System and Software Requirements

There are system and software requirements for the servers that host online conferences and for the computers that participants use during the conferences.

Server Requirements

To run a complete installation of Exchange Conferencing Server, you must have the following applications available: Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, Microsoft Windows® 2000 Server, and Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS). In addition, you must have the following components of Windows 2000 Server: Multicast Address Dynamic Client Allocation Protocol (MADCAP), Certificate Services, and the Active Directory™ directory service.

Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server   Exchange Conferencing Server requires at least one server running Exchange 2000 Server on the same domain. You can install Exchange Conferencing Server components on the same server as Exchange or on another computer in your organization. In addition, at least one server running Exchange on the domain must include or have a replica of the Schedule+ Free Busy Information public folder.

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server   You must install Exchange Conferencing Server on a server running Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server, in the same domain as the server running Exchange. All conference calendar mailboxes and conference resources for the conference technology providers must have Windows accounts on this domain.

MADCAP Services   Use MADCAP to configure Internet Protocol (IP) multicast address scopes for video conferences. MADCAP is a part of the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service configuration on Windows 2000. If you have video conferences on your conferencing site, you must have MADCAP on at least one server in your organization.

Certificate Services   To support secure data conferences, you must install Certificate Services on at least one computer in the Active Directory forest that contains the T.120 multipoint control units (MCUs) that will host secure conferences. Certificate Services issues machine certificates to the MCUs and user certificates to users. The MCU uses these certificates to authenticate users for online conferences and to authenticate itself to other MCUs and to other users. After initially requesting certificates, the MCU periodically receives certificates for new users or for users whose certificates have changed.

Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)   To host conference access Web pages, you must have IIS installed on the same site as a server running Conference Management Service.

Active Directory   To support conference resource objects and configuration objects, you must have Active Directory installed in your organization.

Client Requirements

There are system and software client requirements for users who organize conferences and users who participate in conferences.

The recommended requirements are listed below. Clients that meet these requirements can take full advantage of Exchange Conferencing Server’s features.

Conference participants have access to different conferencing features depending on which versions of these applications they use.

Whereas these are the recommended requirements, there are minimum requirements that still allow users to organize conferences and participate in data and video conferences.

Conference Organizers

The minimum software requirement for conference organizers is an e-mail application with a calendar, such as Outlook 97 (or later) or Outlook Web Access.

Data Conferencing Client

The following are the minimum software requirements for participating in a data conference:

Data Conferencing Provider supports NetMeeting versions 2.0, 2.1x, 3.0, and 3.0x. Additional data conferencing features are available with the later versions of NetMeeting. For example, with versions prior to 3.01, Data Conferencing Provider automatically runs NetMeeting when the client accesses and connects to an online conference. NetMeeting runs as a top-level application. With NetMeeting 3.01, Data Conferencing Provider also hosts NetMeeting’s data collaboration controls on the conference Web page if the Internet browser supports ActiveX controls. When you use NetMeeting 3.01 or later, you can participate in secure data conferences. NetMeeting automatically selects a public certificate installed on the client computer. After authenticating the conference participant, NetMeeting encrypts the content of the data conference.

On computers without NetMeeting, Data Conferencing Provider prompts the user to start the T.120 client. Then Data Conferencing Provider sends a T.120 invitation from the data conference to the client.

Video Conferencing Client

The following are the minimum software requirements for participating in a video conference:

When a client accesses an online conference from a computer with Microsoft Windows 2000 that is on an IP-multicast enabled network, the client receives a multiparty video image of the conference participants. These video images are embedded on the conference Web page by using an ActiveX control.

Clients without Windows 2000 or a multicast-enabled network must install NetMeeting 2.1 or later on their computers. Video Conferencing Provider connects these client computers to the video conference using a H.323 unicast NetMeeting call. Clients that connect in this manner receive the audio for five participants from the conference and a single video image of the conference participant who is speaking.

Clients participating in multicast video conferences must have Windows 2000 installed. In addition, multicast video clients use a downloaded ActiveX control that runs in the Video Conference Provider frame of the Internet browser. Make sure your browser security settings allow ActiveX controls to be downloaded and run on client computers. You can also install ActiveX controls on the client computers manually.