Open Source Web Conferencing

OpenMeetings 1.9.0 available

2011-12-05T10:20:00.001-08:00

Version 1.9.0 is probably the last major release before OpenMeetings will become a project of the Apache Software Foundation. 1.9.0 has over 10 new features. For example you can use webcams with multiple resolutions from very small 4:3 to very large 16:9. Or polls can be saved and poll results are available as pie-chart. Another major improvement enables you to mute other microphones one-by-one and additionally you can give yourself exclusively the micro and mute everybody else with a single click. Further you can run OpenMeetings now completely over SSL using HTTPS and RTMPS (Flash Streaming over SSL). For a complete list please review our changelog.

Changes:

Run OpenMeetings over SSL using HTTPS and RTMPS see RTMPSandHTTPS
Rename the complete application webapp path see CustomizingWebappName
rtmpT (rtmp over HTTP Tunneling) working again
Save polls: You can now save polls, delete polls and close polls. Also poll results are displayed as pie-charts.
Mute any user: You can mute yourself. Additionally moderators can also mute other microphones. Mute status is displayed in user-list and status icons in video pod and on top of the user list
Give exclusive microphone: Mute everybody except yourself with a single click. The User can click on his video pod (or press F12), if he has the needed rights, his micro is unmuted while everybody else is muted. The moderator can additionally give the right to have the functionality to "Give exclusive microphone" to to any user and/or can also directly click on any other participant's video to "Give exclusive microphone" to this user.
You can now see in your own video pod not only the green light but also the full activity meter indicating your loudness
You can now choose between multiple resolutions for the video, remote video pods are synced to the size too. With different dimension (4:3, 16:9). Does also reduce needed bandwidth to use exactly the supported resolution and you can choose smaller video sizes to save bandwidth. You can also change the available resolutions and default selection in the config.xml
Invalid invitation hashs now show in the error message why and in which time period they are exactly valid
Refactored calendar server side code to use java.util.Timezone everywhere. The application now stores all times in the server time. Only the backup contains timestamps so you could potentially export in one time zone and import into a server of another without issues.
Changed calendar E-Mail and fixed iCal invitation in Gmail to display correctly
Calendar meeting reminder email is now send 15 minutes upfront (15 minutes can be changed in configuration)
Default room size for conference rooms created via calendar is now 50 (default room size can be changed in configuration)
Minimum length for user and password is now 4 (minimum length can be changed in configuration)
Fix new FFMPEG param style (you can revert to use the old param style through the config_key "use.old.style.ffmpeg.map.option") see SwitchBetweenFFMPEG
Max upload size can be configured now (max_upload_size)
Fix calendar if first-day-in-week is configured to be Monday instead of Sunday (default)
JUnit tests now run integrated in Eclipse and on the Nightly Build Server see JUnitTestings
Apache RAT is integrated to handle some parts of the code audit when importing our code to Apache Incubator SVN
Oracle available as DB configuration see Configuration_Oracle

Download:
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_9_0_r4692.zip

Changelog:
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

Design Apache OpenMeetings Logo and Win Prize!

2011-12-02T06:04:00.001-08:00

Areyougoodat logodesigning?Doyoulikeopensource?YoucanquicklygetagreatprizebycreatingalogoforApacheOpenMeetings,afreebrowser-basedsoftwarethatallowsyoutoinstantlysetupaconferenceintheWebandthatisnowacceptedfortheApacheIncubator.TheIncubatoristhefirststepofbecomingaregularprojectoftheApacheSoftwareFoundation.

Themainideaofthiscontestistoconceptualizeanddesignabrandnewlogo.Togetanideavisitourwebsitesathttp://code.google.com/p/openmeetingsandhttp://www.openmeetings.de andcomparethemtootherApacheprojectsfromthelisthttp://projects.apache.org/indexes/alpha.html.

Thecontestwillstart at02.12.2011 till31.12.2011,sohurry uptotakepart!

Wewillrateyourdesignsandgiveyoufeedback.Ifwechooseyourlogoasthewinninglogo,youcanwinaprize– abook ofyourchoice!

Show on Amazon

Takethisopportunitytoshowyourcreativityandwintheprize!

