You are here: Administration > Reference > Features added in previous releases

Features added in previous releases

This section summarizes the features and enhancements that were added in previous releases of Pexip Infinity software.

Features added in version 10

Pexip Infinity version 10 added the following features and enhancements:

Feature Description More information
VMR provisioning from Active Directory / LDAP

Pexip Infinity Virtual Meeting Rooms can be bulk-provisioned from directory information contained in a Windows Active Directory LDAP server, or any other LDAP-accessible database.

This means, for example, that you can automatically provide a personal VMR for every employee in an organization. Data such as employee names can be imported from the directory and used to generate a unique name and alias for each VMR, following a pattern such as meet.<username>@example.com. Other VMR attributes such as PIN numbers can also be generated, depending upon how you configure your VMR template.

After the VMRs have been generated you can periodically re-run the provisioning process to resynchronize your VMRs to cater for additions and removals to the directory.

Provisioning VMRs from Active Directory via LDAP
Lync IVR gateway

Within on-prem Lync deployments a Virtual Reception can act as a "Lync IVR lobby" to route calls based on the Lync Conference ID into any ad hoc or scheduled Lync multi-party conference.

This means that Lync users can schedule and use Lync conferences in the normal way. A Lync conference ID is generated when an on-prem Lync deployment is configured with a dial-in access number. Non-Lync users (H.323, SIP, Infinity Connect endpoints etc) can then dial a URI or IP address of the "Lync IVR lobby" and enter that Lync conference ID to join the Lync conference from the video endpoint. Lync users and video endpoint users can then see each other and present to each other.

Configuring Pexip Infinity as a Lync gateway

Pexip StudioSound™

Pexip’s new StudioSound™ audio feature brings recording studio technology and quality to video, audio, and web conferencing. It greatly improves the overall experience by making conferences and meetings sound better, with improved intelligibility.

StudioSound™ is part of the standard Pexip Infinity feature set and is utilized automatically in all conferences.

How meticulous studio quality sound engineering improves meeting efficiencies (article on www.pexip.com)
Infinity Connect clients can register and receive calls

Infinity Connect desktop clients for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, and Infinity Connect Mobile clients for Android can register to Pexip Infinity Conferencing Nodes.

This means that users who have registered their Infinity Connect client can be dialed in to a Pexip conference, and can receiving incoming calls placed via the Pexip Distributed Gateway.

Registering devices to Pexip Infinity
Infinity Connect enhancements

Further enhancements have been made to Infinity Connect clients. These include:

  • Ability to preview your own video (self view) and check camera and microphone settings before joining a call.
  • New toolbar icons to start video, or to start audio-only when joining a call.
  • Ability to send DTMF tones (via the keypad) to another participant.
  • Host or Guest indication in the participant list.
  • "Currently speaking" badge in the participant list.
  • Each participant is shown as a single entry in the participant list, even if they are sending multiple media streams.
  • Information about each participant is now available by clicking on their name in the participant list.
  • Ability to stop sending a presentation to a participant is now available in all clients.
  • Ability to send anonymous usage statistics to Pexip. (This helps us improve the operation of the Pexip Infinity platform based on real-life customer usage data.)
Introduction to Infinity Connect
New audio-only indicator

Audio-only participants are now represented by an avatar on the left side of the video window. Whenever an audio-only participant is speaking, their avatar slides out to show their name; the most recent video participant to speak will remain in the main video window. You can use an external policy server to personalize the avatar for individual participants, otherwise the avatar will be an icon of a telephone handset.

Note: As a consequence of this change, the audio_avatar.jpg theme file was deprecated in v10 and has been removed completely in v11.

Selecting the layout seen by participants
Separate RTMP streams for video and presentation content

Pexip Infinity can stream the main video and presentation content channels separately over RTMP.

This means that when streaming a conference over RTMP — to streaming and recording services such as YouTube — viewers can simultaneously access the main video stream of the participants and a separate presentation content stream.

