Live collaboration at Desktop Help Summit

[John J. McDonough]

On Fri, 2010-02-19 at 09:33 -0600, Shaun McCance wrote:
> On Fri, 2010-02-19 at 10:04 -0500, Paul W. Frields wrote:
> > On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 03:22:09PM -0600, Shaun McCance wrote:
> > > On Wed, 2010-02-17 at 19:17 -0500, Paul W. Frields wrote:
> > > > Shaun,
> > > > 
> > > > Here's a list of infrastructure resources to help with live
> > > > collaboration:
> > > > 
> > > > * IRC Freenode #desktop-help -- doesn't seem like there's anything
> > > >   more needed here, you're an auto-op and the channel is all ready
> > > >   with zodbot waiting for you to use to log proceedings.
> > > > 
> > > > * Fedora Talk -- we have a local dial-in available in Chicago so any
> > > >   regular phone can be used with our conference rooms.  You can record
> > > >   if needed, although you'll want to let us know ahead of time so we
> > > >   can make sure instructions are clear and everything's working.
> > > > 
> > > >   http://talk.fedoraproject.org
> > > > 
> > > > * You had mentioned that you were going to check phone and projector
> > > >   availability.  Any word on that?
> > > > 
> > > > Let us know on the list if there's anything else we can do to help
> > > > make the meeting a successful collaboration.
> > > 
> > > Hi Paul,
> > > 
> > > It looks like the room we're in doesn't even have a phone
> > > connection, although Kevin is double-checking that for me.
> > > I think somebody had mentioned that Fedora team members can
> > > call in using VoIP software.  If I got a decent USB confernce
> > > phone or something, could a Fedoran connect the event to the
> > > phone bridge on their laptop?
> > 
> > Hi Shaun,
> > 
> > There are a few ways you can go.  Going from low tech to high:
> > 
> > * Simply dial-in to a Fedora Talk conference room using a cell phone's
> >   speakerphone.  A little harder to hear usually, but requires zero
> >   futzing around with tech.
> > 
> > * I can probably provide a desk-type VoIP handset for John McDonough
> >   to bring along.  It's not too big to travel; I know many people that
> >   do so regularly (with more than one for that matter).  Getting these
> >   phones to work is usually simple as long as you can get SIP & RTP
> >   traffic back and forth.
> > 
> > * Use a softphone like Ekiga or Empathy, with a speaker/mic type
> >   connection that will work for the room (I assume this is what you're
> >   talking about with the USB conference phone thingie?).
> 
> Yeah, I was thinking something like this:
> 
> http://headsetplus.com/category23_57/index.html
> 
> I think these things just behave like a USB headset.
> 
> Failing that, a decent pair of speakers (I own a few) and an
> omni-directional mic (not too expensive) could handle it just
> fine though.  If connecting with Ekiga or Empathy is already a
> solved problem, then this seems like an easy solution to me.
> 
> --
> Shaun
> 

One potential issue is that VoIP connections often require sprinkling
some magic pixie dust on the firewall, if there is one, and I assume
there probably is.  We frequently have phone conferences over VoIP using
Fedora Talk, but most of us do this from home where we can massage our
own firewalls.  Other than the port forwarding, this is a solved
problem.

--McD