Sendus your logo at: service@openmeetings.de

Configure OpenMeetings with Oracle

2011-12-01T01:17:00.001-08:00

We have tested successfully to run OpenMeetings on Oracle DB, in the current repository there is a sample configuration files.

http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/Configuration_Oracle

Updated SugarCRM Plugin 1.2 for OpenMeetings

2011-11-21T04:55:00.001-08:00

Changes in OpenMeetings SugarCRM Plugin 1.2

changed workflow
easier installation (no manualy changes needet any more)
easier use
Smarty Template Engine
ready for Sugarcrm 6

Download:
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_sugarcrm_v_1_2.zip

Changelog:
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

OpenMeetings accepted for Apache Incubation

2011-11-12T03:45:00.001-08:00

We are happy to announce that OpenMeetings is accepted for the Apache Incubator.
The Apache Incubator is the first stage of becoming a project of the Apache Software Foundation.

You can see the result of the Vote in Apache's Incubator Mailing list archives:
http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-general/201111.mbox/%3C6EEF2F10-37F3-4CDA-A491-0F074036D0D2%40objectstyle.org%3E

And our Proposal:
http://wiki.apache.org/incubator/OpenmeetingsProposal

We will keep you updated about the current status of the incubation process through our project-website.

OpenMeetings 1.8.7 released

2011-11-06T08:52:00.001-08:00

OpenMeetings 1.8.7 fixes an Issue with the ENTER Key/Event in Remote Desktop Control.

Changelog: http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

Download: http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_8_7_r4518.zip

OpenMeetings 1.8.6 released

2011-11-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

Version 1.8.6 includes two updates:

Refactor scheduler that sends emails to participants of calendar events
add option poly2bitmap to workaround issue of SWFTools "only supports 65536 shapes at once" error message

Download: http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_8_6_r4488.zip

ChangeLog: http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

Setting up User Environment for Openmeetings

2011-10-28T05:02:00.000-07:00

The manual covers requirements for connecting a participant's computer to Internet, recommended hardware list and a number of steps to install the software on the computer. It is assumed that software installation is done by IT profesional with administrative privileges.

Internet Connection

Requirements for Internet connections are as follows:

10 Mbps bandwidth for each concurrent participant.
Ping to the server does not exceed 80 ms.
0% packet loss.

Cameras

We recommend the following cameras:

Logitech QuickCam Sphere AF.
Logitech QuickCam E3500.
Samsung Pleomax PWC-7100.
Genius Look320S.
Integrated Lenovo 3000 n100.
Skypemate WC-103M.

Headsets and Speakerphones

The recommended headset model (i. e. headphones with microphone) is Logitech Clear Chat Style. When several people participate from the same location, we recommend using the following sspeakerphone models:

Jabra SPEAK410.
Plantronics MCD 100M.
Konftel 300.

Software

We assume the computer is running Microsoft Windows and has Internet Explorer. To participate one needs to install Adobe Flash Player plug-in and optinally the latest version of Java Runtime Envinronment for screen recording and sharing.

Installing Adobe Flash Player for Internet Explorer

To install Adobe Flash Player for Internet Explorer one should do the following:

Go to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/.
Clean Free Google Toolbar (optional).
Click Agree and install now.
In the new window click Close:
Click on the top yellow panel:
In the new window click Install ActiveX element
In the new window click Install:
The installation progress bar appears:
Wait a few minutes for the installation to complete.

Installing Java Runtime Envinronment

To install Java Runtime Envinronment do the following:

Go to http://www.java.com/ru/.
Follow Java Runtime Envinronment installer instructions.

Note: to check if a computer already has java installed go to http://www.java.com/ru/download/installed.jsp.

Testing

Upon set up completion, please, contact technical support specialist to test connection quality.

Commercial Openmeetings Support FAQ

2011-10-26T04:55:00.000-07:00

That's our attempt to keep support knowledge structured and save your time asking questions.

Pricing
Customization
Integration
Technology
Process
Installation Questionnaire
Integration Questionnaire

Pricing

That's free software, and what is even better, you can get anything for free. You can install Openmeetings yourself for free, or can get free support at openmeetings-user@googlegroups.com.

Still you may want to save your time by asking us (service@openmeetings.de) for assistance. The price is calculated by required hours multiplied by hourly rate (€50 / hour).

Service	Hours
Initial server & network check	1
Installation or upgrade of a supported system	10
Configuration of the affordable room hosting	2
Affordable room hosting (per month)	1
Moodle installation	3
Moodle plug-in installation	2
Upgrade of security certificates	2
Site migration	12
Re-branding	2
Customizations	?

Supported systems include Openmeetings, a number of CMS and integration plug-ins, including PayPal plug-in.

Installation requires you to answer a number of questions (see Openmeetings installation questions, CMS plug-in installation questions), hence we can set up the system as you like.