Streaming a conference over YouTube
Active speaker shown when receiving single-stream presentation When sending presentation content to a single-stream endpoint such as Skype or broadcasting via an RTMP stream (when not dialed out with dual streaming), Pexip Infinity sends the video stream of the active speaker in a small window in the upper right corner of the presentation. Selecting the layout seen by participants
Send content with a video thumbnail to Lync Room Systems Pexip Infinity can now send presentation content to Lync Room Systems (SMART and Crestron) in main video with the active speaker as a thumbnail. This allows both content and main video to be seen whenever an LRS system connects directly to a Pexip VMR.  
Improved status reporting for Infinity Connect and Lync clients

When viewing the status of conference participants, Infinity Connect and Microsoft Lync clients are now shown as a single participant instance, regardless of whether they have active media streams or if they are presenting content.

Each participant's status shows the individual media streams, and for completed conferences it may show multiple instances of each stream type (for example if the participant had started presenting, stopped and then started presenting again).

Viewing participant status
Reject calls via external policy

When responding to a service configuration request, an external policy server can instruct Pexip Infinity to reject the call associated with that service request.

If the policy server does not return the service configuration data and it does not instruct Pexip Infinity to reject the call, then Pexip Infinity will continue with its standard processing behavior (it will attempt to obtain the relevant information from its own internal database).

Policy server responses
Improved scalability for WebRTC calls Scalability improvements for WebRTC video handling in distributed conferences.  
Login history You can view the 100 most recent attempts to log in to the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface. Viewing login history
Limited duration snapshot As an alternative to generating a full diagnostic snapshot, you can specify the number of hours to include in a limited duration snapshot. Downloading a diagnostic snapshot
Customizable Lync contact list avatar for gateway contacts The Lync contact list avatar that is displayed for contacts reached via the Pexip Distributed Gateway can be customized. You can do this by modifying the presence_avatar_image.jpg file contained in the default theme. Presence and contact lists in Lync / Skype for Business environments

Features added in version 9

Pexip Infinity version 9 added the following features and enhancements:

Feature Description More information
Infinity Connect Web App and desktop client enhancements

Instant Messaging and chat

Conference participants using a variety of clients can chat and share links with other participants. Supported clients include Microsoft Lync, Skype, and Skype for Business. Chat is also natively supported in Pexip's own Infinity Connect suite (Web App and desktop client). Microsoft Lync and Infinity Connect clients can also chat when calling each other directly via the Pexip Distributed Gateway.

Content sharing

All users can now share images and PDF content from any browser.

Notifications and selective unlocking for a locked conference

When a new participant attempts to connect to a locked conference using a guest PIN (or without a PIN if it is an open conference), the Hosts are notified that the participant is waiting to join. Hosts can then selectively either allow the participant to join the conference, or reject the request and disconnect the participant. While waiting, the participant is held in the conference lobby, where they will see and hear the waiting for conference host message (these items are customizable via themes).

Conference control

Host participants now have the options to mute all Guest participants simultaneously, and to disconnect all participants simultaneously.

Role selection when adding participants

You can select the role (Host or Guest) when adding a participant to a conference.

New and improved design

The Infinity Connect Web App and desktop clients have been redesigned with a new look and workflow to support the chat, content sharing and conference control features. This allows, for example, conference participants who are using a video conferencing endpoint, or a Microsoft Lync client, to use Infinity Connect to connect to the conference without audio and video, but have access to all of the advanced features.

Simplified rebranding

It is now easier to rebrand the styles and images used in the Infinity Connect clients. You can add a logo, a background image and set the colors to match your own corporate branding. Existing customers who have rebranded the Infinity Connect Web App have to reapply their branding in version 9. Any textual changes to labels and messages also has to be reapplied. As any existing branding on the Conferencing Nodes will be removed when upgrading, customers may want to prepare their updated branding prior to upgrading.

