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mmintler · Jun 28, 2003, 10:54 PM

I hope someone can answer this for me. Here is the scenerio to make the question as simple as possible. I am completely clueless about networking.

I have 2 employees that want to communicate via video using ichat av. Both employees are telecommuting from home. They are both using mac osx.They both have broadband internet. Is there a way to "log" those employees into the corp . server (preferably through a web browser) so that Redezvous will see them as being on the network? We do not want to assign AIM id's to employees.

Also, if this is possible...is this video connection going to actually use our corp. servers bandwidth?

Thanks
Mark

Mastrap · Jun 29, 2003, 03:24 AM

You can use the camera on any video conferencing software you like. iVisit has just released an OS X client, that might be worth checking out for your needs.
However, iChat AV uses either the AIM network or your local network. Unless that extends to your employees house I can't see a way to use iChat without using AIM. I have no idea if what you describe would work on a VPN solution.

You might have of course excellent reasons for not wanting to allocate AIM identities (you could just give them name@mac identities) but there really is no worthwhile alternative. Whatever one might think about AOL their AIM backbone tends to be fast and reliable. I've been playing with video conferencing for years and this is the first usable solution I have ever come across.

Athens · Jun 29, 2003, 03:55 AM

has any one tried using ichat to talk to Windows Messenger or MSN Messenger 6 for windows? Does it work?

Mastrap · Jun 29, 2003, 10:06 AM

Originally posted by Athens:
has any one tried using ichat to talk to Windows Messenger or MSN Messenger 6 for windows? Does it work?

iChat works on the AOL AIM network. AFAIK there is no way you can talk to MSN clients.

ysun · Jun 29, 2003, 04:32 PM

I think another way to ask mmintler's question is can Rendezvous work over VPN (if he can set one up for employees work from home) and have iChatAV work over Rendezvous instead of AIM.

melman101 · Jun 29, 2003, 04:34 PM

i believe a VPN solution would work.

mmintler · Jun 29, 2003, 05:16 PM

I appreciate everyones feedback. Is it easy to set up a VPN wth osx?

Thanks

Red Wolf · Jun 29, 2003, 06:05 PM

It would be easier to get AIM or free .Mac accounts. Signing up a free .Mac username also gives each employee a 60 day trial period to the full .Mac package. The username remains useable via iChat even if they don't buy into .Mac.

What is the principle objection to getting free AIM or .Mac accounts? Someone here might have an easier fix toward your AIM problem that what would be required to set up a reliable VPN. We've been using iChat AV recently to communicate with our other stores (Apple Specialist) and there hasn't been any problem assigning each store a few free AIM accounts.

ysun · Jun 29, 2003, 08:02 PM

I remember reading discussion in other site asking about security issue of using iChatAV. If iChatAV over Rendezvous/VPN works, the added security will be very valuable.

C.J. Moof · Jun 29, 2003, 11:29 PM

At the moment, I'm connected from home (DSL), back to the office over a PPTP VPN connection. When I'm in the office, I can go to Rendezvous servers within Safari, and see the 2 HP 4300N printers we have. At the moment, they're not showing up as rendezvous shares. Nor can I get to my xserve when asking for server.local, although the class C IP does work.

I'm using a Netopia 9100R at the office to terminate the VPN, and the standard Internet Connect interface in OSX, and the rendezvous stuff isn't being seen over here. I wish you better luck than what I'm seeing.

You'll save yourself a lot of headache by just getting an AIM account. It's free, easy, and works.