

� Internal communications (Human Resources)

� Product launches (Engineering and Marketing departments)

� Sales presentations (Sales and Marketing departments)

� Help desk support (Information Technology)

Security for its Worldwide Customers is Paramount for Genesys

Genesys Meeting Center provides users with high-level security throughout all phases of conferencing including presentation, storage, delivery and collaboration. Three types of security are used:

Access Security: Every account holder is assigned a PIN (personal identification number), a password can be set and required on a per meeting basis, meeting organizers can also �lock the door� on a meeting; participants will then be defaulted to a waiting room. Meeting organizers can also dismiss one or all participants. In the audio conference, notification tones inform of the arrival of new participants and can require the participant to record their name to be played on meeting entry. Unlike some systems, the meeting organizer has a specific account; other individuals do not have access to the same account or PIN numbers.

Application Security: The product currently uses �unsigned� Java applets, known as �sandboxed applets� which mitigate against access to a participant�s file system or Windows registry. In version 4.0 (available Q4 2006) the Genesys Meeting Center will be migrated to AJAX (see note below). Genesys employs a proprietary compression method and file format to protect all voice calls.

Network Security: Genesys offers 128-bit SSL encryption for all presentation content, login, password information and application sharing, the same level of security used by online financial institutions.

All Genesys Meeting Center features are firewall transparent; the system adapts to the security policies of firewalls for which regular web browsing is enabled, with TCP or HTTP protocols, using Port 80 or Port 443 (if SSL is enabled).

Pre-Event Features and Functionality

As one might expect, Genesys Conferencing offers the complete pre-event service, including: Event planning and coordination, content consulting and training.

With regard to training, the company provides both �Getting Started� and �Enhanced training sessions for which participants can register through the company website. Genesys also offers training at the client company�s site and 15-day trial accounts can be created for up to five users to test the product before making a decision to buy.

Genesys Meeting Center�s accessible and user-friendly interface includes an area for showing PowerPoint slides, viewing web pages and includes a chat window by default; settings can be changed by a moderator. Also included are an attendee roster and a free floating frame, which can be resized as required, to show video input. The interface is customizable so that hosts can make available the components that they need to fulfill the requirements of a given meeting. While developing the product a conscious decision was made to make the color scheme, fonts, buttons and graphics look and feel similar to other products users may have encountered.



Figure 1. The Genesys Meeting Center showing the video viewer panel, activity in the chat window and the delivery of an online poll.

Genesys Conferencing provides an excellent reporting feature offering Web Summary, Meeting Usage, Survey, Quiz and Archives reports, as follows:

Web Summary: attendance details including who attended, starting and ending times and connection duration, Meeting Usage offering all of the above plus telephone numbers and how connected (telephone, streaming audio or VoIP), Survey showing survey results, Quiz � If a knowledge assessment quiz has been used in a training presentation, displays overall or individual quiz results including: pass/fail grades, score, questions correct and missed, and Archives: Views of archived presentations, giving date and time of viewing.



Table 2 � Product Specifications
Collabrix Genesys Meeting Center WebEx Event Center
Memory 64 MB RAM w/10 MB of disk space 32 MB RAM (128 MB of RAM is needed for application sharing. 128 MB RAM
Browser IE 5.01 SP2 or higher IE 6.0 Firefox 1.5 on Windows/MAC/Linux Safari 2.0 (MAC) IE 5,6 or higher Firefox 1.0 Netscape 4.7,7.x
Operating Systems Windows 9x, 2000, XP Windows 2000/XP MAC OS (participants only) Windows 98/ME/NT/2K/XP
Bandwidth Excels in all environments from Dial up to broadband; adjusts to available bandwidth. 5-10 Kbps (An additional 10-12 Kbps are required when using the VoIP softphone.) Minimum is 56 Kbps but for better results a broadband connection is recommended
Firewalls Uses standard TCP/IP ports; Communication takes place on port 443. System adapts to security policies of firewall; does not try to circumvent firewall security policies Uses port 80 or port 443 (if SSL is enabled). Communicates through standard ports, HTTP on port 80, HTTPS on 443, encrypted with 128-bit SSL.
s/w downloads Initial product download; no further downloads required. You do not need client on computer to participate in audio or web conference. Participants do need ActiveX controls. ActiveX controls for meeting organizers. Participants currently require a Java VM. Not required although ActiveX controls, JavaScript and cookies are enabled in the browser.


Important Note
: Genesys Release 4.0 � Scheduled for Q4 2006 � includes an optional single download that will provide meeting organizers with all they need to run a meeting. Participants will not have to download anything and will be able to join via more browsers and operating systems including IE 6.0 or higher on Windows, Firefox 1.5 or higher on Windows, MAC OS and Linux and Safari 2.0 or higher on MAC OS. There will also be a major transition of service to 100% standards-compliant AJAX (which is faster on slower machines and provides for more dynamic web pages), included also will be further presence, corporate directories and calendar features, a move to dedicated media servers to improve scalability and allow the deployment of services such as speech recognition, further greetings customization and an enhancement of VoIP capabilities that will see the introduction of a service using a client�s own VoIP network, and one-two-one IP to IP and IP to PSTN capabilities.

Also, Genesys pricing is based on the Multimedia Minute. This is a flat rate per participant per minute for integrated voice, web and desktop video. This service, offered on a pay-as-you-go basis makes it easy to track usage by departments and, where required, bill back expenses. The current rate is 18 cents.

< Previous           Next>



Today @ TMC
Upcoming Events
ITEXPO West 2012
October 2- 5, 2012
The Austin Convention Center
Austin, Texas
MSPWorld
The World's Premier Managed Services and Cloud Computing Event
Click for Dates and Locations
Mobility Tech Conference & Expo
October 3- 5, 2012
The Austin Convention Center
Austin, Texas
Cloud Communications Summit
October 3- 5, 2012
The Austin Convention Center
Austin, Texas