Enabling and disabling chat

Locking a conference and allowing participants to join a locked conference

Introduction to Infinity Connect

Outbound video streaming to Content Delivery Networks and public services Pexip Infinity can output a dedicated multimedia stream to enterprise CDN (Content Delivery Network) streaming and recording services such as Wowza, Adobe, VBrick, and Microsoft Azure, and to public streaming services such as YouTube. Any Pexip conference can be streamed as a live event to an unlimited number of viewers, and can be recorded and stored for later consumption. Streaming a conference over YouTube
Device registration Endpoint devices can register to Pexip Infinity Conferencing Nodes. This allows Pexip Infinity to route outbound calls to those registered devices without having to go via a SIP proxy or rely on DNS. Registering devices to Pexip Infinity
External policy

Pexip Infinity's external policy feature allows call policy decisions to be taken by an external system, based on the data sources that are available to that system. This allows Pexip Infinity administrators to implement routing decisions based on their specific requirements. The external system can, for example, return VMR configuration data and jpeg avatars to represent participants in a conference, and decide the location for the placement of media on a per call basis.

Using an external policy server with Pexip Infinity
Backup and restore Administrators can backup and restore configuration data via the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface. Backing up and restoring configuration
Location-based call control enhancements

Pexip Distributed Gateway

You can optionally configure Gateway Routing Rules to place the outgoing call from a Conferencing Node in a specific location (rather than from the node that received the call). This means that internal LAN-facing nodes and NATted DMZ-facing nodes can act as a gateway between internal and external traffic.

Automatically dialed participants

You can optionally configure an Automatically Dialed Participant to be called from a Conferencing Node in a specific location (rather than from the node being used by the participant who initiated the conference).

About the Pexip Distributed Gateway service
and
Automatically dialing out to a participant from a conference
Microsoft Lync integration enhancements

Per-location Lync MSSIP domain

You can specify the Lync MSSIP domain per location. If configured, it is used instead of the global Lync MSSIP domain in outbound calls to Lync from Conferencing Nodes in that location. This makes it easier for service providers, for example, to support multiple Lync domains.

Direct gateway calls into the AVMCU

Calls received via the Pexip Distributed Gateway can now be configured to call directly into an AVMCU multi-party conference (both ad-hoc and scheduled calls hosted on AVMCU).

Audio-only calls

When making audio-only calls from Lync to a Pexip Virtual Meeting Room, the participants in the VMR will only receive your audio. However, the Lync user will receive video and audio from the VMR. The Lync call can be escalated to video in the normal way by starting video, if required.

Resizing shared application content

When a Lync user shares an application (rather than their screen), additional black borders are now removed and the shared content is resized to cover the full dual video stream for receiving endpoints/clients.

Integrating Microsoft Lync / Skype for Business with Pexip Infinity
STUN servers

Conferencing Node STUN servers

You can configure the STUN servers used by Conferencing Nodes on a per location and per gateway rule basis. This enables a Conferencing Node to discover its public NAT address in deployment scenarios where the TURN server is not located outside of the enterprise firewall.

Infinity Connect WebRTC client STUN servers

You can configure the STUN servers to be used by Infinity Connect WebRTC clients when they connect to a Conferencing Node in a specific system location.

In previous releases, Infinity Connect WebRTC clients always used stun.l.google.com. This STUN server address is included by default in v9. Customers upgrading from previous releases will have the stun.l.google.com server address added automatically to all existing system locations, resulting in no change to previous behavior.

About STUN servers
Join/leave notifications Themes now include the option to play audio tones to notify when participants join or leave a conference. Playing notification tones when participants join or leave a conference
Additional audio notifications

New audio files have been added so that:

  • when the last Host leaves a conference, the remaining Guest participants are played a notification that their call will be disconnected shortly
  • when there is just one participant in a conference, they are notified that they are the only participant.
Audio files
Preconfigured themes Pexip Infinity now ships with 4 preconfigured themes that are either with or without entry and exit tones, and that refer to the "#" key as either "the hash key" or "the pound key". Preconfigured themes
Layouts

The following enhancements have been made to layouts:

