THE MBONE TOOLS PAGE
What is the MBONE ?
The Multicast backbone or more commonly called MBONE, is a virtual network which allows the routing of multicast packets.
What are the functions provided by the MBONE?
The MBONE provides for videoconferencing, audio conferencing, shared whiteboards etc. The most sought-after function that the MBONE provides is videoconferencing. The MBONE is currently being used for research, educational and recreational events.
For more information on the MBONE and the functions provided by the MBONE and on how to connect to the MBONE, the following websites are an ideal place to start:
MBONE: Multicasting Tomorrow's Internet
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Multicast Backbone
There are several tools for accessing and using the MBONE. We are listing the more popular tools . The links lead to the FAQ page or the actual site from where you can download these tools. The tools which do not have a link associated with them can be found at the UCL MICE project website.
VIC: Real-time multi-party, multimedia application for video conferencing
VAT: Real-time multi-party, multimedia application for audio conferencing
SDR: Session directory tool
WHITEBOARD: Remote conferencing application for shared drawing (FAQ page)
RAT: Robust Audio Tool - an audio conferencing tool
NEVOT: Network Voice terminal (ftp)
NTE: A shared text editor
Multitalk: text based conferencing
Mumble: text based conferencing
NV: Network Video developed by Xerox PARC (ftp)
The following websites provide a complete listing of conferencing tools and links to download these tools:
University College London MICE project page ( without a doubt the best page for MBONE tools)
MBONE Software Tools (Several links are broken on this page)
Created by: Sunitha Ramakrishna and Paras Dave.