Do you offer hosting packages?

Yes, we do

Maintaining a server is too expensive for me. Can I share the service with others?

We offer an affordable room hosting (with no warranties!) at om.dataved.ru.

To start using this service the environment on the hosting OpenMeetings installation needs to be configured. After that you pay for consulting per month and can use the rooms created for your organization (see Pricing for details about the price). A separate organization profile is used in order to isolate the rooms from other users.

Customization

Is it possible to customize Openmeetings' look & feel?

Yes, that's possible. That's the most visible advantage of Openmeetings open source nature.

Is it possible to change several things at once?

Unless you are a trusted long-term customer, we start from small agile projects containing minor customizations. That would save your money, because we address issues in order which is critical for your business.

Why don't you provide estimates for the whole project?

Again, unless you are trusted long-term customer, we cannot just get estimates from your text descriptions without understanding your business and expectations. The same installation on the Russian market costs 5 times more because we work here for large enterprises who require extra security, reliability and training. Small consulting companies get affordable prices because they usually don't want us to configure their internal VPNs and routers (which they don't actally have) as a part of the installation services.

Integration

Which CMS integration modules do you provide?

We provide Drupal, Wordpress. Joomla, Alfresco, Typo3 CMS modules. We also provide integration to SugarCRM, Zimbra and some other popular systems.

Could you please send us a module for CMS (content management system) integration?

We don't provide these modules without installation services. It requires collecting integration requirements first to succeed in the integration process, and we cannot afford a failure.

Could you please send me a demo link of Openmeetings integration example?

Here is a limited Joomla integration demo (user: admin, password: om__almooj976). We can install other demos for you.

Is it possible to integrate Open Meetings with Microsoft .Net (JBoss, etc)?

Openmeetings integrates with other applications by means of language independent SOAP protocol. We can integrate Openmeetings with any Internet application.

Technology

Which tools & technology are behind Openmeetings?

The server side is written in Java, the client side uses OpenLaszlo, Flash and Java.

Process

Why it takes so many hours?

Don't hesitate to ask if the task estimate is more than you expect. We strive to make our process transparent.

The commercial development cycle contains the following stages: understand what should be done > create a tracker and transfer the task to a programmer > fix > compile > test > commit to the source control > verify the change with the second pair of eyes (ask another guy to complile and deploy the new source to the test server) > deploy to the production server.

Installation Questionnaire

Please, answer the following questions to ensure proper integration.

Have you tried a demo?
How many conference rooms do you need? Do you need rooms for webinars, or for face-to-face talks, or both? Which resolution do you like to have? How would you name rooms?
Do you want to place logo and use a custom color scheme?
What kind of server do you have? You need a dedicated server with minimum 2-4 GB Ram and 2-3 Dual Core or Quad core CPU. We prefer using Ubuntu or Debian.
Do users and server have enough bandwidth and network quality is sufficient?
Which hardware do users plan to use?
Are there any users who will use the system on a regular basis and benefit from the warming-up training?
Are the server or users protected by a firewall?
What other requirements do you have in mind?

Integration Questionnaire

Please, answer the following questions to ensure proper integration.

Do you have Openmeetings installed?
Which system do you want to integrate with? Which version?
Where on the website shall the links to the conference rooms be displayed?
Which rooms would be visible on site?
What happens with the recordings user make in the conference room? Shall the user be able to place a link to a recording he made?

Review: Real Time Specification API of WHATWG

2011-10-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

The Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) is working on a specification for the future of HTML in Realtime Collaboration:

http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/webrtc.html

On the first sight it covers a lot of the topic developers are waiting for a long time:

Beeing able to access the microphone and camera natively by using the pure JavaScript.

It seems like the nature of the communication is based on a Peer-2-Peer communication, which obviously must sound like christmas in some ears :).

First: The WHATWG is not reallye "the" specification group of HTML, the real specs will be done by the W3C. There are also specs in process at the w3c http://www.w3.org/2011/04/webrtc-charter.html.

If looking more closely at the specs you have to admit that there are some open questions on both sides, the w3c and even more at the WHATWG.

Some very basic question is if the Codec that will be used for encoding the audio and video will be an open one or not. I do understand that manufactors have little interest in publishing a codec that is suitable for everybody. On the other hand it could be quite difficult if different browsers support different codecs. Or even worse if big companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple agree on certain Codec, license each other but lock-out browser vendors that don't have 20.000 patents to claim each other.

