Features added in previous versions

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

Features added in version 23

Pexip Infinity version 23 added the following features and enhancements:

Feature Description More information
Support for "one-touch join" functionality on VTC endpoints

Pexip's One-Touch Join allows users to schedule a meeting in Microsoft Outlook or Google Calendar and include in the invitation a meeting room with a supported videoconferencing endpoint, so that the endpoint in the chosen meeting room displays a Join button just before the meeting is scheduled to begin. Participants can then simply walk into the room and select the button, and the endpoint will automatically dial in to the meeting.

One-Touch Join

Ability to control the maximum call quality for participants connecting to Pexip Infinity services

You can specify the maximum call quality for participants connecting to Pexip Infinity services to be either SD, HD or Full HD (1080p). You can set a global default and override it for each individual service (VMR, Call Routing Rule etc) if required. For example, you could use the default option of "HD" for most of your services, but enable Full HD on some specific services.

The default behavior for new and upgraded systems is HD, unless your system had already enabled the 1080p (Full HD) setting, in which case the default behavior will be Full HD. This new maximum call quality setting replaces the previous global setting to enable 1080p (Full HD).

Setting and limiting call quality
Ability to set bandwidth consumption ratio for presentations When sending main video and presentation to a standards-based endpoint, you can specify at the global platform level the maximum percentage of the call bandwidth to allocate to sending presentation content. The default is 75%, which reflects Pexip Infinity's previous automatic behavior. Managing and restricting call bandwidth
Full support for VP9 codec

The VP9 codec is now fully available for connections to Conferencing Nodes running the AVX2 or later instruction set. It is enabled by default for both new and upgraded deployments.

VP9 uses around one third less bandwidth for the same resolution when compared to VP8. Note however that VP9 calls consume around 1.25 times the CPU resource (ports) on the Conferencing Node.

(VP9 was previously available as technology preview in earlier versions.)

Codecs

Call types and resource requirements

Web proxy support

You can now specify one or more web proxies to use for outbound web requests from the Management Node, and from the Conferencing Nodes in each system location. Web proxies, when configured, are used to route all requests for analytics and incident reporting, some requests for license activation, requests from the Management Node to cloud service providers, and One-Touch Join requests. Support for other types of outbound web requests will be added in later releases.

Using a web proxy
Administrative improvements

This release contains the following administrative improvements:

  • Participant and backplane media stream statistics now include the frame rate being sent and received by the Conferencing Node.

 

  • A new theme audio file, conf-test_call_audio_only_48kHz_mono.wav, that is played out to end-users making an audio-only call to the Test Call Service.
Configuring the Test Call Service
  • A new transform_layout management REST API command can be used to control the layout, overlay text and other in-conference indicators.
Management command API
  • A new boot_time field on the management REST API worker_vm status resource.
Management status API
  • The security wizard contains a new option to enable FIR support.
Deploying Pexip Infinity in a secure mode of operation
  • When using local or external policy, a new overflow_locations field is available when providing a response to a media location request. This optional field can be used to specify multiple overflow locations as an alternative to the primary and secondary overflow location fields that were already supported. This feature is available from version 23.2.
Using external and local policy to control Pexip Infinity behavior
Static NAT on Management Node You can now configure the Management Node with an IPv4 static NAT address. This allows IP-based access to a Management Node behind a NAT when it has an alternative FQDN configured.  
TCP media relay for WebRTC clients * A new global setting that enables media relay on TCP port 443 on all Conferencing Nodes. This is intended as a fallback mechanism for use by WebRTC clients that are behind strict firewalls that block RTP media to Pexip's standard ports. This setting should only be enabled when it is impossible to amend the firewall's rules to allow UDP media, as sending media over TCP can result in increased latency and jitter. Tech preview features
Adaptive Composition layout *

A new global setting that enables the Adaptive Composition layout as an option when selecting the conference Host and Guest view. This is an intelligent layout with real-time automatic face detection and framing.

If you have any feedback on Adaptive Composition, please send it us as described at https://www.pexip.com/ac-feedback.

Tech preview features

* Technology preview only

Changes in functionality in version 23

Feature Description More information
Compatibility updates to the Teams Connector for Microsoft Teams

Version 23 of the Teams Connector contains updates that necessitate an upgrade to your Pexip platform to ensure compatibility with the latest updates to the Microsoft Teams APIs.

We strongly recommend that you upgrade your Pexip deployment — both the Pexip Infinity platform and the Pexip Teams Connector — to version 23 as soon as practicable.

