Frequently Asked Questions about Nefsis Web and Video Conferencing

Nefsis is the next generation web and multiparty video conferencing software and online service for business.

Nefsis is an Ancient Greek word signifying general consensus among a group of people — as in "We have achieved nefsis". This is what video and web conferencing is all about. Our Nefsis online service is available worldwide, and the name is easily recognizable and pronounceable by people of many language groups.

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Nefsis video conferencing service subscriptions include unlimited use of all audio, video and live sharing features shown on this site, plus unlimited conferencing minutes. You can meet online all you like, and rest assured your monthly expense is a fixed cost. Click here for our current price list for video conferencing online services.

You need a Windows PC (2000, XP or Vista) and a broadband Internet connection. Browse our systems requirements for details.

No—the Nefsis download and installation process is only required for hosts to create and manage their conference settings. Participants can join the conference at any time with a Web browser, by just clicking on a link.

Nefsis is a true cloud computing and parallel processing application. It was designed to leverage all the capabilities of your computer, including all the available cores and multimedia processor extensions. As your computer becomes more powerful, Nefsis adapts by offering an ever improving experience.

Please visit our multipoint video conferencing technology page to learn more about the Nefsis cloud and end-to-end parallel processing.

The Nefsis tray icon is an optional feature. It makes getting into your own online meeting room faster and easier.

If you use Nefsis for everyday online meetings, you can take advantage of the Nefsis tray icon, and with two clicks enter your own online meeting room. Included is the Nefsis contact list and popups, which allow you to quickly send a popup message to anyone in your office on Nefsis. You can make repetitive popups into a template, so things like a 'phone call' or 'join my online meeting' can be sent at the push of a button.   More . . .

Use the [Add Group] button in Nefsis to create a group for your office which everyone will add to their contact list when they install Nefsis.   How to . . .

No. These are not add-ons, they are optional, built-in features you can use at no additional cost.

Yes—Nefsis supports SSL/TLS3 encryption on all aspects of communications from end-to-end. Nefsis can support military-grade transport layer security at full network line speeds.

Learn more about Nefsis video conferencing security.

Nefsis uses the industry standard web ports 80 and 443 for secure communications. In some environments, it may optionally use another port.

You need Windows 2000, XP or Vista, and a broadband Internet connection.

Browse our systems requirements for details.

Yes—Nefsis was designed specifically to fully leverage Windows Vista including transparency and glass effects. Nefsis fully supports the Aero interface, you can even share Aero applications. Support for the 64-bit edition of Windows Vista was added in June, 2009.

At present Nefsis is a native Windows application, with support for a wide variety of browsers for conference participants.

However, you can run Nefsis on Mac OS X under Windows emulation. You can install the current version of Boot Camp (2009), which automates the creation of a separate disk partition and Win driver-set; then run Vista; and then create or join a Nefsis conference. This strategy has the advantage of handling device driver installation and on-going maintenance for you. This is the recommended strategy with the most reports of customer success. Detailed instructions on how to run Nefsis on a Mac...

An alternative approach is to install WMware Fusion and manage the Win device driver installation and update maintenance yourself. This approach is not recommended, but may be useful in some rare circumstances where specialized cameras or equipment would require manual device driver maintenance anyway.

Parallels Desktop is not compatible with Nefsis.

Yes—Nefsis traverses firewalls and proxies and in most cases you don't need to make any firewall changes for Nefsis to work.

Yes—Nefsis can seamlessly connect anyone, anywhere to a conference regardless whether that person is over the Internet, on your local network, another office or even on the road in a hotel using a wireless connection with their laptop—worldwide!

Nefsis takes care of connecting all participants together for a seamless video conferencing experience usually with no changes whatsoever to firewalls.

Nefsis business-grade firewall and proxy traversal has been continuously improved over 11 years in multi-office customer environments.

All the encoding and compression in Nefsis is variable rate encoding. Nefsis will work over virtually any broadband connection.

Nefsis variable bitrate encoding means that all compression dynamically adjusts within your available network capacity. As network usage, latency and throughput changes, Nefsis adjusts automatically.

A typical video can take 128kbps for 15 frames per second. Nefsis matches or exceeds the bandwidth efficiency of most hardware video solutions. You can measure actual use in real-time with the Nefsis built-in bandwidth monitor, available under the Help menu.

For more information, please visit video conferencing bandwidth.

