Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

Connecting Polycom
Viewstation SP or FX
to a Gatekeeper

Before participating in a videoconference call you must know if the call will be using a Gatekeeper to join all the participants. Normally you would not be connected to a Gatekeeper and would be directly accessible from anywhere on the Internet.

If the conference does not use a Gatekeeper the connecting address will be a normal IP address (i.e., 128.227.103.179). However, if a Gatekeeper is involved, you will need to know both the IP address of the Gatekeeper (i.e., 128.227.156.75 for UF) and also the specific conference number (i.e., 78411549) to be joined.

The Polycom unit can be configured to use the specified Gatekeeper. Follow these steps through the on-screen menu:

System Info Admin Setup LAN/H.323 H.323 Gatekeeper
H.323 Name -	enter any text (i.e., your name)
H.323 Extension (E.164) -	enter "79" + your 7 digit phone number (i.e., 793924636)
Use Gatekeeper -	select "Specify"
Gateway IP Address -	enter Gatekeeper IP address (i.e., 128.227.156.75 for UF)
Preferred alias (E.164) -	enter "79" + your 7 digit phone number (i.e., 793924636)

When all entries have been made and the "Menu" option is selected the system will display the  message  to reboot.

"Please wait while system restarts"

and the system will automatically restart and try to connect to both the DHCP server to get an IP address and to the Gatekeeper.  If it does not automatically restart, power "off" and "on" and recheck your settings and connectors.

When the Polycom system restarts you should briefly see two little tabs at the bottom center of the main screen that say "IP" (for the Internet connection) and "GK" (for the Gateway connection). They will initially be yellow, than turn green as connectivity is made and than disappear. If either is missing or flashing or stays yellow you may need to check the settings again and restart. If both are successfully connected you can make a call using the conference number for this specific meeting.

When the Polycom system is properly configured, place your conference call to the number provided by the conference host (this will usually be a 7 to 9 digit number, NOT an IP address).

Hang up when completed by pressing the green call-hang-up button on the top of the remote control..

The Polycom Viewstation unit should be reset for normal IP Internet calling when the call is completed. This is done by returning to the "Gatekeeper" menu as detailed above and setting the "Use gatekeeper" option from "Specify" to "OFF". The other settings do not need to be changed because they will be ignored until you again specify the use of a Gatekeeper. This will make the setup for your next visit to this or other Gatekeepers easier.