Maintaining your Teams Connector deployment
Teams Connector enhancements

When upgrading your Teams Connector to version 23, you must use the latest deployment scripts as contained within the v23 documentation. There are two significant changes to be aware of when upgrading to v23:

  • The v23 deployment scripts have switched from using AzureRM to Azure PowerShell module (Az).
  • The person performing the upgrade must have been granted Azure Owner permissions for the pre-existing static resource group in Azure.

Note that there are no additional variables required in the initialization script in v23, however the installation process now performs a case-sensitive check to ensure that the $PxTeamsConnFqdn variable matches the name in the Teams Connector's certificate. As with all upgrades, you can continue to use the Pexip CVI app from your existing deployment.

Full instructions are available at Upgrading the Teams Connector to the latest software.

Other changes and improvements to the Teams Connector include:

  • VMSS (virtual machine scale set) disk encryption is now always enabled. Hence, the $PxTeamsConnDiskEncryption variable in the variable initialization script is no longer used or required.
  • Access keys for the storage account that is used for logging are managed by Azure Key Vault and are regenerated every 90 days.
  • Improved quality of presentation streams from a VTC into a Teams meeting. Teams clients on poor networks can now request a presentation stream at a lower frame rate without affecting the quality received by other clients on better networks that are connected to the same Teams meeting.
  • More informative error messages for deployment failures, including more extensive and up-front checking for certificate-related issues.
  • When viewing log messages and participant status in the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface, Teams clients in a meeting are now shown in the name@domain format (previously shown as an id).
Maintaining your Teams Connector deployment
Recording indicators when a Skype for Business / Lync client records a conference The recording indicator is now shown If a Skype for Business / Lync client records a conference (previously the streaming indicator was shown). Streaming and recording a conference
New address for outbound connections to Google Meet Conferencing Nodes now connect out to Google Meet at hangouts.clients6.google.com (previously clients6.google.com). This change applies as of version 23.2. Configuring Pexip Infinity as a Google Meet gateway
Administrative modifications

This release contains the following administrative modifications:

  • Pexip Exchange Integrations (configured as part of the VMR Scheduling for Exchange feature) have been renamed VMR scheduling for Exchange integrations. This is to distinguish them from One-Touch Join Exchange integrations which are configured as part of the new One-Touch Join feature.
 
SSE4.x no longer supported

As of Pexip Infinity v12, the SSE4.x instruction set was only supported in deployments that had upgraded from a previous version — SSE4.x was not supported in new deployments using v12 or later.

As of 1 January 2020, deployments on SSE4.x hardware are not supported at all. You must ensure that all Conferencing Nodes in your deployment are relocated to hardware using the AVX or later instruction set.

To check the instruction set for each Conferencing Node, go to Status > Conferencing Nodes, select the Conferencing Node and scroll down to CPU instruction set.

 
vSphere ESXi 4.1 no longer supported As of 1 January 2020, deployments using vSphere ESXi 4.1 are no longer supported. This is a consequence of the removal of support for SSE4.x.  

Features added in version 22

Pexip Infinity version 22 added the following features and enhancements:

Feature Description More information
Far-End Camera Control (FECC) support Endpoints that support FECC can now be controlled by a Host participant using an Infinity Connect client. FECC support is configurable at the global platform level, and is enabled by default.

About global settings

Control another participant's camera

Improved WebRTC resilience in poor networks There is improved resilience to poor or constrained network conditions for the video sent from WebRTC clients to a Pexip Infinity Conferencing Node. A WebRTC client that supports Google Congestion Control, such as the Infinity Connect clients, can now adapt more quickly to deteriorating network conditions and downspeed the video it sends to Pexip Infinity, while preserving the bandwidth allocated for audio packets.  
Ability to enforce encrypted-only calls

You can control the media encryption requirements on calls placed via Pexip Infinity. You can specify at the global platform level whether calls placed into a Pexip service (such as a Virtual Meeting Room or via a Call Routing Rule must be encrypted, use encryption when available i.e. "best effort", or whether encryption is not required. You can then override the standard behavior for each individual service if required.

The default behavior for new and upgraded systems is "best effort" (which is how all calls were treated in previous versions).

About global settings

About Pexip Infinity conferences

Google Meet integration improvements

The following improvements have been made when integrating Google Meet with Pexip Infinity:

  • Full support for duo video between VTC participants and native clients: when a VTC participant presents content, the other participants in the conference will see both the presentation stream and the video from that participant (duo video was already supported to VTC participants when a native Google Meet client presented content).
Integrating Google Meet with Pexip Infinity
Improved control of content sent to a streaming service

The client API transform_layout conference control option has a new streaming parameter which allows you to control the content sent to a streaming participant (such as a YouTube broadcast).

This allows you, for example, to send a different layout to the stream from that seen by standard participants, or to temporarily send a new "holding" splash screen while you are waiting for people in the conference to get ready to start.