  • Different layouts can be applied to a Virtual Meeting Room as well as a Virtual Auditorium.
  • There is now an additional layout option that allows you to show the main speaker only, in full screen (with no thumbnails).
  • For Virtual Auditoriums, you can elect to pin the presenter to the main video when they are sharing a presentation, regardless of who is speaking.
Selecting the layout seen by participants
Disconnect all participants from a conference You can disconnect all of the participants from a conference via the Status > Conferences page on the Administrator interface. Disconnecting participants from a conference
Conference participant status Conference participant status information indicates if the participant is currently on hold or if the participant is a streaming or recording device. Viewing current conference status
Syslog server connection protocol You can choose the IP transport protocol to use — UDP, TCP or TLS — when configuring a remote syslog server. Using a syslog server
Ability to disable SIP UDP You can enable or disable incoming calls on SIP UDP separately from those over SIP TCP/TLS. Disabling SIP UDP can help reduce SIP spam. On new installations of version 9, SIP UDP is disabled by default. Upgrades from existing versions will have SIP UDP enabled (assuming SIP was enabled previously), and can be disabled in Global Settings. Enabling and disabling SIP, H.323, WebRTC and RTMP
Pexip Infinity Administrator interface improvements

Local timezone

The Pexip Infinity Administrator interface now displays times using the administrator's local timezone. (Log timestamps continue to use UTC.)

New Call control and Users navigation menu options

There are now separate menu options for Call control configuration (H.323 gatekeepers, SIP credentials, SIP proxies, Lync servers, TURN servers, STUN servers and Policy servers) and for User configuration (User authentication, Account roles and LDAP roles).

Timezones
Alarm enhancements

You will now receive a warning when:

  • your license is due to expire within the next 60 days
  • the syslog server is inaccessible

Also, you can view all alarm activity by searching the Administrator log for administrator.alarm. This will show a list of all Alarm raised and Alarm lowered events.

Viewing alarms
Alarm raised and lowered events You can view alarms that have since been resolved by searching the Administrator log for administrator.alarm. This will show a list of all Alarm raised and Alarm lowered events. Viewing alarms
Automatic Conferencing Node deployment improvements

Verify VM manager certificate

When automatically deploying a new Conferencing Node on a VMware host, you can control whether the certificate presented by the VM manager is verified before the connection is allowed.

Faster resource path selection

There is an extra step in the automatic deployment wizard to select a datacenter. The resource path selection is then filtered by the selected datacenter.

Deploying new Conferencing Nodes
Support for G.719 Support has been added for the G.719 audio codec. Audio and video specifications
Endpoint IP addresses removed from analytics events Endpoint IP addresses are no longer included in the information sent when usage reporting has been enabled. Information sent when usage reporting is enabled

Features added in version 8

Pexip Infinity version 8 added the following features and enhancements:

Pexip Infinity platform features

Feature Description More information
Additional codecs

Support has been added for the following codecs:

Audio

  • Siren7™ (licensed from Polycom®)
  • SILK
  • Speex
  • AAC-LC

Video

  • H.261
Audio and video specifications
Guest-only timeout You can now specify the length of time a conference will continue with only Guest participants, after all Host participants have left. Using PINs to differentiate between Hosts and Guests
Optional reporting of usage statistics We have added the option for administrators to provide us with anonymized deployment and usage information. This setting is disabled by default on upgrade from previous versions. Automatically sending usage statistics
Architectural improvements As well as adding new features, this release includes a number of behind-the-scenes improvements, continuing our focus on further enhancing the stability, quality and capacity of the Pexip Infinity platform.  
CDR improvements All Conference Detail Records accessible via the Management Node now include the call video and audio details.  

Microsoft Lync interoperability features

Feature Description More information
Support for outbound RDP to Microsoft Lync Pexip Infinity supports bi-directional RDP. Microsoft Lync users can now send and receive dual streams (previously Lync could send two streams but only receive a single stream). This means Lync users can now view presentation content and the presenter at the same time. To use this feature you must ensure that Pexip Infinity is configured to enable outbound calls to Lync clients. Integrating Microsoft Lync / Skype for Business with Pexip Infinity
Support for bi-directional content sharing for Lync AVMCU conferences When an endpoint is brought into a Microsoft Lync AVMCU conference via the Pexip Distributed Gateway, the endpoint can send and receive dual stream presentation to/from the AVMCU. The Lync AVMCU participants will receive the endpoint presentation as a secondary RDP stream. When Lync clients are sharing desktop or applications in the AVMCU, the content can be viewed on the endpoint as H239/BFCP dual stream.  
Support for Skype* Skype users can connect a full audio and video call into a Pexip Infinity VMR or distributed gateway, either through direct federation to a Pexip Conferencing Node or through an on-premises Lync deployment.  
* Technology preview only

Web and mobile client features

Feature Description More information
New versions of Infinity Connect Mobile client An update of the Infinity Connect Mobile client for iOS is now available, and includes a version for the SECTOR network.