Yes, but there are limitations. You can make quality-of-service (QoS) settings to prioritize video conferencing and reduce latency on your own network. But your QoS settings only apply to your infrastructure, not those of external (customer and vendor) online meeting participants. For more information, please see video conferencing QoS, or contact us for on-premise, dedicated server options, and assistance with installation-specific bandwidth, routing and QoS details.

Yes—Resolutions of 720 and 1080 up to 30 frames per second are supported.

You should use an HD video capture card that is compatible with Windows DirectShow. For general information, please visit HD video conferencing. For technical information and vendor-specific details, please visit Nefsis HD compatible equipment or contact us for assistance with conference room configurations.

Nefsis is broadly compatible with virtually any webcam or Windows video peripheral.

This includes almost all DirectShow 8.1, or later compatible webcams. In addition, video capture cards with DirectShow 8.1 or later will allow you to use virtually any video input device including conference room pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras, document cameras, DVD players, specialty devices and so on.

Learn more about video conferencing equipment.

Video cameras cannot be shared like a disk drive. The most common problem is the camera is still in use or "held open" by another application. Exit the other application, or "close" the camera and make it avaiable for Nefsis. You can also use the Windows scanner and camera test utility (hit F1 key for Windows Help, or go straight to the Control Panel) to verify the camera is available to other applications.

It is also a good idea to visit the manufacturer's website and download the latest Windows drivers for your camera. If the camera is available, the majority of any remaining problems are out-of-date driver related.

Yes—Nefsis supports as many monitors as your computer has available. That way you can share on one monitor while watching video on another, which is especially useful for dual-monitor workstations, and in conference rooms, boardrooms, and training facilities.

Yes—Nefsis can work with high quality capture cards, High-def cameras and LCD/Plasma screens in the conference room, and these can seamlessly interact with users at the desktop—share & annotate powerpoint presentations, conduct instant online meetings, high quality VoIP, all in the best video conferencing service available.

Nefsis uses a proprietary audio codec. It should be noted that Nefsis is codec agnostic, and over the last 11 years we have tested and used over 30 audio encoders and decoders, including PCM, GSM, several ITU codecs such as G.711, G.719, and G.722, and many more.

The current version of Nefsis uses a proprietary codec that is specifically designed for full duplex, multipoint VoIP conferencing over variable quality Internet connections. Nefsis broadband audio quality far surpasses the telephone in dynamic range and clarity. Nefsis technology can take hands-free webcam microphone inputs and process them to almost the same level of quality as a headset. As described elsewhere in this FAQ, Nefsis also accepts conference room hardware inputs, taking advantage of ClearOne or any other brand of high-fidelity boardroom equipment. Under most conditions, once an online meeting gets underway, the audio quality is so good most users forget they are meeting "electronically."

Nefsis uses MPEG4 for video encoding/decoding, which meets or exceeds H.261, H.263, and h.264 standards — these are the video components of the H.323 specification — with respect video resolution, color depth and frame rate. Under identical settings, industry experts agree MPEG4 exceeds these specifications in subjective quality too. In addition, there is a bandwidth benefit, as MPEG4 has better compression.

It should be noted that with Nefsis, video quality is a function of the video input peripheral and available bandwidth. You can get business-grade video conferencing quality with ordinary webcams and existing Internet connections; and boardroom quality video with HD peripherals and T3/DS3 (megabits/seconds) bandwidth. See also below.

Nefsis does not support H.323 and SIP protocols directly. However, you can still utilize all of your existing videoconferencing equipment with Nefsis. See details below, and contact us for the most up-to-date information on direct H.323 and SIP interchange.

Details ...

Most H.323 and SIP hardware based solutions support some form of presentation, data or content sharing by capturing the display of a nearby PC in a videoconference. To conference attendees, the PC display appears just like another video input. Simply use Nefsis on the boardroom PC that would normally be used for data sharing (Internet connection required); this allows any Nefsis user in the conference to share presentations, media and live video in a SIP/H.323 hardware-equipped boardroom.

Another option is to use your existing hardware as video inputs to Nefsis. Because Nefsis is broadly compatible with all audio and video peripherals using standard A/V cables, you will be able to videoconference just as you would with your current equipment with the added benefit of mobility for applications such as medical, factory floor, etc.. You'll also have access to powerful web conferencing features that will greatly enhance the utility of your room.