1.

General Description
The video conferencing system is based on the application BigBlueButton
(BBB) which is an Open Source software that allows up to 50 connection
points to participate in a virtual meeting which can optionally be recorded,
using chat, video, and audio, to collaborate via whiteboard, to present
documents in the formats PDF, txt, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and to
share the desktop.
Minimal technical Requirements
BBB needs a browser plug-in for Adobe Flash Player. Therefore make
sure to have an actualized browser with Adobe Flash Player installed and
Java Script activated and actualized.
Bandwidth for the BBB user: Recommended is (at least) 0.5 Mbits/sec
upstream and 1.0 Mbits/sec downstream.
Necessary is also a sound system (speakers and microphone) per
connection point. Recommended as well for PC as for Laptop are for
maintaining the quality of sound headphones and external microphone.
Its necessary to dispose of web cams, preferably external web cams,
even in the case of laptops. In case the acquirement of a new web cam
is necessary the use of simple web cams is recommended. Full HD web
cams are not recommended. Be aware that high resolution cameras
require the availability of a high bandwidth and can affect the connection
quality of the active point as well as of the other participants.
2. Recommendations for functioning

BBB works with browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome. But in
order to optimize the quality of sound use best Firefox or Chrome
because only these browsers support the webRTC audio standard.
Its recommended to use a wired and no wireless connection and if only
a wireless is available at least to minimize the distance to the WLAN
point.
It is recommended

to

undertake

regular

speed

tests

(using

http://speedtest.net/ ) of the internet connection of the users and to test

also shortly before starting or joining a conference. Observe the minimal
internet speed described in section 2.

 I case you have acquired a new microphone it is recommended to install

it before beginning the BBB conference because Flash doesn`t actualize
the list of available microphones during a BBB session.
3. Troubleshooting
1. In the case that there are problems with the audio:
a. The most common problem using BBB is that the predetermined microphone isn`t the active microphone. In this
case the user can hear the others but the others cannot
hear him. The solution: Open the dialog of the audio
configuration and select the correct microphone. These
steps

are

also

described

in

the

tutorial

video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y__UsUrRx0

b. Using Google Chrome, the browser asks the user for

permission for using Flash before accessing the web
camera /the microphone. This means that there are two
places where a user has to give his/her permission: (1) the
security dialog of Flash and (2) the security prompt of
Google. The microphone only works if the user give his/her
permission to both.
c. If the audio problems continue execute the following tests:
i. Login a second time in a different tab of the web
browser using a different name. Make the audio test
as described before for the second login. Speak
some words. If the microphone works you should
hear your words in the headphones. If it doesn`t
work the cause of the problem may be due to the
configuration of your system. If it works the problem
may be due to the internet connection.
ii. Click the following link for a
implementation

of

reference
BBB:

http://demo.bigbluebutton.org/ Insert your name to

enter. Make the audio test as described before. Can
you see the icon of the microphone next to your
name? In the case that it doesn`t work, the cause of

the problem may be due to the internet connection. If

it works the cause may be due to the configuration of
your system.
2. If the audio quality isn`t satisfying: Deactivate all web cameras in
BBB that are not necessary.
3. If BBB doesn`t work correctly, it is always possible to refresh the
browser. This will reload the session and bring the user back to
the conference.
4. Security
All Application Programming Interface (API) calls include a checksum that
signs the parameters with a so called shared secret (also called salt).This
secures that non-authorized people from outside cannot make calls to the
BigBlueButton API.
If you create a new conference as described in section 4.2 the conference
can only be entered by persons that have the access link for this
conference.
For pre-defined conferences (virtual meeting rooms) it is also possible to
add an additional password protection.