AVChat Software Product Blog

As we promised, the  AVChat 3 video chat module for phpFox 2 is ready. Besides compatibility with phpFox 2, this module is more powerful, easier to install and easier to use than the one we had for 1.6 .

Features in the phpFox 2 module:

• automatic user name, gender and profile picture integration
• independent permissions control for each user group (in admin control panel)
• user profiles integration
• automatic integration with the user and admin menus
• it installs as any other phpFox 2 module
• compatible with SEO friendly URL’s in phpFox

The price for the video chat module for phpFox 2 is $49 (includes the video chat module for phpFox 1.6 too) and its available when you buy AVChat 3.

To buy the AVChat 3 Video Chat Module for your phpFox 2 website go to the purchase page and select a AVChat 3 license + the phpFox module.

For more details and screenshots visit the AVChat 3 Video Chat Module for phpFox 2.0 page.

About bandwidth usage

The bandwidth usage/month depends on many factors and can never be guessed without several days of actual running the video chat software on your website:

• number of people online watching cams and how much time they spend watching
• number of people online broadcasting cams and how much time they spend broadcasting
• how many cams a user can see at once
• audio/video quality (128,256,512kbits/s etc…)

For example a user broadcasting its webcam for 30 minutes at 256kbits/s will use  57Mbytes of bandwdith (256kbits/s * 60 seconds * 30 minutes=57Mbytes).

Another user viewing the first one for 30 minutes will use the same amount: 57Mbytes. Total: 114Mbytes for a 30 minute 1 to 1 video chat session.

Reducing bandwidth usage

AVChat 3 offers several ways to reduce the monthly bandwidth used on the media server:

• the automatic bandwidth reduction feature which is on by default
• you can lower the audio/video quality for the streams so that they use less bandwidth
• you can limit the amount of time/day users can view web cams
• you can limit the amount of web cams users can view at once (4 by default)

Who is typing box in AVChat 3

In avc_settings.php you will find the following config option:

$config['showWhoIsTyping']=1;

Set it to 0 and the who-is-typing box will not be shown anymore in the chat.

If you are using avc_settings.asp look for the showWhoIsTyping variable and set it to 0!

Error 1: If, when trying to connect using AVChat 3, you are getting this error message: Connection failed, media server might be down or firewall might be blocking the connection! like this:

You need to check:

• your rtmp connection string inserted in avc_settings.xxx
• the media server might not be running (you can check if Red5 is running by going to http://yourred5server.com:5080/)
• the media server might have not started properly (thus is not running, you can check the logs in Red5/log for any ERROR messages during startup)
• there is a firewall on the media server blocking TCP traffic over port 1935 (and 5080)
• the user trying to connect is behind a firewall that blocks the connection (either a personal one installed on his computer or a corporate one installed on his network, to test his connection capabilities he should run these connection tests: http://www.flashcomguru.com/apps/port_test/index.cfm )

Error 2: If, when trying to connect using AVChat 3, you are getting this error message:  Connection Rejected:No scope ”avchat30/_definst_” on this server OR The connection with the video chat server could not be made like this:

It means you are using Red5 and your Red5  is running but:

• make sure you use Red5 0.8 final (AVChat 3 is not compatible with any other versions)
• make sure you installed the AVChat 3 Red5 server files properly (Red5/webapps/avchat30)
• make sure you restart Red5 after you installed the Red5 server side files (Red5/webapps/avchat30)

Error 3: When trying to connect using AVChat 3, you are getting this error message: Application (avchat30) is not defined , like this:

There are 2 causes/solutions for this error:

• you are using FMIS and you have not created the FMIS server side avchat30 app (FMIS/applications/avchat30), follow the installation instructions and try again.
• If the avchat30 app folder is installed properly restart the FMIS server (or just the vHost trough the FMS Management Console)

Error 4: When trying to connect using AVChat 3, you are getting this error message: Connection success, waiting for server… .

There is 1 possibe cause/solution for this issue:

• the avchat30 application folder was not installed properly on the media server (it does not contain the proper files). make sure you follow the installation instructions for the avchat30 app folder exactly.