You can invoke this functionality either by implementing your own calls directly to the client REST API, or by using the transformConferenceLayout Infinity Connect plugin function.

Pexip client REST API

Creating and deploying Infinity Connect plugins

New theme elements for streaming participants and for Google Meet public streaming

The following elements (that apply to version 2 style themes only) have been added to support streaming participants:

  • New icon_streaming_screen.svg graphic which is displayed on the 2 new splash screens described below.
  • New stream_waiting splash screen which is used in conjunction with the client API transform_layout conference control.
  • New streaming_in_progress splash screen which is shown if there are no other participants in the conference other than a streaming participant.

The following theme elements have also been added to provide support in the future for public streaming from a Google Meet conference:

  • New audio files for streaming started/stopped messages:

    • conf-public_streaming_started_48kHz_mono.wav
    • conf-public_streaming_stopped_48kHz_mono.wav
  • New setting in the themeconfig.json file for the public streaming indicator text:

    • public_streaming_indicator_text
  • New graphics file for the public streaming indicator icon (applies to version 2 style themes only):

    • icon_public_streaming.svg
Rules and requirements for customized themes
Administrative improvements

This release contains the following administrative improvements:

  • Several new administrator alarms have been added to indicate:

    • LDAP sync provisioning failures
    • PIN brute force resistance detections
    • VOIP scanner resistance detections

Viewing alarms

 

  • Live View updates:
    • Live view and conference graphs can be filtered by participant or conference name.
    • The timeline now indicates historical call quality issues for participants and backplanes.

Viewing live and historical platform status

Changes in functionality in version 22

Feature Description More information
Compatibility updates to the Teams Connector for Microsoft Teams

Version 22 of the Teams Connector contains updates that necessitate an upgrade to your Pexip platform to ensure compatibility with the latest updates to the Microsoft Teams APIs.

We strongly recommend that you upgrade your Pexip deployment — both the Pexip Infinity platform and the Pexip Teams Connector — to version 22 as soon as practicable.

Maintaining your Teams Connector deployment
Single Teams Connector CVI app and new installation/upgrade scripts

In version 20 and 21 of the Teams Connector, Pexip used a trusted app and a guest app to connect participants to Teams meetings. In version 22 and later, only the trusted app is required, which now performs both the trusted and guest joining workflows, and is now referred to as just the Pexip CVI app.

Maintaining your Teams Connector deployment
Updated default Pexip logo and avatar

The default Pexip logo has changed from    to    and the avatar image has changed to .

This affects the following end-user facing features:

  • Themes: the in-conference video watermark watermark_icon.png file and the conference avatar presence_avatar_image.jpg file. If your services (VMRs etc) use the base Pexip theme then the new watermark and avatar logo files will take effect automatically. They will also take effect automatically if you use a customized theme, unless you have explicitly included an alternative watermark_icon.png or presence_avatar_image.jpg file in your theme. Note that the change to the avatar may take some time to appear in SfB/Lync users' contact lists due to caching.
  • Infinity Connect web app: the Pexip watermark shown in the selfview prior to joining a conference. If you use the default web app branding then the new watermark will take effect automatically. It will also take effect automatically if you have customized your web app, unless you have explicitly included an alternative watermark_icon.png file in your branding package.
  • VMR Scheduling for Exchange: the default Add-in image icon, which appears on the add-in button in Outlook clients. If you have uploaded your own icon, this will remain in use on upgrade to v22. If you have not uploaded an icon, the icon will change to the new default. Note that Outlook clients may cache the add-in icon, so it may be some time after upgrade that the new icon appears.

Customizing the Pexip Infinity user experience

 

Adding a VMR scheduling for Exchange integration to Pexip Infinity and generating the add-in file

Streaming/recording participants are not included in stage layout When a conference participant is flagged as a streaming/recording participant, that participant is now treated as a receive-only participant and it is no longer included in the video stage layout seen by other participants. Streaming and recording a conference
Administrative modifications

This release contains the following administrative modifications:

  • Any leading and trailing whitespace is now stripped from content entered into text boxes in the Administrator interface.
 
  • Previously when using the client REST API transform_layout conference control option, if you made multiple requests for the same conference you had to keep track of the state and respecify all of the relevant parameters in each request. In version 22, if you make multiple requests for the same conference, the changes are applied cumulatively (with the most recent settings taking precedence).

