NetMeeting and Data Conferencing Server

By Catherine Creary (ccreary@OutlookExchange.com)

Did you ever have one of those days when nothing goes right?  Well, I recently led an Exchange 2000 Bootcamp where I was to demonstrate the brand new, wonderfully impressive Data Conferencing Server.  I was psyched!  Here was my opportunity to show these eager IT professionals what marvelous technology Microsoft had available for us all.

I set up two computers, installed Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server (Data Conferencing Server on one), and Netmeeting client software.  Only one small problem......

When I tried to start the NetMeeting client on the same computer on which I had the Microsoft Exchange T.120 MCU Conferencing Service running, I would get nothing.   Nada.  Netmeeting would attempt to start but then give me an error that stated:

"NetMeeting could not start. Please restart your computer and try again."

Don't you just love those messages?  So much for detail, and so much for impressing the thirty-two IT professionals I had anxiously awaiting this marvelous display of technology!  I frantically searched through TechnNet to discover that if the Microsoft Exchange T.120 MCU Conferencing Service is installed and running on a server, it uses the T.120 port.

NetMeeting also requires Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) port 1503 (used for T.120 conferencing) to start. When the Microsoft Exchange T.120 Conferencing service is running, this port is unavailable, and NetMeeting cannot start.  Both NetMeeting and the T.120 Conferencing service use the same port by design and neither port can be altered in either program.

Well...that did not help me!  I only had two computers set up to communicate with one another, a story too long and stressful to go into, but hopefully this revelation will help others that may find themselves in a similar predicament. 

For more information.....check out TechNet article Q260559.

Best of Luck!!

 Return to Catherine Creary's column on OutlookExchange