Having an open standard for realtime communication does not necessarily mean that everybody can implement those specs. If there is no open codec available that all browser platforms do support that could even lock-out small software vendors.

A very basic technical question is also how they plan to fix the Firewall problem: Peer2Peer is nice, but even Skype has a fallback method to proxy data through a central server.

But looking at the milestones planned in the specification (End in 02/2013), there might be also major changes in those specs.

OpenMeetings 1.8.5 released

2011-10-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

Changes in OpenMeetings 1.8.5

Update of installer and new option to exclude the default rooms in the installation (this can be handy if you import a backup directly after installation)
Fix backup import tool issue with wrong organization_id after import (Users could get assigned to a previous existing organization if there are multiple)

Download:
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_8_5_r4452.zip

3 steps to install OpenMeetings in Version 1.8.4

2011-10-10T08:09:00.000-07:00

In Version 1.8.4 installation of OpenMeetings is a 30 second task:

To update from past versions or migrate see UpdateOpenMeetings, for payed services see Service and Hosting.

You can download latest version from:
GoogleCode Website

New Moodle Module for OpenMeetings 1.8.3

2011-10-07T04:21:00.000-07:00

With the new integration and OpenMeetings version 1.8.3 you can now create separated users in OpenMeetings with the access-level "SOAP-Only".
The "SOAP-Only" user can do exactly what is needed to run the integration but nothing more. This does result in no need for any OpenMeetings Admin-User in the Moodle Module config! So you can better protect your OpenMeetings server from non-authorized access via the SOAP Gateway and
no need to share confidential account data."SOAP-Only" users can not login to OpenMeetings administration or manipulate user accounts via SOAP.

It is recommended to update to the latest version of OpenMeetings (1.8.3). Moodle Mod 0.9 for Moodle 1.9.x is still compatible with OpenMeetings 1.8.3 and you can also use the new secure user with access level "SOAP-Only" with the old Moodle Mod 0.9.

Sample Video showing the installation of Moodle Mod and integration with new access level:

New features of Moodle Plugin:
- Secure "SOAP-Only" user access level (see documentation on top)
- 3 Moderation Types for Conference Rooms (Moodle admins, teachers and course creators are automatically a moderator):
Moderation Type A) Participants need to wait till the teacher enters the room
Moderation Type B) Participants can already start (first User in room becomes moderator)
Moderation Type C) Every participant is automatically moderator when he/she enters the room
- New Flag "Allow Recording": You can set in the room configuration now a flag that controls if the recording button is available or not
- Fix Icon in Moodle Course overview and edit page
- Fix Issue when deleting a conference room from a course (all conference rooms where deleted from all courses)
- Add/Fix Moodle Mod languages: German, French, Spanish (OpenMeetings itself has around 30 languages)
- Clear and restructure conference creation form for Moodle moderators
You can try and test the Moodle integration at:
http://moodle.openmeetings.de
Download is available from our project side: http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/
Support is available at: http://www.openmeetings.de

Installation of OpenMeetings under IBM DB2

2011-09-29T10:25:00.001-07:00

There are some official documentation about installation of OpenMeetings under IBM DB2 available now:

http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/Configuration_IBM_DB2

OpenMeetings 1.8.2 released

2011-09-25T01:25:00.000-07:00

Changes in Version 1.8.2:

Improves language handling: The default language is bound now to the user-profile, not to the server settings!
Fix some issue in creating conferences via the integrated calendar
Fixes issues when drag and droping a video from the file-explorer to the whiteboard
Update Chinese Simplified

Download:
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_8_2_r4283.zip

ChangLog:
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

Case Study at OSOR, Open Source in Finland and Sweden including OpenMeetings and Moodle

2011-09-20T02:21:00.001-07:00

There is an interesting story about using Moodle and OpenMeetings in OSOR published:

http://www.osor.eu/studies/finland-and-sweden-collaborate-using-oss

Article on running OpenMeetings/Red5 in Windows Azure

2011-09-04T02:40:00.001-07:00

There is an interesting article about how to deploy any Tomcat Application to Windows Azure:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/cesardelatorre/archive/2010/09/12/developing-and-deploying-java-tomcat-apps-into-windows-azure.aspx

OpenMeetings Drupal Integration, new Module Demo Video

2011-08-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

There is a new Demo-Video available for Drupal Integration of OpenMeetings.