Pexip client REST API

  • In the Administrator interface, Microsoft Azure tenants are now referred to as Microsoft Teams tenants.
Configuring Pexip Infinity as a Microsoft Teams gateway
  • The setting to Enable support for Pexip Infinity Connect and Mobile App has been renamed to Enable support for Pexip Infinity Connect clients and Client API. If an administrator disables this option, they will get a warning that it will also disable WebRTC and RTMP calls.
Enable support for Pexip Infinity Connect clients and Client API
Service tag added to participant events When participant events are logged, they now include the service tag of the associated conference. Tracking usage via service and participant call tags

Features added in version 21

Pexip Infinity version 21 added the following features and enhancements:

Feature Description More information
OAuth support for VMR Scheduling for Exchange on Office 365

VMR Scheduling for Exchange deployments using Office 365 now have the option to authenticate the service account using OAuth 2.0 (rather than Basic Authentication).

As of H2 2021, Microsoft will stop supporting and fully decommission Basic Authentication for EWS to access Exchange Online (for more information, see Microsoft's announcement). We therefore strongly recommend that for Office 365, all new deployments authenticate the service account using OAuth 2.0, and all existing deployments are updated to enable this option as soon as possible.

Note that this change does not affect Exchange on-premises.

Enabling OAuth authenticationIn this step you enable OAuth authentication for the service account.

Dynamic bursting to Google Cloud Platform You can now utilize dynamic bursting to Conferencing Nodes hosted in a Google Cloud Platform cloud service. (Pexip Infinity already supports dynamic bursting to Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services platforms.)

Configuring dynamic bursting to the Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Microsoft Teams integration improvements

When integrating Microsoft Teams with Pexip Infinity:

  • If a Microsoft Teams conference is recorded, audio prompts indicating that recording has been started/stopped are played to callers who are gatewayed via Pexip Infinity into the conference, and a recording indicator is displayed.
  • You can use Pexip Infinity as an external RTMP encoder for your Teams live events, which means that you can stream video, audio and presentation content from your videoconferencing meeting room systems directly into the event.

  • The TLS client certificate chain verification process now handles intermediate certificates that are not in the Windows Certificate Store.
  • Improved live view in the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface.
  • New installation script variables to control when Windows updates are applied to the Teams Connector instances, and to provide consent for Azure resource usage tracking.
  • Improved tenant administrator consent process. Note that the URL structure of the app consent page has changed (only relevant to new deployments).
  • The Teams Connector supports connections over TLSv1.2 only, and does not support RC2, RC4, DES and 3DES ciphers.

Integrating Microsoft Teams with Pexip Infinity

Improved multi-region support in Microsoft Azure

You can now deploy Conferencing Nodes in Microsoft Azure across peered regions (Global VNet Peering). Previously this was only possible via a VNet-to-VNet VPN gateway connection.

Note that if you are upgrading to version 21 or later, you must not delete the VPN gateway until after you have upgraded. You can then delete the gateway and enable VNet peering.

Deploying Pexip Infinity on Microsoft Azure

Support for C5 instance types in Amazon Web Services Pexip Infinity now supports AWS instance types that use the Elastic Network Adapter (ENA), which means that C5 instance types are now supported.

Deploying Pexip Infinity on Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Support for dynamic IPv6 gateways The Management Node and Conferencing Nodes are now able to obtain their Gateway addresses from IPv6 Router Advertisements. This provides support for IPv6 in environments where static gateways cannot be configured (such as AWS). Configuring the Management Node

Configuring existing Conferencing Nodes

Management event streams

You can configure Pexip Infinity to push conference and participant-related events to an external service (System > Event Sinks).

This mechanism can be used in large deployments as an alternative to making frequent calls to the management status API, in order to reduce the load on the Management Node.

Each event sink can be assigned to one or more system locations.

About event sinks
Alternate H.323 gatekeeper support Pexip Infinity now provides gatekeeper redundancy for H.323 endpoints. When an H.323 device makes a registration request, the Conferencing Node now returns a list of any alternate nodes in the same Pexip system location. This allows compatible H.323 endpoints to fail over their registration to that node.  
Administrative improvements

This release contains the following administrative improvements:

  • Live view updates: the summary now includes the number of external conferences; the external conference tooltip lists all participants (not just external users); Teams Connectors that are currently handling calls are now represented; and locked conferences are now indicated by (previously ).

