You may have heard of Zoom Conference Room Connector (CRC) when searching for a solution to using your H.323 or SIP endpoints with Zoom. But, what is a Zoom Room Connector and how does it work? Below, we’ll discuss:
- WHAT ARE H.323 AND SIP?
- WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIP AND H.323
- WHAT ARE ZOOM CONFERENCE ROOM CONNECTOR’S GREATEST BENEFITS?
- IS THERE MORE THAN ONE TYPE OF ZOOM ROOM CONNECTOR?
- HOW DO YOU CONNECT FROM AN H.323 DEVICE?
- HOW DO YOU CONNECT FROM A SIP DEVICE?
- CALL OUT OPTIONS
- WHAT IS ZOOM ROOM CONFERENCE CONNECTOR NATIVE INTEGRATION?
- WHAT ARE ZOOM ROOM CONNECTOR PRICING OPTIONS?
WHAT IS A CONFERENCE ROOM CONNECTOR?
Generally speaking, a conference room connector allows the user to connect their H.323 and SIP standards-based endpoints to join a video conference.
WHAT IS ZOOM CONFERENCE ROOM CONNECTOR?
Zoom Conference Room Connector is an H.323/SIP Room Connector. It is a gateway for H.323 and SIP devices, which means it facilitates the ability to make a video call using your H.323 or SIP device: referred to as an endpoint.
Zoom Conference Room Connector also enables integration for multiple platforms, added features, and substantial cost savings—all of which we’ll now cover in more detail.
WHAT ARE H.323 AND SIP?
SIP and H.323 are standards-based protocols. These two standards follow guidelines for how data is transmitted and received in video conferencing systems.
SIP stands for session initiated protocol, which initiates and controls the technical transmission of a conference connection.
H.323 is a standard that has been updated and revised numerous times since first introduced by the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) in 1996. Like SIP, it is a protocol designed to set up, manage, and terminate a media session.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIP AND H.323?
Among the added benefits of SIP over H.323 are its ability to allow telephone network subscribers to video conference, exchange multimedia, and send messages over IP. It is additionally more scalable and flexible. It is a simpler protocol, based on encoded text, so it is also easier for developers to create software features and updates.
WHAT ARE ZOOM CONFERENCE ROOM CONNECTOR’S GREATEST BENEFITS?
The single most important benefit of Zoom Conference Room Connector is that it lets you continue to use your current H.323/SIP standards-based endpoints, eliminating the need for the extreme high cost that used to be required.
Zoom CRC supports widely-used endpoints by Cisco, Tandberg, Poly (formerly Polycom), Lifesize, Sony, Huawei, TandyHD and others, using the following high-quality protocols:
- Video: H.264, H.264 High profile
- Audio Code X: G.711, G.722
- Content: H.239 BFCP
- Encryption: H.235
Zoom CRC lets you connect legacy high-end H.323/SIP video conferencing room systems to Zoom Meetings. It provides interoperability with standards-based endpoints, which enables:
- One-touch meeting starts
- HD audio and video
- Sharing media wirelessly
- Support for dual-screen displays
- Communication with Cisco and Poly endpoints
Without Zoom’s connector options, you would be left with the added cost and complexity of using a hardware-based multi-point control unit (MCU) that acts as a bridge to accomplish the same task. With Zoom’s connectors, you have better quality, reliability, and features than an MCU.
Don´t worry about security, Zoom uses end-to-end encryption, a method of secure communication, to prevent third parties from accessing data while it's transferred from one end system or device to another. If you need more information about the benefits of using Zoom’s platform, Vivo offers a number of services and solutions tailored to your needs.
IS THERE MORE THAN ONE TYPE OF ZOOM ROOM CONNECTOR?
There are two types of Zoom Room Connectors: Zoom’s Cloud Room Connector and Zoom’s Virtual Room Connector (VRC).
WHAT IS ZOOM CLOUD ROOM CONNECTOR?
Zoom Cloud Room Connector allows H.323/SIP endpoints to seamlessly connect with Zoom’s cloud-based platform.
The Zoom Conference Room Connector license allows most standard SIP and H.323 video endpoints to join and participate in Zoom meetings through the Cloud Room Connector.
The one drawback to Zoom Cloud Room Connector is that it does not support audio-only calls.
