Video Agenda Help

The Video Agenda System is a comprehensive, yet simple system for the delivery of live and archived meetings that follow a formal agenda such as city or town council meetings.  The system is fully compatible with VBrick Media Control Server (MCS), or with any other IIS web server.

Basic Workflow:

  • A clerk enters the agenda title, date, and agenda items in a web form. The clerk may access the web form via a browser from anywhere at any time. The data may be edited as needed.
  • A VBrick WM appliance is used to send the live audio/video to all viewers, either directly or via a reflector
  • When the meeting begins, an operator opens the Video Agenda interface (shown below) and selects the meeting from a drop down list.
  • All agenda items appear in the agenda list
  • The operator selects "Online" to enable the viewing of the meeting by remote viewers, and to enable subsequent recording.
  • The operator selects "Record" to archive the meeting.
  • As the meeting progresses, the operator selects the current agenda item. This allows viewers to know what agenda item is currently being discussed and enables subsequent rapid navigation to the agenda item in a recorded archive.
  • When the meeting is over, the operator selects "Offline" and/or "Stop Record".
  • The operator selects "Publish" to cause the recording to be published to a streaming server.

 
 

 

Setup

Select Setup and enter the parameters for your VBrick, Web Server, and Streaming Server.

Item Description
VBrick WM Appliance  
VBrick IP VBrick IP Address
VBrick Port VBrick management port (default is 80)
VBrick Username VBrick username (default is operator)
VBrick Password VBrick password (default is operator)
Viewer URL This is the video URL that will be used by viewers.  It may be the VBrick internal server URL, or the URL of a reflector if a reflector is used. The VBrick internal streaming server default URL is http://VBrickIP:8080/vbrickvideo1 (unicast) or http://VBrickIP/vbs1multi.nsc (multicast).
Record URL This the the video URL for recording.  Normally, this will be the URL of the VBrick WM appliance (e.g. http://VBrickIp:8080/vbrickvideo1)
Offset Sets the time offset to compensate for delay (for recorded video). Default is 5.
Web Server  
Web IP Web server IP or host name
Web Username Web server username
Web Password Web server password
Web Rmtdir Web server remote directory
Web URL This is the base URL for viewing web pages from your server.  For example, if your web server is 123.123.123.123 and the remote directory is "mydir", then the URL is http://123.123.123.123/mydir
Upload Files This is the initial setup -- uploads the configuration files to your web server. NOTE: press this only AFTER you have set up the VBrick parameters.
Manage This opens a FTP window via IE to your web server account
Agenda Password Sets the password required to create or modify an agenda
Streaming WM Server  
Streaming Server IP Streaming Server IP or host name
Streaming Server Username Streaming Server username
Streaming Server Password Streaming Server password
Streaming Server Rmt Dir Streaming Server Remote Directory
Streaming Server URL This is the base URL for viewing WM video files from your WM server.  For example, if you place a file on the WM server via FTP, the folder you use must have a publishing point for that folder. Thus if your streaming server is 123.123.123.123 and the remote directory is "mydir", then the URL is "http://123.123.123.123/mydir".  

 

Operation

Item Description
Connect Gets the available agenda list
Select Meeting Selects a meeting.  Note: list turns red if the meeting has been previously recorded.
Up/Down Select agenda item (or click on it directly in the list)
Online / Offline Selects online -- turns the VBrick on/off (http push, server, multicast) and adds/removes the meeting from the viewing list
Play / Stop Plays the live video / Stops live video play
Record Starts / Stops recording
Duration Sets the maximum recording time in minutes
Delete Deletes a meeting from the servers
Show URL Shows any web page or document to viewers
Browse / Upload Browses the local computer, selects a document, and uploads it to the web server. Adds the uploaded document to the available "Show URL" dropdown list
Tools
  • Create Agenda -- shows the create agenda web page
  • Modify Agenda -- shows the modify agenda web page
  • View Agenda Listing -- shows the viewer agenda listing page

 

First Time Use

After your web server and streaming server are setup (see below), you must navigate to setup / web server, and select "Upload Setup Files". This will upload all of the files to your web server.  You only need to do this once (it does no harm to do it multiple times).

 

 

Web Server Setup

The Video Agenda software uses ASP, therefore it MUST be run on a Microsoft IIS web server.

For an existing web server, you simply need a FTP account such that when you log in and upload files, those files can be accessed via http. This is the most common configuration, and your FTP login should put you in the desired directory. For example, your web server might have a directory called "mydir". You might login to your server via FTP with username "mydir" and password "mypassword" which will automatically place you in the "mydir" directory. In this case, you will enter "mydir" as your username, "mypassword" as your password, and "mydir" as your remote dir in the web server setup. When you create an agenda, a new folder with the Agenda name will be created on your server.

Setting Up an FTP Account

Here is an example of how to set up a standard FTP account on IIS Version 6.0 (Windows Server 2003 Web Edition) . You must create a user, a folder, and virtual directories as explained below. The user, folder, and virtual directories should all have the same name. Use any name you wish but they must be identical. This example uses "agenda" for the user, folder, and virtual directory names.

To set up a standard FTP account on IIS:

1.    Create a Windows folder where your presentations will be saved, typically C:\agenda

  1. Right-click on the folder you just created and select Sharing and Security.
  2. On the Sharing tab click Share this folder.
  3. Click Permissions, give Everyone Full Control, then OK.
  4. On the Web Sharing tab, click Edit Properties and check Execute (includes scripts) in Application permissions and click OK and OK to exit.