 

Viewing live and historical platform status

  • When downloading a certificate from the Management Node you have the option to include intermediate certificates.
Managing TLS and trusted CA certificates
  • When configuring an LDAP synchronization template, there is a new multi_valued_attrs variable that will contain all of the LDAP fields that are found to have multiple values for a given user. Also, there is a corresponding new pex_find_first_match filter that can be used to extract values from the multi_valued_attrs variable.
Using templates, variables and filters when provisioning VMRs, devices and users
  • The security wizard contains two new options to specify the CCA-ID and the Resource-Priority prefix to use in the SIP Contact header. Also, the option to enable management web validation of host headers has been removed as this is now enabled automatically if the new Management Node FQDN field is configured.
Deploying Pexip Infinity in a secure mode of operation
  • A new client REST API command /api/client/v2/status can be used to allow load balancers to detect whether a Conferencing Node is in maintenance mode.
Taking a Conferencing Node out of service
  • A new client REST API command /api/client/v2/conferences/<conference_alias>/transform_layout can be used to change the conference layout on-the-fly, and enable/disable indicators and overlay text.
Pexip client REST API
  • Conferencing Node status details now includes a call count of the number of signaling connections that the node is currently handling.
Viewing Conferencing Nodes
  • A service configuration response field of bypass_proxy is available to local and external policy. This can be used to bypass a Proxying Edge Node and send media directly to a Transcoding Conferencing Node.
Using external and local policy to control Pexip Infinity behavior
  • The VMR Scheduling for Exchange service now writes events to the administrator log, and there is a new template for configuring the general error message seen by users.

Log output

Reject general error template

  • Conferencing Nodes are now referenced in the Administrator interface using both their IP address and their name.
 
  • When downloading a limited duration diagnostic snapshot, there is now an option to include metrics from all Conferencing Nodes (in addition to the metrics from the Management Node).
Downloading a diagnostic snapshot
  • Errors and warnings in the support and administrator logs are now shown with a highlighted background for emphasis.

About the administrator log

About the support log

VP9 support * VP9 is now available for connections to Conferencing Nodes running the AVX2 or later instruction set. It will be disabled by default for both new and upgraded deployments, but can be enabled by including it in the list of Chosen Codecs.

Codecs

Call types and resource requirements

* Technology preview only

Changes in functionality in version 21

Feature Description More information
Improved method of constructing a "From" address

There is an improved method of constructing a suitable alias to use as the "From" address (so as to provide a suitable call back address) when placing the outbound leg of a gateway call when no suitable "From" address already exists.

Note that this does not apply for gateway calls to or from a Skype for Business / Lync meeting. For these calls, if the original source alias is not a valid SIP alias it will no longer be appended to the display name.

Determining the caller's alias
Infinity Connect desktop client registrations

When handling registration requests over HTTPS (from Infinity Connect clients):

  • Failed registration requests are now recorded in the support log. The log entries contain the message "REST device authentication failed".
  • Registration requests that are sent to a Conferencing Node that is in maintenance mode are now rejected with "503 Service Unavailable" instead of "404 Not Found".
Registering devices to Pexip Infinity
Administrative modifications

This release contains the following administrative modifications:

  • When activating license requests, the Management Node may attempt to contact the Pexip licensing server at either pexip.flexnetoperations.com (existing address) or activation.pexip.com (new address). Either server address may be used depending on the type of activation key supplied.
 
  • In the Administrator interface the existing Status menu now only contains options to view the current status of the Pexip Infinity platform and any conference instances currently in progress. A new History & Logs top-level menu contains options to view the historical status of completed conferences, alarms, system usage, logs and so on. Also, the System configuration, Platform configuration and Service configuration top-level menu items are now called System, Platform and Services respectively.
 
  • On the Platform > Global settings page, each group of settings (connectivity, port ranges, security and so on) is now contracted by default. Individual sections can be shown (expanded) or hidden (contracted), or you can expand or collapse all sections.
 
  • Search functionality has been added to relevant pages within the Administrator interface.
 
  • Any "out of resource" messages in the administrator log now state either "out of proxying resource" or "out of transcoding resource" as appropriate.
 
  • The jinja2 truncate filter has changed its behavior. Previously, the length parameter did not include the length of the ellipsis (or other indicator) inserted at the end of a truncated string. Now, it does.

    For example, given a filter such as:

    {{ "string" | truncate(4) }}

    the previous version would emit:

    "stri..."

    The new version will emit:

    "s..."

 
  • When calculating participant call quality for completed calls, a call quality of Unknown is now reported for calls of less than 20 seconds duration (previously this would have been reported as Good).
 
Control-only Hosts now keep a conference alive

Previously, in order to keep a conference alive when only Guests remained, a Host must have either joined with audio or video, or joined as a presentation and control-only participant and elected to Start conference. Other presentation and control-only Hosts did not keep the conference alive.

Now, the presence of a Host who has joined as presentation and control-only will prevent the conference from being automatically terminated.

When only Guests remain
Dialed-in Hosts now join locked conferences directly

Any Automatically Dialed Participants and manually-invited participants who have been given a role of Host now join a locked conference immediately, regardless of whether the conference has a Host or Guest PIN or no PINs at all. Previously, an invited participant with a role of Host would be held at the Waiting for the host screen if the conference did not have a Host PIN.