Possible Features

Embed Links to conference rooms into Drupal articles
Single Sing on using your Drupal login
List recordings in Drupal
Embed recording links in articles

Where to get the Drupal Module

Contact: service@openmeetings.de
Website: http://www.openmeetings.de

New Website and OpenMeetings 1.7 released

2011-06-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

The Team at OpenMeetings announced Version 1.7 and the new official website of OpenMeetings at http://www.openmeetings.de
http://www.openmeetings.de will be the general landing zone for people to get started with OpenMeetings.
The Demo Servers are now located at http://demo.openmeetings.de
Besides that there are some new features in Version 1.7:

Multi-Whiteboard, you can add new whiteboard instances, each whiteboard can have the full range of tools and documents inside.
Advanced File-Explorer, Drag and Drop Interface for managing files, including possibility to create a document tree with folders.
Private and Public Drive in File-Explorer. The File-Explorer has two different views, one is the Private Drive and the other the Public Drive. The Private Drive always contains the same files. Those files are only visible to the user currently loggedin. The Public Drive is bound not to the user, but to the conference room. All users in the conference room have access to the Public Drive.
Save whiteboards. You can save each whiteboard instance as a file. The file is located in the File-Explorer and can be drag and drop’ed and organized like any other document, image or folder.
New User-Level: SOAP/Web-Service only. For security reasons there is a new user-level. You can now create user-accounts that have only the ability to access via SOAP. In former versions you always need an admin account.
MyRooms section. Each user has now by default 2 personal rooms that are always accessible exclusive for that user. There are buttons to enter those rooms from the dashboard
VoIP-Integration. Together with our Finish partner and the Open Source Department of Kvarken region we have done a VoIP integration by using an applet for the audio part. For further information see VoIPAndSIP

You can download the latest version at:
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/downloads/list

2010-11-11T04:36:00.000-08:00

Watch the demo video of the new features in version 1.6

You can login using your Facebook account now
Private message center, send users messages, organize them in folders, you can book conference rooms by sending private messages, the booked event is automatically in your and the participants calendar, changes to that event will be populated to all users booked to the event.
User contacts, you can search users, add them to your contacts
Share your calendar with your contacts
Add offerings and interest to your profile to find people with similar interest
Reworked Full-fit functionality, Full-fit does rescale the document on the screen to be 100% visible on all screens, no matter what screen resolution you got. So the zoom might be 60% on one pc and 79% on a participant with different screen resolution
Objects drawn on the whiteboard do now zoom according to the document and the zoom itself can be now between 0 and 200% of the actual pixel size
Encrpyted PDFs do work now
The backup does contain various fixes and includes the complete folder structure of the recordings + recordorded files, and all data that is generated by the new features private messages and user contacts
Some new timezones and fixes for the release 1.5 regarding wrong time zones in some mail notifications

OpenMeetings 1.5

2010-10-06T07:35:00.002-07:00

Major new feature is timezone handling in the calendar.

Timezone support in User Profile, Calendar and Invitations. Users can now organize Events with people from different timezones and the system will keep track on handling the event time correctly
Re-Styling and fixing some layout aspects
Quick-link button next to each user-name in dashboard user list and in every chat box to quickly guide people to a conference room
small Bug fixes

Download
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_5_rc1_r3393.zip

ChangeLog
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

OpenMeetings Version 1.4

2010-10-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

New Features

Remote Desktop Control (RDC) in Screen Sharing and separated right for RDC in user list, Moderators are able by default to do RDC other users can apply for it using the right-buttons
New separated right for allowing Screen Sharing and Recording
Multi-Domain Support: Separated Admin interface for configuring multiple LDAP configurations with a single OpenMeetings Instance, in the Login Box you are able to choose different domains now, each domain represents a LDAP config (you can still use the internal DB all the time, the internal DB is always in the list)
New Room features: Close and open conference rooms. Additionally with a redirect-URL in case the room is closed and SOAP Methods to remotely open and close room. Moderators can also close a room from inside the conference room (Menubar: Actions > Close room). Users which are already loggedin will then be redirected to the redirect URL
Fix missing attributes in Backup file and add Meeting-Members
New Language: Danish, thx to ALO, update Spanish thx to Jesmargo
Various small Bugfixes

Download
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_4_rc1_r3326.zip

ChangeLog
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

See also this Youtube Channel with some more Videos and custom components
http://www.youtube.com/user/sebastwagner

OpenMeetings 1.3 RC1 Released

2010-06-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

We are happy to announce Version 1.3 of Openmeetings and its new features:

Drawings stay on slide when you turn the page of a document on the whiteboard
Restricted Room Type further optimization for 100++ participants. We have done some Stress test with the University of Umeå from Sweden and Vasaa in Finland with about 120-130 participants in a Single Conference Room (Type Restricted). They went successfull. Thanks to the Team of http://www.openkvarken.fi again
Quality Settings in Screen Sharing Clients, contributed by Giovanni Possemato / Bitflow (http://www.bitflow.it) + RTMP-Tunneling Version of ScreenSharer fixed
New SOAP Calls to get User-Object List including Streamname to broadcast a Video Stream out of a Conference directly
Screen Sharing/Recording is now a separated right, therefore new layout for User-List in all room-types
Option in Room-Settings and Administration “Audio Only” so users can only do Voice Conference in those rooms
Video Pod hidden (Conference-Roomtype) or minimized (Webinar/Restricted-Roomtype) if User selects only Audio as device to broadcast
Activity-Icon highlights when user speaks, now also in User-List (Room-Type Conference) instead of Video-Pod
System Backup and Import - You can export now completely Users + Rooms + Organizations + all associations + all uploaded Files into a single ZIP and re-import that ZIP in a freshly installed OpenMeetings (of course you need an OpenMeetings Version greater 1.3 to be able to import the ZIP again) see also UpdateOpenMeetings

Major Bug fixes:

Invitations Password does not work
Reminder Email not beeing send before scheduled Meetings (now send 15 minutes upfront no matter if ICAL or simple Mail)
lots of small things

http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog
Downloads:
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/downloads/list
The SugarCRM and Moodle Integration is fully upwards compatible.

OpenMeetings running on Amazon AWS EC2

2010-04-30T05:04:00.001-07:00

we successfully installed OpenMeetings on Amazon EC2. It worked out of the box without any huzzle. I think this is good news to a lot of people that would like to scale OpenMeetings for their needs.

Amazon offers already a lot of instances to install as operating system. We have been using one of the over 200 Debian operating systems that have been available.

I think the only important thing is … Never press the reboot system button :) Cause as its a virtual machine all your data is gone!

You also need to check that you are installing OpenMeetings at a location where enough space is left.

OpenMeetings as Facebook Application

2010-03-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

you can now use OpenMeeting within Facebook with the application:

Visit the Application at Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=369748959583

Or go directly and add it to your account: http://apps.facebook.com/openmeetings/

OpenMeetings Sugar Module 1.0 Integration - Demo Video

2010-03-03T04:36:00.001-08:00

OpenMeetings Sugar Module 1.0 Integration - Demo Video

OpenMeetings 1.1 Key Features Mini Demo

2010-02-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

OpenMeetings 1.1 Key Features Mini Demo

OpenMeetings Recording Feature

2009-12-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

happy to announce that the Recording of Web-Conferencing Session's in OpenMeetings is ready.

You can test the Recording feature live at http://www.openmeetings.de

Features of the Recorder:

* Platform independent
* Download recorded file as FLV File (to watch offline, publish on your website or through Youtube)
* Private and Public Recordings via a Drag and Drop interface and Folders to organize Recordings
* Recording Timeline gives additional information when attendees are speaking
* Record hole screen + share screen at the the same time
* Seek in the Player to any point

Below is a sample screen from the Recording:

OpenMeetings Recording Sample Screen

And here is a FLV that I Recorded with OpenMeetings and uploaded to Youtube:

when will h.264 and video ever really work on OSX with Adobe Flash Player

2009-12-14T01:50:00.001-08:00

A number of websites and TV stations provide their content as Live Stream these days. And it is getting more and more. As they don't want the user to install anything they often choose the Flash Platform to deliver the content. Unfortunately on Apple OSx it works but your CPU has 70-95%. That means after 5 minutes watching you can hear your CPU trying to cool down like hell. And if you have some kind of sensible data on your MacBook you start thinking how much a crash would cost you. So you better switch off. This High-CPU usage is even higher when it comes to h.264 content. With h.264 you can not watch more then 2 minutes. We would not like to talk about the Linux Plugin now ... for Users of that platform its almost impossible. They can be glad that their webcam and microphone is supported so that they can make some Conference Calls.

It is no new problem, it seems like the hardware acceleration that Adobe is proud of is only part of the Windows Platform Plugin, so that Non-Windows users can wait for a long time until they finally will receive Video On Demand in High Definition. Sorry guys but what Adobe delivers here is not more then a Proof-Of-Concept. I by myself am remind by that every day when I try to watch the Live-Cast of N-TV.de or CNN. I could be glad cause that way I hear more radio ... like the famous and commercial free radio soma.fm but I guess it would be better to choose radio because I like to and not because my device does not support Flash Video for more then 10 minutes.

