The Telos Z/IP One codec can connect to the LUCI Live Lite software, for an easy software-based low delay UDP-based audio feed.

While the Telos Z/IP One supports a variety of codecs, such as AAC+, the LUCI Live Lite software only supports G722 at 64Kbps. While this isn’t good enough for music playback, but you can almost certainly get away with speech. The full version of LUCI Live supports a wider variety of codecs, but some of them don’t seem to operate correctly when used with the Z/IP One.

Telos has a configuration video available, but if you’re like me then you don’t want to sit through a video – you just want to skim down a page and get the key details. Here’s what you need to know.

It’s worth noting that in this example I am using the Mac OS X version of the software. However, a more common usage scenario would probably be using the iOS or Android versions. The steps should be the same.

Telos Z/IP One Configuration

I’m going to assume you have the Z/IP setup on your network, with an IP address. Login to the Web GUI (default username/password combo is either “Telos/Telos” or “user/<blank>”), and head to the Streaming configuration page. You should see a section entitled “RTP Push Configuration”.

The RTP Push Stream receive-only port default is “9150”. You will also need to enable “Reply with G.722″, which defaults to the next port up (9151 if you accepted 9150 as your receive only port).

If you don’t see this configuration section, you may need to perform a firmware upgrade.

Save these changes.

Router Configuration

The next step is to configure your router or firewall to allow communication on port 9151. Log into your router and setup a port forward for UDP port 9151, to port 9151 on your Z/IP’s WAN port.

Ensure you know the Public IP Address of this connection, as you will need it for the next section.

If you don’t have a static IP address, you can setup a service such as DynDNS to automatically track the changes and give you a single canonical DNS record to point back to that dynamic IP.

LUCI Live Lite Configuration

Now it’s time to configure the client. When you open the application, go to File > Add Station. This will then prompt you to enter some details about the Z/IP One you are going to connect to. The window will look something like this:

You can see the details here are for Kirk Harnack’s loopback test in Nashville, so if you connect to this one you should hear your own audio back. However, to connect to your own replace the “Server Address” with the public IP Address of your own Z/IP One. Also, add the port to the end as shown in this screenshot.

The default buffer is 100ms, but I have been running it at around 1000ms due to some poor network conditions I’m experiencing at the moment.

The protocol is RTP.

Unfortunately, the LUCI Live Lite software isn’t as good as adapting to varying network conditions as the Z/IP One is, so your milage may vary. Also, the bitrate settings are fixed so you are given zero leeway here.

Once you have saved these details, you can press the big microphone icon in the middle of the screen and it should connect quickly. You will now have a full bi-directional audio feed between your computer and the physical Z/IP One broadcast audio codec.

Other Details

You may download a free trial of the LUCI Live software from their website. It will run normally, except for one second of silence every twenty seconds. An actual license cost roughly AU$35 and will be delivered pretty much instantly from their website.

You won’t need to open any ports on the client. The only requirement is that UDP port 9151 outgoing is open. This will be fine, unless you are within a particularly restrictive network.