Locking a conference and allowing participants to join a locked conference
Video from devices used in portrait mode no longer cropped When a participant is sending their video in portrait mode (for example, when their client is on a mobile device being held vertically), the video that is sent to the other participants is no longer cropped. Instead, it is displayed as is. Changing aspect ratios

Features added in version 20

Pexip Infinity version 20 added the following features and enhancements:

Feature Description More information
Video interoperability with Microsoft Teams

Pexip Cloud Video Interoperability (CVI) enables professional SIP and H.323 video conferencing systems to join Microsoft Teams as if they were native Microsoft clients.

It enables any video conferencing system to join Microsoft Teams meetings and allows authenticated systems to join as trusted participants without additional user interaction (i.e. lobby by-pass), including:

  • H.323 & SIP room-based videoconferencing systems, including Cisco, Polycom, LifeSize, and others
  • Browser-based video (WebRTC / RTMP)

Third-party systems can connect to Teams meetings via the Infinity Gateway either via a Virtual Reception (IVR) or by dialing the conference directly.

Integrating Microsoft Teams with Pexip Infinity

Conference participant avatars

Conference participants and directory contacts within Pexip Infinity can be represented by an avatar or image.

You can configure user records to represent those participants/contacts and associate each user with an avatar URL that points to an external service (such as Gravatar) which can be used to retrieve that user's avatar/image. Then, when that user is participating in a conference, their avatar can be shown to any of the other conference participants who are using an Infinity Connect client.

User records can be created manually (Users & Devices > Users), or they can generated from directory information contained in an AD/LDAP server via the existing VMR and device provisioning mechanism (Utilities > LDAP Sync Templates).

Users and participant avatars
Administrative improvements

This release contains the following administrative improvements:

  • New brandingURL Infinity Connect provisioning parameter that can be used to instruct the desktop and mobile clients to use the same branding that has been uploaded to Pexip Infinity (and which is being used automatically by the web app).
  • You can specify the maximum number of days of logs and call history to retain on Pexip nodes (Platform > Global settings > Maximum log age).
  • Improved diagnostics, including the ability to create custom graphs, to make it easier to identify system dynamics such as call rate and participant creation times.
  • The Enable distributed database setting for a Conferencing Node can be modified via the Administrator interface after a node has been deployed.
  • New pex_md5 and pex_to_uuid filters that can be used in LDAP sync templates.
  • New conference participant status attributes that indicate if mute, disconnect and transfer actions are supported for that participant.

Registering and provisioning the Infinity Connect clients

Creating and viewing diagnostic graphs

 

 

Changes in functionality in version 20

Feature Description More information
Updated base theme

The base theme built into Pexip Infinity has been updated:

  • The background image is now a fjord (previously clouds).

  • The +n participant indicator overlay is now white on dark gray (previously orange on dark gray).
  • The default conference avatar, which is used in the contact list in Microsoft Skype for Business and Lync clients and in the legacy Infinity Connect clients, is now (previously an orange Pexip logo).

When customizing your own themes:

  • There are three new splash screens: no_main_video, no_incoming_video and no_presentation which are used when there is no video or presentation stream.
  • All of the in-conference indicators now use SVG files (previously PNG files).
  • There are new settings, audio files and indicators for Google Meet interoperability as described below.
Base theme and other preconfigured themes
Updated themes and trusted device rules for Google Meet integration

This contains important information for administrators who have configured Google Meet interoperability in v19 and are upgrading v20.

Updated themes

There are new and updated theme settings, audio files and indicators that are used by default for callers who are gatewayed via Pexip Infinity into a Google Meet conference:

  • New "conference recording stopped/started" audio files and new content for the existing "conference streaming stopped/started" audio files.
  • New icon_recording.svg visual indicator.
  • New recording_indicator_text setting in the themeconfig.json file, which is set to "Recording".

Previously in v19 we recommended that you use a customized theme (hangouts-theme.zip) supplied by Pexip for your Call Routing Rules used to route callers into Google Meet conferences. In v20 the audio file and indicator customizations contained in that theme are now included by default in the base theme that is supplied automatically with Pexip Infinity. Therefore if you have used the Pexip-supplied hangouts-theme.zip in your deployment, to ensure that it does not conflict with the new base theme built into v20, we recommend that you delete that custom theme:

  1. In Pexip Infinity, go to Services > Themes.
  2. Select your existing "Hangouts theme" you created previously.
  3. Select Delete and confirm.

    Any services that were using that theme will now revert to using the default theme instead. If that theme was the default theme, then the default theme will revert to the base theme.