However, the Cloud Connector comes with a unique added benefit: pairing.
With Zoom Cloud Connector, you can connect via pairing. This means you can join an H.323 or SIP device to a Zoom meeting without having to manually enter the Meeting ID.
It's super easy and intuitive:
- Connect to the splash screen by dialing the IP Address only.
- Enter the five-character pairing code (seen on the splash screen) into the pairing code option on the Zoom website or in the Zoom application.
WHAT IS ZOOM VIRTUAL ROOM CONNECTOR?
In contrast to the Cloud Room Connector, Zoom Virtual Room Connector (VRC) is an on-premise alternative, allowing your meetings to run on your own servers, instead of the public internet.
HOW DOES ZOOM VRC WORK?
VRC is offered as a VM installation on a private cloud. VRC in your internal network allows internal H.323/SIP devices to join Zoom Meeting. Likewise, VRC in your external network allows external H.323/SIP devices to join a Zoom meeting.
To dial using the H.323 protocol
IP Address only, then enter meeting ID on the welcome screen
IP Address##Meeting ID, for example: 192.168.3.142##213746932
MeetingID@IP Address: 2139746932@192.168.3.142 [Some Cisco/Tandberg devices]
To dial using the SIP protocol
IP Address only, then enter meeting ID on the welcome screen
Meeting ID@IP Address, for example, 213746932@192.168.3.142
HOW DO YOU CONNECT FROM AN H.323 DEVICE?
To dial into a Zoom Room using the H.323 protocol, enter the following:
- IP Address only, then enter meeting ID on the welcome screen or IP Address##Meeting ID
- IP Address##MeetingiID#password
- MeetingID@IP Address (for some Cisco/Tandberg devices)
HOW DO YOU CONNECT FROM A SIP DEVICE?
Enter the following data when connecting using an H.323-based endpoint device:
- IP Address only, then enter meeting ID on the welcome screen
- Meeting ID@IP Address
- meetingid.password@ip or meetingid:password@ip
If you have questions about connecting your H.323 or SIP endpoints to Zoom, Vivo offers support to help you integrate your current devices with today’s video conferencing solutions.
CALL OUT OPTIONS
It is possible to call out to your H.323/SIP devices by using a public IP address or by a device that is assigned with what is known as a Session Initiation Protocol Uniform Resource Identifier, or SIP URI.
SIP URI is a communication protocol to ensure that a call over a room connector connects to the right caller’s number.
WHAT IS ZOOM ROOM CONFERENCE CONNECTOR NATIVE INTEGRATION?
Zoom CRC supports widely-used H.323/SIP endpoints from leading brands like Cisco and Poly. This makes it possible to activate one-touch meetings through your calendaring system.
Zoom CRC makes it possible to integrate Microsoft, Google, and Cisco’s SIP/H.323 and Zoom Meetings.
WHAT ARE ZOOM ROOM CONNECTOR PRICING OPTIONS?
Your Zoom Room license includes Zoom CRC. Additionally, you can purchase separate subscriptions for Zoom CRC for $49/month. In both cases, this includes standards-based SIP and H.323 video interoperability, so you can make native calls with Microsoft Teams and Google Meet as well.
The value you get with Zoom CRC cannot be overstated. Without it, in order to connect multiple units, you would have to purchase traditional hardware-based endpoints called multi-point control unit (MCU) bridges. This hardware costs anywhere from $15,000 to $100,000.
Zoom CRC provides:
- Better Quality
- Improved Reliability
- More Features
- Lower costs
We hope this helps explain the many benefits of Zoom Conference Room Connector. If you have any questions about your conference setup, get in touch with our experts at Vivo Technologies.
2 comments
Natalie Nielsen
Hello! This is Natalie with Vivo Technologies! Thank you for reaching out with your question. You can get the status of a Cloud Room Connector (CRC) by accessing the Room Connector Dashboard within your Zoom Admin Portal. This dashboard provides detailed information, including whether the CRC is up or down, as well as metrics on usage and performance. You can also set up email alerts to notify you of any changes to the status of your Room Connector. For more details, please feel free to reach out to our team! https://vivo.tech/pages/contact-us
Prasad
Hello,
Good day to you.
I am looking for option to get the status of the CRC connector, is there a possibilty, example if the CRC connector is up or down kind of information.
Thanks
Prasad