About the Infinity Connect Mobile client for Android

Full support for RTMP RTMP is now fully supported (previously available as technology preview in version 7). RTMP is the protocol used by Infinity Connect via Internet Explorer and Safari browsers. Enabling and disabling SIP, H.323, WebRTC and RTMP

Features added in version 7

Pexip Infinity version 7 added the following features and enhancements:

Pexip Infinity platform features

Feature Description More information
Firewall traversal support

New firewall traversal features enable Conferencing Nodes to be deployed in a public DMZ:

  • Privately-addressed Conferencing Nodes can be deployed behind a NAT firewall, allowing external parties to connect directly to them via a public address.
  • Conferencing Nodes can be deployed in the local network and in a DMZ (with a non-NAT firewall in between).
  • Conferencing Nodes support media latching, providing better connectivity for remote SIP endpoints that are behind remote NAT devices.
  • Conferencing Nodes support media over TCP. This improves connectivity through strict firewalls with ICE clients such as Lync and Infinity Connect. TCP media uses the same ports as those used for RDP and RTP content.
  • Static routes can be configured via the Administrator interface and assigned to an existing Management Node, and to new and existing Conferencing Nodes.
Network deployment options
Location overflow when media capacity is reached If a location reaches its capacity for a conference instance, additional "overflow" locations can be utilized to handle the media for new conference participants that are connected (for signaling purposes) to nodes within that location. Location capacity overflow
DNS and NTP servers per location DNS servers and NTP servers are now configured per location, and apply to all of the Conferencing Nodes in that location. You can also configure specific DNS servers and NTP servers for the Management Node.  
Send DTMF to Automatically Dialed Participants DTMF sequences can be configured for Automatically Dialed Participants. The DTMF is transmitted 3 seconds after the call connects to the participant. Automatically dialing out to a participant from a conference
Pexip Distributed Gateway support for bandwidth restrictions and DTMF

Bandwidth restrictions can be applied to calls made via the Pexip Distributed Gateway. They can be applied to each Gateway Routing Rule.

If the Pexip Distributed Gateway receives DTMF signaling from an inbound call, it will generate similar DTMF on the outbound call.

 
Service tags Administrators have the option to assign a unique identifier to a Pexip Infinity service (Virtual Meeting Room, Virtual Auditorium, Virtual Reception or Gateway Routing Rule) and then use this to track usage of the service. Tracking usage with a service tag
Customizable audio avatar The image used in place of an audio participant's video stream is now customizable as part of a theme. Customizing images and voice prompts using themes
Default theme You can now nominate a theme to be used by default for any services that do not have a theme selected. Setting the default theme
Conference locking You can now lock a conference after it has started to prevent any further participants from joining. Locking a conference and allowing participants to join a locked conference
Improved media resilience FEC support for VP8.  
Support for 1080p* All resolutions up to and including 1080p (1920 x 1080) at a full 30 frames per second are now supported.  
* Technology preview only

Microsoft Lync interoperability features

Feature Description More information
Improved Microsoft Lync interoperability
  • Pexip Infinity acts as a gateway between Lync and standards-based endpoints.
  • Pexip Infinity supports bi-directional RDP*. Lync users can now send and receive dual streams (previously Lync could send two streams but only receive a single stream). This means Lync users can now view presentation content and the presenter at the same time.
  • CCCP support providing improved features and usability:
    • Initiation of point-to-point calls from Lync to standards-based devices.
    • Drag-and-drop to add H.323/SIP endpoints into a Lync conference.
Integrating Microsoft Lync / Skype for Business with Pexip Infinity
* Technology preview only

Web and mobile client features

Feature Description More information
Infinity Connect suite This release includes Infinity Connect, a suite of software clients that allows end users to connect to Pexip Infinity services from a web browser, an installable desktop client, or a mobile client (supported on Windows, OS X and Linux). This incorporates design and usability updates to what was previously the Pexip Web App. Introduction to Infinity Connect
Browser-based client support extended Access to the browser-based video client has been extended to Opera, IE* and Safari* (in addition to Chrome and Firefox).
Infinity Connect Mobile client for SECTOR Network An additional Android version of the Infinity Connect Mobile client is available for use in enterprises that require mobile apps to work with management solutions based on OpenPeak's ADAM platform.