Note that if you had applied further personalized customizations to the "Hangouts theme", you should create and use a new theme that only contains those extra customizations.

Call Routing Rules into Google Meet conferences

When integrating with Google Meet you must explicitly set a new Treat as trusted flag on your Call Routing Rules if you want the devices routed via that rule to be trusted in Google Meet.

Previously in v19 the devices were automatically treated as trusted from Pexip Infinity's perspective if they were registered to Pexip Infinity. You must still also associate the rule with a trusted access token.

On upgrade to version 20, any existing rules with a Call target of Google Hangouts Meet meeting will automatically have the new Treat as trusted flag enabled if that rule has Match incoming calls from registered devices only selected.

Configuring Pexip Infinity as a Google Meet gateway

Base theme and other preconfigured themes

Administrative modifications

This release contains the following administrative modifications:

  • The Users top-level menu is now called Users & Devices. The Device aliases option has moved from Service Configuration to Users & Devices.
  • Policy profiles include a new Use local avatar configuration option.
  • "Connectivity lost between nodes" alarms are now only raised once per node which has been lost, and the alarm contains details of all of the other nodes that have reported it as lost.

 

Grayscale removed Video participants who are on hold, or who are experiencing connectivity issues, are still represented by a frozen image, but this is no longer converted to grayscale.  

Features added in version 19

Pexip Infinity version 19 added the following features and enhancements:

Feature Description More information
Video interoperability with Google Meet

The Infinity Gateway provides any-to-any video interoperability with Google Meet.

Third-party systems can connect to Google Meet conferences via the Infinity Gateway either by dialing the conference directly or via a Virtual Reception (IVR).

Integrating Google Meet with Pexip Infinity
Skype for Business Video-based Screen Sharing (VbSS)

Pexip Infinity supports sending and receiving content via VbSS to and from Skype for Business meetings, and to and from Skype for Business clients that are either calling another endpoint via the Infinity Gateway, or calling into a Virtual Meeting Room.

Note that VbSS is disabled by default on Pexip Infinity. It can be enabled via Platform > Global settings.

(VbSS was previously available as technology preview in earlier versions.)

Enable VbSS for Skype for Business
Improved video quality in low bandwidth scenarios

Participants now experience improved video quality in low bandwidth network scenarios, and when endpoints can only support low resolutions.

Pexip Infinity prioritizes image sharpness over high frame rates, and now sends video at lower frame rates if 30 fps is not achievable.

 
Enhancements to Live View

The Live View summary contains the following enhancements when showing active conferences:

  • Highlights any issues with backplane links between nodes when viewing a conference.
  • Displays links to an externally-hosted conference, such as a Microsoft Teams or Skype for Business meeting, or Google Meet.
Viewing live and historical platform status

Changes in functionality in version 19

Feature Description More information
Consistent display of participant names in overlays The way in which participant names are shown as text overlays within a conference has been standardized. Any protocol or trailing IP address and port information is stripped from the displayed name/alias. For example, alice@example.com is now shown instead of sip:alice@example.com. Selecting the layout seen by participants
Administrative modifications

This release contains the following administrative modifications:

  • Two new audio files are included in the Base theme: conf-streaming_started_48kHz_mono.wav and conf-streaming_stopped_48kHz_mono.wav. These audio files are only played to callers who are gatewayed via Pexip Infinity into a Google Meet conference.
  • The Administrator interface uses color coding when reporting media statistics, such as perceived call quality, packet loss and jitter. In general, statistics that are shown in green represent good quality, orange represents intermediate quality, and red is used for bad quality.

Base theme and other preconfigured themes

Reporting of media statistics and perceived call quality

Features added in version 18

Pexip Infinity version 18 added the following features and enhancements:

Feature Description More information
Simplified network routing requirements for Proxying Edge Nodes

As of version 18, Proxying Edge Nodes may no longer need full mesh connectivity to all other Conferencing Nodes.

When a location contains Proxying Edge Nodes, those nodes only require IPsec connectivity with:

  • any other proxying nodes in that location
  • all nodes in the transcoding location, and the primary and secondary overflow locations that are associated with that location
  • the Management Node.

This means that the proxying nodes in one location do not need to have a direct network connection to other proxying nodes in other locations.

Deployment guidelines for Proxying Edge Nodes

Network deployment options

New style themes with more flexible customization options

Version 18 of Pexip Infinity introduced a new way to specify the contents and layout of your own customized themes. The new style themes are more efficient than the previous style themes, and offer more flexibility when customizing them for your own requirements. Any previous legacy-style themes that you have customized in earlier versions of Pexip Infinity can still be used and changed, and continue to work exactly as before if you have set them as the default theme or applied them to specific services.