We are pleased  to announce that we have finished work on 2 new integration kits for AVChat 3:

AVChat 3 Product  for vBulletin:

• automatic username and avatar picture detection
• administrators can edit access to video chat features and limitations for each usergroup
• administrators can enable/disable features from the AVChat 3 Admin Area for moderators and super moderators (kick, ban, etc…)
• fully allow/disallow access to the video chat for any usergroup
• profile links integration
• installs as any other vBulletin product/plugin

You can find more info about the AVChat 3 Product for vBulletin here. Currently only vBulletin 3.8 is supported but we are working on making it compatible with 4.0 . If you’re using older versions like 3.6 let us know.

AVChat 3 Module for Jamroom:

• automatic username and avatar picture detection
• different features and permissions for different quota (Guests, Members, Artists, etc…)
• profile links integration
• Jamroom administrators have access to the AVChat 3 admin area from where they can kick, ban, etc… .
• installs as any other Jamroom module

You can find more info about the AVChat 3 Module for Jamroom here.

New features:

• New look for the audio only stream windows:
  

  Audio Only Stream

• Admins can now view how many mic/ web cams a user has installed on his system:
  

  Nr. of mics and cams shown in the admin area

• As a website owner you can specify URL’s to where users should be redirected after they are baned/kicked
• Added a new settings in avc_settings.xxx to turn on/off the shadows casted by windows inside the chat, to turn on/off the display of time stamps in the text chat and to turn on/off the bandwidth usage graph in the top bar
• Audio/video streams can now be private by default (new setting in avc_settings.xxx)
• You can now disable inline images from the settings file
• The AVChat 3 Joomla Components are now released under the GPL license
• The 4 side menus (users, users list, my web cam, other web cams) can now be transparent
• When auto start my camera is ON, mics can now be started as MUTED
• Security: you can now disable connections from AVChat 3 installations placed on localhost from the settings.asc/avchat3.properties settings files
• Security: admins are not able to kick other admins anymore and admins can not be blocked by other users any more
• Security: access to the admin Settings window can be controlled via the new adminCanAccessSettings variable

Bug fixes:

• When receiving a new PM, you were automatically switched to the new PM window. Now the new PM windows open in the background.
• The users list will now behave better with large number of users in a single room without slowing the chat down
• When mic was OFF and you also turned OFF the cam, the mic would switch to ON
• Fixed issue with “My viewers” users list not being updated properly
• Fixed issue with the limited video time counting down after the broadcaster had left the chat
• Fixed an issue where Rooms with max X users would only allow X-1 users to log in
• When you first joined a room, private streams from people in that rooms were shown as being public
• The sendFileToUserEnabled setting files influenced the visibility of the Send PM button in the users side menu
• the [Rooms] button in the top bar was not initiated with the label from the translation file

How to get the new AVChat 3 release

You can obtain the latest AVChat 3 build by downloading the software again ( using the download link from the delivery/trial email) and:

• doing a clean install
  OR
• overwrite all the old files including the FMIS/Red5 server side files and the translation files

Changing the license key:

Why would I change the license key?

• Insert a new trial key
• Switch from trial to non-trial key
• Switch the domain on which the software will be used
• Upgrade from Lite to 40 users (for example)

What do I have to do?

1. Log in the video chat using the admin interface (admin.swf)
2. Click the Settings button at the top
3. In the window that shows up, delete the old key from the text field and insert the new key
4. Press the [Change Key] button
5. If successful, you should now see the new  limits/expiration date/domain above the license key text field!

Resetting the license key:

If something goes awfully wrong and you find yourself locked out of the video chat (you’ve inserted a key for a domain to which you do not have yet access or has not yet been registered ) you can reset the license key.

What do I have to do?

1. Delete this file
   • on Red5:   red5/webapps/avchat30/persistence/SharedObject/_definst_/licensekey.red5
   • on FMIS:   fms/applications/avchat30/sharedobjects/_definst_/licensekey.fso
   • on Wowza: wowza/applications/avchat30/sharedobjects/_definst_/licensekey.rso
     
2. Restart Red5, FMIS or Wowza
3. Enter the video chat and you will be asked for the key again!

What’s new?

• Users can now mute the sounds they hear when new messages kick in public/private rooms:
  
• Changed the way images are shown in the chat, now with disappearing Loading… messages and File not found notifications.
• The Red5 version got a new ghosts connections disconnection script..
• Admins can not ban other admins anymore (client side protection and server side protection for security).
• The text chat now contains only the last 100 items (messages,images,YT movies) to prevent it from using up all the computer’s memory when the video chat was used fora very looong time (we know! it creates addiction! ).
• Added some new/missing strings to the language file (Loading…, File not found! and You are not  frequenting the same rooms anymore! ).
• On Red5 AVChat 3 now generates a log file for every day instead of a giant log file.