2.    Go to Start Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management and add a new user:

  1. Click Local Users and Groups.
  2. Right-click on Users and select New User.
  3. Create a user (for example: agenda) and set a password (for example: password).
  4. Uncheck User must change password at next logon (recommended).
  5. Check User cannot change password and Password never expires (recommended) and click Create and Close.

3.    Set the local path for user agenda.

  1. Right-click on user agenda and select Properties.
  2. On the Profile tab in the Home folder, set the Local path to the agenda folder: for example: C:\agenda and click OK.

4.    Go to Start > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

  1. In right panel, double-click on local computer and then again on FTP Sites.
  2. Right-click on Default FTP Site and select New > Virtual Directory.
  3. Run the wizard and create new virtual directory called agenda.
  4. Set the path to C:\agenda.
  5. Set the permissions for this folder to Read and Write. Click Next and Finish.

5.    In left panel, double-click on Web Sites.

  1. Right-click on Default Web Site and select Properties.
  2. On Directory Security tab, edit Authentication and access control, check Enable anonymous access (if desired), and click OK.
  3. On Documents tab, set Enable default content page to include index.asp and click OK. (If prompted, click OK. Ensure subfolders are set to Inheritance.)
  4. On Home Directory tab, set the Local path to the folder you defined in Step 1 above for example C:\agenda

6.    Right-click again on Default Web Site and select New > Virtual Directory.

  1. Run the wizard and create a new virtual directory called agenda.
  2. Set the path to C:\agenda.
  3. Set the permissions for this folder to Read, Write, and Run scripts (such as ASP), then click Next and Finish.
  4. Right-click on agenda and select Permissions.
  5. Click Add, type Everyone in the text box, and click OK.
  6. Give Full Control to Everyone and click OK.

7.    Close the window and you are finished setting up an FTP account in IIS.

 

Streaming Server Setup

Use the same procedure as for a web server, except your goal is to create an FTP account that puts WM files on a WM server such that those files are available via a "publishing point".

 

Creating An Agenda

A new meeting is created using the createagenda web page (available from the toolbar or directly via web link).  Enter the password (configured under setup / web server), and enter desired title, date, description, and up to 25 agenda line items. Enter the URL for a default document to be displayed, for example, your 'home page' or an uploaded agenda document (e.g. agenda.pdf). Select "Submit" when done.

Note that the meeting name must be unique! A good approach would be to use a meeting number + text (e.g. 1A Meeting, 2A Meeting, etc.)

Editing An Exiting Meeting Agenda

An existing meeting agenda can be edited (except for the title) using the agendacreatoredit function (available from the toolbar or directly via web link). Select an existing Agenda Title from the dropdown list, enter the password, and press Submit next to the password to complete the form. Next, edit any item as desired and press "Submit" at the bottom of the form when done.

 

 

 

Viewing

The live and archived video agenda video may be viewed at http://yourWebServer/folder OR  http://yourWebServer/folder/index.asp

Agenda meetings created but not currently live appear without a link and with a blue icon; Live agenda meetings appear with a link and a red icon when the operator selects "ONLINE" and returns to a blue icon without link when operator selects "OFFLINE".  Archived and published agenda meetings automatically appear with a green icon and link  after the operator selects "PUBLISH".

The viewer may view all agenda items from the agenda list.  This is very useful so that the audience may determine if the agenda items in a particular meeting are of interest to that viewer.  To view the meeting, the viewer need only click on the meeting name.

Note that the viewer may sort the list alphabetically  by name, description, or date (however, see notes below).

 
When the viewer clicks to view a live or archive meeting, they have the following viewer:
Live Meeting:
  • The video is live
  • The agenda items shown under the video change in real time, telling the viewer what agenda item is current
  • The image on the right is any document or web page (the VBrick home page is shown as an example).  Typically, this would be a PDF document of the meeting agenda, etc.

Archive Meeting:

  • The video is recorded
  • The agenda items shown under the video change the same way they did in the live meeting, telling the viewer what agenda item is current.
  • The viewer may select any agenda item and the video plays at that point
  • The image on the right is any document or web page (the VBrick home page is shown as an example).  Typically, this would be a PDF document of the meeting agenda, etc.

Best Practice Notes:

  • The meeting name must be unique!
  • The viewing listing is alphabetical, not numeric.  This is how your meeting names will be sorted and displayed.  For example, "A Meeting" will be listed before "B Meeting", but "111 Meeting" will be listed before "2 Meeting".  Give your meeting titles alphabetical listing names such as "A1 Meeting", "A2 Meeting", "B1 Meeting", etc. to ensure proper sorting.
  • When using the URL feature, whatever URL is displayed last will be the first (default) URL for the recorded meeting.
  • If a clerk can upload a document to your web server, they may enter the URL to this document when they create the agenda.
  • The URL for the "Create Agenda" and "Edit Agenda" function does not change once you have decided on your hosting server. A city clerk located elsewhere may enter all agenda items WITHOUT needing the Agenda Software: simply provide the URL's to these web pages.
  • The agenda listing will only appear when you select "ONLINE" and will disappear when you select "OFFLINE".

VBrick MCS Notes:

  • You may publish directly to a WM server used with a MCS by creating an FTP account on your WM server.  MCS may automatically discover the video files, however. You may or may not want this.  If you do not want this, simply set MCS permissions such that the folder you use is not listed for MCS users. Note that you will have to manually edit the MCS entry to add title, description, etc. to make the listing useful.
  • You may use MCS as the destination of your recorded WM files by uploading to the "autoingest" directory.  This is not particularly useful in this case, however, but may simplify setup.