Google Meet and Meet hardware interoperability: order and setup

This article explains how to order and set up Pexip's interoperability with Google Meet meetings and Meet hardware.

It covers how to:

• Order and set up Google Meet interoperability
• Add trusted devices for SIP Guest Join
• Order the Google Meet hardware service (to enable calling to Microsoft Teams meetings)
• Choose a different layout.

Ordering and setting up the Google Interop process

1. Order a Google Interop License plan.

   • You cannot set up a Google Interop service unless you first have a Google Interop License plan.
   • They can also optionally order FullHD for Microsoft or Google as an add-on that enables them to receive 1080p video and content.
   • If the customer requires a second or subsequent Google Meet interop service (on another domain), you can only order this by submitting a support request to Pexip Support.
   • For tips on how to order a license plan, see Ordering a new license plan.

2. Initiate the Google Interop process:

   1. Select your customer in the portal, go to the Interop tab, and select the + Add Google Interop button.

   2. Complete the fields:

      Domain	Enter the domain the customer will use for the interop service. This can be either the customer's own domain or a subdomain of onpexip.com). If the customer is using domain hosting then before Pexip can provision the interop service, the customer administrator must have set up a DNS TXT record for their domain, and then you must complete the domain verification process. If a new domain was ordered as part of this process, the administrator should have received an email with instructions on how to do this.
      PIN Prefix	Leave blank. (The prefix only applies to short meeting IDs, which are now deprecated.)
      Token Upload Emails	Specify the customer recipients who will upload the Google Workspace token. This defaults to the main contact address but you can add other addresses if required.
      Service Notification Emails	Specify the customer recipients who will receive service notifications, for example that the service is ready for use. This defaults to the main contact address but you can add other addresses if required.

   3. Select Next.

3. The specified customer recipient is sent an email advising them how to generate and upload their Google Workspace token to the Pexip Service. The email contains a link to a secure upload page that looks like this:

   

4. When the customer uploads their token an internal process is triggered at Pexip for the provisioning of the service for this customer.

5. When provisioning is completed (this should be within minutes), a readiness email is sent to the customer (to the Service Notification recipients).

   

6. The customer may now begin to use the Google Interop service.

The customer process is fully described in Google Meet setup for Pexip interoperability.

Enabling SIP Guest Join

Pexip's standard Google Meet interoperability solution allows your customers (and their guests) to use their own video conferencing endpoints to join Google Meet meetings that they are hosting. The "SIP Guest Join" (SGJ) feature lets them join Google Meet meetings with their own video conferencing endpoints where that meeting is being hosted by an external third-party organization who has not enabled Pexip interoperability themselves.

Prerequisites

Setting up trusted devices (if required)

If the customer's devices are registered to the Pexip Service, then no further configuration is required — there is no need to configure any trusted devices.

For customers who are not registered to the Pexip Service (i.e. self hosted Pexip Infinity customers), you must create the customer as a company in the Partner Portal in the standard manner, and they need to purchase a Trusted Devices license for the number of endpoints they own. This license will allow trusted join for Teams/Google Meetings on the Pexip Service and also enable them to use the SIP Guest Join feature.

After the customer has been created on the Partner Portal, you must configure their Trusted Devices (see Trusted devices for lobby bypass: trial, orderability and configuration for general details):

Under the Interop tab, in the Trusted devices configuration section, add one or more rules as required.

• Set Policy action to Trust.
• Set From domain to the domain presented in the customer's VC systems.
• Set Source IP Address to the IP address that their SIP signaling will come from (typically their public-facing Conferencing Nodes or their VCS Expressway).

You need to add one Trusted Device per IP address of the public-facing servers that will send SIP calls to the Pexip Service. Note that when setting up trusted devices for SIP Guest Join, the Source IP must be a /32 address (i.e. a single IP address); larger subnets are not supported in Guest Join scenarios.

Ordering the Google Meet hardware service

Pexip Connect for Google Rooms enables Google Meet hardware to make video calls into any internal or externally-hosted Microsoft Teams meetings via Pexip’s interoperability service.

It provides users with a familiar Teams-like video experience when connecting into Teams from Google Meet hardware. Currently, this is a guest join experience, therefore someone has to be in the Microsoft Teams meeting to admit you from the lobby.

To enable Google Meet hardware:

1. Select your customer in the portal.
2. Order either the Connect for Google Rooms or Connect for Google Rooms Premium packages (the Premium bundle adds Full HD).

3. Under the Interop tab, in the Pexip Connect for Google Rooms section, select Add Google Account and add your customer's Name and their Google Account Number. You can add one or more accounts as required.

   

Licensing requirements

Pexip Connect for Google Rooms has the following licensing requirements:

• Your customer's Pexip Connect for Google Rooms license count must match your customer's Meet hardware device count.
• Yearly plans only.

Additional information:

• Pexip's CVI licensing is not required for Meet hardware interoperability with Teams meetings. However, if the invitation is from an organization that does have Pexip CVI enabled on the Pexip Service, this will be utilized and used to join the meeting.
• Pexip needs to know your customer's Google account number.
• Pexip reserves the right to audit your customer's Meet hardware device count twice a year.

The customer process is fully described in Joining a Microsoft Teams meeting via Google Meet hardware.

Layouts

By default, the 1+7 layout is used for VTCs connecting to Google meetings. However, customers can choose to use any one of the following alternative layouts as their default layout:

• 1+7 (1 large main speaker and up to 7 other participants) — the default
• Adaptive Composition (real-time automatic face detection and framing)
• 1+0 (full-screen main speaker only)
• Equal 2x2 (4 speakers)
• Equal 3x3 (9 speakers)
• Equal 4x4 (16 speakers)
• Equal 5x5 (25 speakers)
• 2+21 (2 main speakers and up to 21 other participants)

Also see Using endpoints to control the layout and manage meetings for information about how customers can dynamically change the layout during a meeting. Note that Adaptive Composition and the 1+0 layouts are not included in the dynamic layout cycling feature, even if it is configured as the initial/default layout.

Please raise a support ticket (one per customer) if you would like to request a different default layout (instead of 1+7) for your customers. Note that you cannot request or set the layout via the partner portal.

(Pexip's Teams-like layout is typically used for calls from Meet hardware into Teams meetings.)