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QA scheme

OVERVIEW

AARNet provide the National Video Conferencing Service to the Australian Research and Education Community to provide assistance and technical support for video conferencing experts (known as CAVEs).

Participation in the Quality Assurance Program will allow automatic, assured and stress free call setup for conferences booked through NVCS, as well as opening up a support channel for greater assistance from AARNet in working to make video conferencing more widely available and reliable.

The aim of the Quality Assurance Program is to improve user experience and promote confidence in video conferencing. Irrespective of the brand of equipment and platform used, CAVEs will be able to work through the test regime, as the testing is not based on any hardware or platform.

A Quality Assurance test must be carried out before a venue is registered for automated dialing on the AARNet CMP Online Booking System. Once a venue has passed a QA test it will be available in CMP to book for meetings for selected user role accounts. The QA test must be performed every twelve months, for which venue administrators will receive an email reminder.

This in turn will assist in the following outcomes:

Improve the reliability of videoconferencing sessions
Improve overall videoconferencing experience (good video, audio)
Provide an indication of high quality videoconferencing and rooms capabilities (HD/ SD etc)
Provide feedback to poor video conferencing sites where improvement is required, failed facilities given assistance by NVCS
Passed facilities will be added to booking system as Registered end-points ; this is required to enable dial-out functionality, authorisation by CAVEs required to book the specific facilities
QA test date renewal flagged by booking system/CRM system. A test result will last for 12 months, than an end-point has to be retested
Proactive support option via monthly System Health Check (scheduled dial-out to the end-points from MCU performed automatically out of business hours). Please note that will be possible only if your end-point is turn on permanently and it accept incoming calls automatically

QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM COMPONENTS

The Quality Assurance process for video conferencing facilities connected to AARNet IP Network includes the following items:

Protocol based Quality Assurance Test performed between the end-point and test system (NVCS operator)
Automated backend services for quality assurance and endpoint testing as a 1st level troubleshooting tool (playback loop accessible 24/7)
A Database for recording Quality Assurance Results
Recommendation how to prepare your video conferencing facility for a Quality Assurance Test
Integration into the Registered Facilities listing (Information about Registered facilities/end- points including status information and capabilities will be publicised on NVCS website). Please not that above is not compulsory and organisation may wish not to publicise their sites details.
Integration into the online booking system (pre-configured sites accessible for authorised groups of people)

QUALITY ASSURANCE TEST CRITERIA AND STEPS

The Videoconferencing Quality Assurance Process provides a method to assess facility/end-point based upon a number of criteria.

These include:

Networking Requirements (Gatekeeper registrations, QoS, firewall etc)
Audio Quality (echo, speech levels and quality etc)
Video Quality (picture quality, blurring, jerkiness, distortion of smooth motion, FECC etc)
Data Sharing capabilities (optional)

A Quality Assurance test is performed between the room coordinator and AARNet VC room and MCU. A test is scheduled to last for 1.5 hours, however it will usually take less time, and the initial test for a site will be more thorough than subsequent QA sessions. It is highly recommended to self-test your facility and understand test requirements before you make an appointment.
There are few steps required to pass a Quality Assurance test.

Fill out an online Test Request form (system details to be provided). An NVCS operator will contact you to confirm your appointment.
Actual protocol based testing performed between the end-point and test system ( NVCS operator)
Receiving an email confirmation of a Quality Assurance Test Results by Local Coordinator
Adding passed facilities to booking system as registered end-points and listed on NVCS website (optional). Failed facilities given assistance by NVCS team.
Flagging renewal QA test date in booking system

SCHEDULING CONFERENCES WITH REGISTERED END-POINTS

Registered end-points added to online booking system will be available for scheduling only by dedicated users. A specific institution preferences regarding authorisation to book video conferencing facilities are determined via associated CAVE community survey and confirmed during a QA test. There are many options regarding authorization level e.g. only users from an institution, dedicated CAVE representatives from other academic institution or all CAVE representatives would be able to schedule a specific videoconferencing facility.

Each pre-configured videoconferencing end-point has contact details assigned and this person or group will receive an automated email each time a room is booked via the CMP booking system. This person or group is deemed responsible for physical room bookings within an institution.

Ideally, the automated QA scenario is for conference organisers to contact all institutions involved in a meeting and confirm VC room’s availability. The organiser then schedules a conference using CMP and chooses the pre-configured VC rooms (when availability confirmed). Once booked, CMP will send automatic emails to all contact persons (typically CAVE representatives) responsible for the chosen facilities and they assure that rooms are physically booked for the meeting. This process will avoid the situation whereby an MCU will initiate a call to a VC room that is in use by another participants.

QUALITY ASSURANCE SCHEME WORKFLOW