The new style base theme, which is used by default if you have not applied any customized themes to your services, behaves in exactly the same manner as the previous legacy-style base theme, and looks almost the same (some of the PIN-entry splash screen graphics used when joining a conference have been updated). The audio prompts are the same in new and legacy style themes.

Creating and applying themes to conferences
Microsoft Skype for Business and Lync integration improvements Pexip Infinity now supports send and receive video FEC (X-ULPFECUC) with Lync 2013 / Skype for Business clients and Skype for Business meetings. Pexip Infinity and Skype for Business / Lync integration features
Conference and participant status improvements

This release contains the following administrative improvements when viewing conference and participant status:

  • The participant status "perceived call quality" calculation now takes jitter into account for the time window being assessed.
  • Call protocol and, when applicable, the media proxying node and proxy location are displayed on the current and historic participant status summary pages.
  • The conference graph now displays current and total packet loss when viewing a backplane connection.
  • You can search by disconnect reason when viewing participant history.

Viewing current conference status

Viewing participant status

Administrative improvements

This release contains the following administrative improvements:

  • There is a new Log summary option that generates a condensed view of the messages in the support log, showing a summary of the call signaling for the current search/filtered log messages, such as a filter on a specific call ID.
  • You can upload the automatic daily backup file to an external FTP server.
  • A "Hardware IO (input/output) instability detected" alarm is raised if a high level of hard disk read/write latency is detected.
  • Ability to perform a packet capture to and from Conferencing Nodes in one or more locations, and the Management Node.
  • If you are using LDAP authentication, there are two new sets of permissions: "May create/delete packet capture" and "May download packet capture", and "May create/delete system backup" and "May download system backup" that must be assigned to the account role to enable the administrator to run and download a packet capture, and to perform backup and restore tasks respectively.

About the support log

Backing up and restoring configuration

Viewing alarms

Performing a network packet capture

Changes in functionality in version 18

Feature Description More information
Routing for calls from registered Infinity Connect desktop client Administrators can specify whether calls made from registered Infinity Connect desktop clients are placed via the registrar or via DNS. The default setting is to route via the registrar. Route calls via registrar
Administrative modifications

This release contains the following administrative modifications:

  • When configuring a Virtual Reception, you now explicitly specify the type of Virtual Reception: either Regular (the default) or Lync / Skype for Business (when using Pexip Infinity as a gateway into SfB/Lync meetings). This has also introduced a new two_stage_dial_type field to the set of Virtual Reception service type response fields when using external or local policy.
  • The "Call capacity limit reached" alarm now clears either when an existing call is disconnected or the next time a new call is successfully placed (previously it would only clear when a new call is successfully placed).
  • When viewing LDAP sync template results, more information is included in any "Last sync error" messages for conference or alias clashes, such as the names of the VMRs or aliases causing the clash.
  • When using jinja2 scripts, you can now use the new pex_now custom Pexip filter to obtain the current date and time, and the jinja2 range filter. There is also a new pex_url_encode filter that creates URL parameters that are safely URL-encoded.
  • Two new parameters/variables are available when using external or local policy to assign the media location: proxy_node_address and proxy_node_location.
  • "Participant has disconnected" messages in the administrator log now include a License-type parameter.
  • "Configuration changed" messages in the administrator log now include a Fields parameter which lists the fields that have been modified.
  • When using the management API you can filter on a participant ID when using the participant status and participant history resources.

Configuring Virtual Reception IVRs

Using templates, variables and filters when provisioning VMRs, devices and users

Security improvements: only TLS1.2 is enabled by default for inbound HTTPS connections and ability to enable HTTP Content Security Policy on Conferencing Nodes

On upgrade to v18, the only version of TLS enabled by default for HTTPS inbound connections is TLS1.2.

This means that client API and management API users can no longer connect with TLS1.0 or TLS1.1; they must use a higher TLS protocol version. Support for old TLS versions may be re-enabled by running the security wizard and answering the TLS prompts appropriately.

Administrators also have the ability to enable HTTP Content Security Policy on Conferencing Nodes by running the security wizard.

The Management Node security wizard contains two new settings:

  • Permit TLS <1.2 for inbound HTTPS (default is No)
  • Enable HTTP Content-Security-Policy for Conferencing Nodes (default is No)

If you are using version 3 of the Pexip Reverse Proxy you will not be able to connect to Conferencing Nodes. You should either:

  • Upgrade to v5 of the Pexip Reverse Proxy, or
  • If continuing to use v3, connect over SSH to the reverse proxy and run the following command:

    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade

In either case we recommend you first take a VM snapshot of the reverse proxy.

Deploying Pexip Infinity in a secure mode of operation