Interactive Demo : Rich Presence Trial
New Orleans: October 2008

The Internet2 Presence and Integrated Communications Working Group (PIC-WG) provided a live, interactive demo of the PIC.edu project during the Fall 2008 Internet2 Member Meeting. During the meeting, a Jabber server provided Instant Messaging and Presence services running on the conference network and was available for attendee use. Attendees could communicate with other conference attendees, as well as remote participants, in ad-hoc chats as well as in chat rooms specifically configured around key conference sessions and major venues.  In fact, Internet2 members who were not physically onsite were welcome and encouraged to join the demo, as it provides an alternative way to participate in meetings in real time. Rich Presence Trial FAQ

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Participation Process:

1)    Create a Jabber account on the demo server or use an existing Jabber account
2)    Choose a client
3)    Configure your client
4)    Connect and chat with your peers!
5)    Advanced options
After you participate in the demo, please:
6)    Complete the survey ( paper copy available onsite )
7)    Deploy a server at your home institution (join the PIC.edu project)
8)    Attend the PIC-WG session at the member meeting or just join the group!  We currently have an open invitation for new members.

For experienced users:
You can create a new account on the demo server here: https://picdemo.internet2.edu:9091/plugins/registration/sign-up.jsp, or use the client of your choice to create an account on picdemo.internet2.edu
Then, connect to a chatroom when a meeting of your choice is in session.  See the member meeting agenda for a schedule of activites per room.

Physical Room or Topic	Chatroom name
General Sessions and Netcast	napoleon_b_c@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	bayside_a@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	bayside_b@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	bayside_c@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions and Netcast	borgne@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	grand_chenier@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	grand_couteau@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	maurepas@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	napoleon_a1@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	napoleon_a2@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	napoleon_a3@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	nottoway@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	oak_alley@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Track Sessions	oakley@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
Get help or discuss the PICdemo	picdemo@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
General discussions	lobby@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu
PIC Working Group chat room	workgroup-demo@conference.picdemo.internet2.edu

Real-time additions or changes to chatroom listings will be available at https://picdemo.internet2.edu/cgi-bin/roomlist.cgi

The PIC.edu project

This demo is part of the PIC.edu project, and we hope that there will be interest in continuing the demo at future meetings.  The PIC.edu project aims to:

1. Simplify  IM deployments.
2. Promote interoperability among Internet2 member IM services, including federated identity
3. Make experimentation with advanced presence possible.
4. Enable eventual inclusion of advanced communications servicesand advanced presence with a focus on enabling mobility and making PIC a pervasive application.

If after participating in this demo you believe that such a service has a possible place on your campus, and you support the goals described above, we hope you will participate in the longer-term project.

As an early step in this project, the PIC-WG will be distributing a "package" that includes a Jabber IM&P (instant messaging and presence) server with which members of our working group have had positive experiences. To help get you started quickly and easily, we will also include a basic cookbook on getting it up and running and some guidance on the readily available clients that users on common operating systems can use to access the service. Based on our initial experience, this is a low cost and low overhead undertaking that can bring real value for communications on your campus, giving you a controlled alternative to commodity services like AIM, Yahoo Messenger, and Google Talk at the server side, while still preserving access to those services in many cases from the client side.

But why not just use those commodity services?

We believe there are several good reasons. Among them are the following.

Identity Assurance.
A local IM service such as this one can use your local campus namespace rather than the almost-random namespace in use on commodity IM services. It also can likely be configured to use your campus authentication systems, as it has at Penn and MIT. Together, these steps provide Identity Assurance (allows users to be easily and reliably identifed) for your local users in a way not possible with commodity IM services.

Dataflow Security.
IM streams are sent through your campus network to your locally-operated server, providing data security and privacy that is not available through commodity IM services. Instant messages move only between your IM clients and the locally operated IM servers. This means that the data associated with IM for two local users need never be stored and handled by a third party server. Additionally, data (not merely the password) can be encrypted.

@domain.EDU Addressing.
IM users on other Jabber servers outside your institution (such as other PIC.edu servers, Google Talk, and other jabber servers) will be able to communicate with you and your local users using an address of the simple format made popular by SIP.edu. That is username@domain.edu.

Contact Info

If you have questions about participating in this interactive demo, please contact picdemo@internet2.edu or the PIC-WG Chair: Tim Callahan, University of Michigan

Previous Rich Presence Trials

ThePIC-WG fosters the deployment of network-based communication technologies through demonstrations, tutorials, and initiatives in collaboration with both the private sector and open-source initiatives. This growing area will have an effect on nearly every individual within higher education and also have the potential to be a significant driver for network design, security, and middleware. ThePIC-WG is engaged in a series of first light trials, which take place at Internet2 meetings. The trials demonstrate SIP-based (Session Initiation Protocol) voice, video, instant messaging and voice conferencing services over an 802.11 wireless network in the context of rich presence derived from conference calendaring and HP labs location server. more about previous trials...