What’s fixed?

• A small Red5 memory leak which resulted in Red5 crashing after many many many hours/days of running.
• Selected rooms in the rooms list would get unselected if the rooms list was updated.
• The side menu for users now shows up properly when the user is at the bottom of the users list:
  
• On Red5 denying access to private streams was not working in some cases.
• On Red5 banning was not working properly in some cases.

How to get the new AVChat 3 release

You can obtain the latest AVChat 3 build by downloading the software again using the download link from the delivery/trial email.

After downloading the new build:

• do a clean install or
• overwrite all the old files including the FMIS/Red5 server side files

We have put a new build of AVChat 3 up today, this build (340) includes a lot of new small features and some important bug fixes.

New features:

• You can now drag and resize the text chat area, other people’s web cams and the banned users window. A new red arrow is present in the lower right side corner of these windows:
  
• A new users list type which shows the avatar in a small format:
  
• Avatars (when available) are also shown in the side menu for each user:
  
• Added Sort by gender option:
  
• The banned users windows also shows the IP and user name of the person that added the ban
• When you buzz someone a confirmation message shows up: You buzzed ABC
• Better positioning for other people’s webcams
• Added new config option (adminCanViewPrivateStreamsWithoutPermission) for the admin to be able to view private streams without needing permission
• Added new config option (adminCanViewPrivateMessages) for the admin to see private messages or not
• Added new config option (fontsize) to control the size of the text in the text chat area
• Default  font size for the text chat has been increased to 12px
• Added new config options (kbmessages, jlmessages) to control if the joined/left and banned/kicked messages are shown in the chat
• The Joomla Component now also contains proper integration with the JomSocial Component, but more on that in a new blog post!

Bug fixes:

• Translation missing: Private chat with ABC
• The Loading Settings message can now be translated using the lstext Flahvar
• Zooming using the mouse wheel while in fullscreen caused the UI to go bonkers
• Fixed issue with empty spaces at the right of the users in the users list
• Fixed issue with empty spaces between the users in the users list
• The writeUsersList setting in avchat3.properties in the Red5 server side files did not work
• On Red5 the kick message was not being sent properly to the chat rooms
• On Red5 sometimes the text chat history shared objects were not being cleared out resulting in large history shared object files
• Some Drupal 5/6 fixes

How to get the new AVChat 3 release

You can obtain the latest AVChat 3 files by downloading the software again using the download link from the delivery/trial email. You will automatically download the latest build which includes all the bug fixes and feature enhancements mentioned in this post .

After downloading them:

• do a clean install or
• overwrite all the old files including the FMS/Red5 server side files

We’ve put a new build of AVChat 3 up today, this build (284 ) includes mostly bug fixes for the Red5 version of AVChat 3 and several small enhancements.

Enhancements:

• new protection against spam messages (if a user sends the same message over and over again, he will be the only one seeing them, other users will only see the message once )
• the Red5 server side files are now compiled to be compatible with Java 1.5
• when autostartCameras is ON, you will not start to view your webcam automatically anymore (when you publish it)
• the positioning algorithm for other people’s webcams has been updated
• the “who is typing” messages shown in the text chat can now be disabled from the config file
• several security enhancements
• implemented workaround for Flash Player bug that prevented uploading files from working in the Joomla/Drupal and osDate plugins.

Bug fixes

• some license keys were not properly recognized
• sometimes the users list was not sorting properly by username
• when the users list is sorted by username , the sorting is case insensitive
• closing the chat software while you were typing would result in “X is typing” message being stuck in the text chat
• the text messages over the video streams where not properly repositioned when resizing the video area (thanks Jannis)
• missing mp3 sounds from the sounds folder caused the chat not to start
• recordAudioVideoStreams was always true in the Settings panel when running AVChat 3 on Red5
• The admin can not delete anymore rooms that are not empty
• The external users list and number of users was not always properly updated

How to get the new AVChat 3 release

You can obtain the latest AVChat 3 files by downloading the software again using the download link from the delivery/trial email. You will automatically download the latest build which includes all the bug fixes and feature enhancements mentioned in this post .

After downloading them:

• do a clean install or
• overwrite all the old files including the FMS/Red5 server side files!

What’s next?

We are still working on adding support for Wowza, and the next build will include several new small features! We are also preparing a paper explaining all the security features implemented in AVChat 3!