I tried also updating to Flash Player 10.1, I hoped to get better results. I had not the impression that it really improves anything. After encountering that RTMPT-Connection does not work for the Flash Plugin on OSx I had to uninstall everything and install 10.0.xxx again. I don't feel like Experience Matters ^^.

OpenMeetings 1.0 RC1 and Moodle Mod 0.6

2009-11-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

we are happy to announce to release 1.0 RC1 of OpenMeetings and the compatible Moodle Module 0.6.

Major changes in Version 1.0 RC1

New third room-type: "Restricted"
New Calendar Module to Plan Meetings
New Room configuration with option to add Default Moderators and Super Moderator
Super Moderators (cannot be removed)
Simplified and reworked UI, various bugfixes and help-texts
New Secure Method for generating HASH's for direct Login via SOAP
OpenMeetings as WAR-Version
Various fixes and improvements
Change to Eclipse Public License for OpenMeetings

Major Changes in Moodle Mod 0.6

Compatible with latest Nightly Builds and Version 1.0 RC1
Grouping and Group Configuration
New 3th Room-Type "Restricted" available via Module Form

There are also Nightly Builds now available and you can compile a complete distribution only by using ANT.
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/BuildSourceNew?tm=4#Nightly_Builds

And you can develop all tools according to our new source setup by using simply Eclipse tools.
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/BuildSourceNew

Download:
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_1_0_r2688.zip

Moodle Mod:
http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/openmeetings_moodle_mod_0_6.zip

Changelog:
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

Flash Player hidden feature - Echo Cancellation and P2P Live Streaming

2009-11-06T01:50:00.001-08:00

I recently discovered two features of the Flash Player that are only available for "Premium" customers. These are interesting for Web-Conferencing Systems.

Did you ever notice that this flag in the ActionScript API *useEchoSuppression* does not seem to have any effect to the behavior? (API Docs: http://livedocs.adobe.com/flash/9.0_de/ActionScriptLangRefV3/flash/media/Microphone.html#useEchoSuppression)
Well it is because there IS NO! This echo Cancellation is only available if you use Adobe Connect Pro. You can find a hole history of reports about this feature and people that investigated at the Adobe Bug Tracker (you have to sign up): http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/FP-273 (this issue has started in August 2008, so its not really new). It seems like Adobe has the Code for the Echo Cancellation ready since SWF 9. But they refuse to include it into the Flash Player for everybody. You get an additional Add-On for this feature.
Another interesting feature can be seen live when you watch the CNN Live Broadcast:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream1

you should watch your network through-put. You will encounter after some minutes, that your upload is as big as your download rate! That means the Flash Player is able to use P2P to broadcast a Live Stream. Quite nice, unfortunately it seems the same thing here, you need a modified Version of the Flash Player for that feature.

Lets see how long they can follow that route...

OpenMeetings becomes even more liberal with EPL License

2009-10-12T03:23:00.001-07:00

to bring OpenMeetings in line with the License of OpenLaszlo we will switch from the LGPL to the EPL with the next release.

What does that mean for you?
- Actually not that much.

Eclipse Public License is even a bit more liberal then the LGPL

Quote from wikkipedia.org:

The Eclipse Public License is designed to be a business friendly free software license, and features weaker copyleft provisions than contemporary licenses such as the GNU General Public License (GPL). The receiver of EPL-licensed programs can use, modify, copy and distribute the work and modified versions, in some cases being obligated to release their own changes.^[2]

The EPL is approved by the Open Source Initiative (OSI)^[3] and the Free Software Foundation (FSF)^[4].

OpenMeetings 0.9 RC3 ready for testing

2009-09-16T03:36:00.000-07:00

we are happy to announce the Release 0.9 RC3.
It is a bugfix release for users that have issues with:
- Document or Images that contain special characters (Russian, Scandinavian, German *umlaute*)
- Linux Users that have issues when typing special characters into input-fields

See a the complete changelog:
http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/ChangeLog

Integrate Collaboration features into your Portal or Website with OpenMeetings

2009-09-04T02:21:00.001-07:00

To easily extend your Website or Portal with the Open Source Web-Conferencing of OpenMeetings you only need to have a SOAP Library for your Portal Software. In 99% there will be already such a Library that enables you to use the build in SOAP Methods of OpenMeetings to do the famous SSO (Single Sign On) to directly create/manage rooms of OpenMeetings from your Website.