Pexip for SECTOR Network

* Technology preview only

Usability features

Feature Description More information
Support for Russian language The Pexip Infinity Administrator interface can now be displayed in Russian, in addition to Simplified Chinese and English. Changing the display language

Features added in version 6

Pexip Infinity version 6 added the following features and enhancements:

Pexip Infinity platform features

Feature Description More information
Alarms Notifications will appear on the new Alarms page (Status > Alarms) whenever a participant cannot join a conference because of lack of resources or lack of licenses. Viewing alarms
Global settings page Configuration of settings that apply to all Conferencing Nodes, or to the entire platform, have been incorporated on a new Global settings page (Platform configuration > Global settings). About global settings
Limiting participant numbers You can now specify the maximum number of participants that will be allowed to use a Virtual Meeting Room or Virtual Auditorium at any one time. Limiting the number of participants
Enabling or disabling SIP, H.323 and WebRTC You now have the option to select which call protocols (SIP, H.323 or WebRTC) your deployment will support. Enabling and disabling SIP, H.323, WebRTC and RTMP
Lync MSSIP domain You can now specify the name of the Lync domain to which this Pexip deployment belongs. Integrating Microsoft Lync / Skype for Business with Pexip Infinity
Lync presence In a Lync environment, Pexip Infinity will publish presence information for Virtual Meeting Rooms and Virtual Auditoriums. Presence and contact lists in Lync / Skype for Business environments
Customizable avatars for Lync You can customize the avatar that is displayed in Lync users' contact lists to represent a Virtual Meeting Room or a Virtual Auditorium. Customizing images and voice prompts using themes

Security features

Feature Description More information
Integration with external systems You can now configure a username and password to be used by external systems (for example, CUCM) that are integrating with Pexip Infinity. Integrating with external systems
SIP authentication credentials You can now configure the SIP credentials that Pexip Infinity will use if it is challenged for authentication credentials after making a SIP request. Managing SIP credentials
AD/LDAP integration You can now enable administrators to use their Active Directory or other LDAP server credentials to log in to the Pexip Infinity web-based Administrator interface or management API. Managing users and roles via LDAP
Role-based authorization If you are using AD/LDAP integration, you can create roles with different access rights for administrators accessing the Pexip Infinity web-based Administrator interface or management API. Managing users and roles via LDAP
OCSP support You now have the option to use OCSP when checking the validity of TLS certificates. Using OCSP to check the status of certificates
SIP TLS verification For SIP connections over TLS, you now have the option to require that peer certificates are verified. Verifying peer certificates for SIP TLS connections
SNMPv3 support Pexip Infinity now supports SNMPv3, in addition to SNMPv2c. Enabling SNMP
Secure NTP Pexip Infinity now supports synchronization of time over an encrypted channel. Enabling NTP on the Management Node
AS-SIP Pexip Infinity now supports interoperability with Assured Services SIP (AS-SIP) compliant devices.  
Configurable SSH access You can now disable access over SSH to the Management Node and Conferencing Nodes. About global settings
Management web interface session timeout You can now configure the number of minutes a browser session may remain idle before the user is logged out of the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface. About global settings
Login banner text You can now specify informational text to display in a message box on the Administrator interface login page. About global settings

Pexip Web App features

Feature Description More information
Improved screen sharing for Pexip Web App users Screen sharing from within the Pexip Web App is now enabled via a Chrome extension, and users now have the option to select whether they share their entire screen or a single application.

Introduction to Infinity Connect

Usability features

Feature Description More information
Logs have paginated view and support searching

The entire contents of the administrator log and the support log can now be displayed in the Administrator interface via a paginated view.

You can also search the logs using the new search box at the top left of the page.

About the support log

About the administrator log

Localization The Pexip Infinity Administrator interface can now be displayed in Simplified Chinese, in addition to English. Changing the display language