The Single Sign On Flow is described within this graph:

The hole process is documented in OpenMeetings's wiki:

http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/DirectLoginSoapGeneralFlow

The trick about the SOAP Gateway in general is that you get a Session-Token, mark that Session-Token as logged in, and then set any User-Credentials that you would like into that Session-Token. And in the next step you use that Session-Token as Param in the URL that enters the Room. You don't need to populate any Users from your Portal into OpenMeetings! So you can run those applications even on different servers or build your very own system with several conference servers and one central portal software that redirects the user to those meeting-servers. That way you have a very flexible way of extending your Server infrastructure and can handle 10.000 and more users.

For security reasons login via SOAP is only possible for an Administrator Account. Otherwise any use could simulare 100+++ Users in the Meeting Server.
Additionally to the Direct Login there are a number of other services to manage Rooms, User et cetera:

http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/wiki/SoapMethods

We are also continuously extending this Gateway with new functionality. One already ready to run example of an integration is the Moodle Plugin (Test it here, no need to sign up http://www.openmeetings.de/moodle/ )

2009-08-27T01:31:00.001-07:00

Updated Demo Version of Moodle Conferencing Plugin. Now with much more functionality in the Event Room. Try our demo at http://ping.fm/M53Ft

OpenMeetings 0.9 RC2 released

2009-08-26T01:28:00.001-07:00

Major changes in MileStone 0.9 RC2:

Multiple Moderators: A moderator can make other Users also Moderator (add or remove Moderation flag)
No Confirmation from all users needed anymore to get Moderator (you just send a message to the Moderator)
Completely refactored Event Modus with: Multiple Moderators, allow any User to draw to the whiteboard, Moderators can allow or deny any user to share his Cam or Microphone (Raise hand function)
New Module Configuration XML-File to runtime configure Plugins and Modules
New Language Translations: Swedish and Finnish contributed by www.openkvarken.fi
Refactored parts of Calendar to fit into Layout and design
Various Modifications and fixes

A complete list of all Issue working and worked on MileStone 0.9 can be seen at:

http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/issues/list?can=1&q=milestone%3DRelease0.9

Download of Release 0.9 RC2: http://openmeetings.googlecode.com/files/red5-openmeetings-090-rc2-r2227.zip

2009-08-26T01:05:00.001-07:00

OpenMeetings 0.9 RC2 released, this includes a lot new Modifications, for example a new Event Modus Room, check http://ping.fm/oiOeX

2009-08-15T05:39:00.001-07:00

Demo is now at r2219 including the new features of Moderation, new Event Room and functionality and some modifications to the Calendar. Register http://ping.fm/Hh0i8 for free!

2009-07-21T03:26:00.001-07:00

OpenMeetings, the Open Source Web Conferencing has released a new package for Testing http://ping.fm/57d6g

2009-07-16T00:46:00.001-07:00

Interesting new features around Moodle 2.0 http://ping.fm/8J2hc OpenMeetings will also upgrade to it as soon as possible. We hope to integrate deeper into Moodle with our next versions.

2009-07-09T01:39:00.001-07:00

OpenMeetings is news now listed in the OSzine http://ping.fm/ppUP4

2009-07-01T11:43:00.001-07:00

If you need a developer for OpenMeetings or OpenLaszlo & Red5 http://ping.fm/DKNi8

2009-06-23T04:05:00.001-07:00

OpenMeetings 0.8.4 Released together with Moodle Mod 0.5 see the Release Notes http://ping.fm/S3p0r

2009-06-17T00:21:00.001-07:00

Finally OpenMeetings is also listed in the Open-Source directory of yeebase http://ping.fm/5rFTR

2009-06-15T05:05:00.001-07:00

Thx to CTpaHHoe, there is a new VMWare Image of OpenMeetings r2056 available http://ping.fm/21sLr

2009-06-15T04:35:00.001-07:00

Oliver has commited the first part of his Desktop Streaming experience http://ping.fm/pfSHV to OpenMeetings Project.

2009-06-10T04:11:00.001-07:00

There is a new Version of the Moodle Mod for OpenMeetings available, get it at: http://ping.fm/NqNQ9
that Plugin Version should work with 0.8 RC2 and RC3

2009-06-08T14:33:00.001-07:00

Try Open Source Web-Conferencing using Red5 and Xuggler, http://ping.fm/73E1L