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October 06, 2009
NDU Builds 'Classroom of the Future' with Help from Polycom
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
The National Defense University (NDU) is building the “classroom of the future” with an advanced immersive telepresence environment from Polycom Inc., a provider of telepresence, video and voice communication solutions.
The Polycom (News - Alert) RealPresence Experience (RPX) and telepresence solution is set to be an integral part of NDU’s Information Resources Management College (iCollege) effort to create an environment in which unlimited collaboration will take place.
The integration is also expected to make iCollege more effective in projecting its expertise throughout the world. The center will be able to collaborate with other leading universities and leverage its expertise and leading authorities in private industry.
The new, cutting-edge classroom is built around the Polycom RPX immersive telepresence suite, enabling NDU iCollege to project the expertise of its faculty across the nation and throughout the world. It also enables guest speakers from other locations, other universities and private industry to remotely address classes.
With the immersive environment, classrooms of up to 18 students are able to communicate and collaborate with colleagues at other universities, including Duke Faqua School of Business, which also uses the Polycom RPX telepresence solution, and Combatant Commands around the world.
The Polycom RPX is designed to deliver a complete environment that is optimized for natural interaction. It delivers the Polycom UltimateHD experience with high definition (HD) video and HD Voice in stereo, while also delivering the ability to share multimedia content in HD.
"Telepresence (News - Alert) gives us the look, feel and sound necessary for participants to establish a relationship in a way that standard video teleconferencing or voice communication alone can't. It's as if everyone is in the same classroom," said Dr. Robert D. Childs, the NDU iCollege's Senior Director, in a statement. Dr. Childs is a recent recipient of both the 2009 Fed 100 Award and also the AFCEA Excellence in Technology Award.
The new facility at NDU iCollege supports another initiative to create a cutting-edge classroom that will allow participants to directly interact and share content with anyone, anywhere.
"The classroom of the future requires unlimited collaboration," said Dr. Marwan Jamal, one of the college's professors and a technology advisor to the Senior Director. "It goes beyond audio, video and file exchange. It's the ability to interact with your counterparts or audience in every way that mimics real life, as if you're all sitting in a room. It's about bringing the resources you need, no matter where the expertise or information is located, to solve real problems. Polycom telepresence is an essential part of the new classroom, along with contributions from wireless, virtualization, embedded security and Web 2.0 technologies," added Dr. Jamal.
NDU iCollege also plans to expand its use of visual communication beyond the Polycom RPX. It is currently in the process of deploying the Polycom Converged Management Application, which offers a highly scalable desktop video conferencing application that allows for interoperation with the Polycom RPX room.
"NDU's iCollege is an exciting customer to work with because they have very progressive ideas about how visual communication can and will be used within an integrated unified communications environment," said Rene LaVigne, president and chief operating officer, Apptis Technology Solutions (News - Alert). "They will provide a great example to the government leaders going through their programs about how this technology can be applied to solve real-world problems."
NDU is not the only company taking advantage of Polycom’s flexible offerings. Coms also announced this week that it has broadened its relationship with the Polycom video conference service. Coms’ video conferencing service is based on the Polycom CX5000 video conferencing phone. As more and more companies recognize the value of conferencing solutions, Polycom continues to enjoy strong growth.
The Polycom (News - Alert) RealPresence Experience (RPX) and telepresence solution is set to be an integral part of NDU’s Information Resources Management College (iCollege) effort to create an environment in which unlimited collaboration will take place.
The integration is also expected to make iCollege more effective in projecting its expertise throughout the world. The center will be able to collaborate with other leading universities and leverage its expertise and leading authorities in private industry.
The new, cutting-edge classroom is built around the Polycom RPX immersive telepresence suite, enabling NDU iCollege to project the expertise of its faculty across the nation and throughout the world. It also enables guest speakers from other locations, other universities and private industry to remotely address classes.
With the immersive environment, classrooms of up to 18 students are able to communicate and collaborate with colleagues at other universities, including Duke Faqua School of Business, which also uses the Polycom RPX telepresence solution, and Combatant Commands around the world.
The Polycom RPX is designed to deliver a complete environment that is optimized for natural interaction. It delivers the Polycom UltimateHD experience with high definition (HD) video and HD Voice in stereo, while also delivering the ability to share multimedia content in HD.
"Telepresence (News - Alert) gives us the look, feel and sound necessary for participants to establish a relationship in a way that standard video teleconferencing or voice communication alone can't. It's as if everyone is in the same classroom," said Dr. Robert D. Childs, the NDU iCollege's Senior Director, in a statement. Dr. Childs is a recent recipient of both the 2009 Fed 100 Award and also the AFCEA Excellence in Technology Award.
The new facility at NDU iCollege supports another initiative to create a cutting-edge classroom that will allow participants to directly interact and share content with anyone, anywhere.
"The classroom of the future requires unlimited collaboration," said Dr. Marwan Jamal, one of the college's professors and a technology advisor to the Senior Director. "It goes beyond audio, video and file exchange. It's the ability to interact with your counterparts or audience in every way that mimics real life, as if you're all sitting in a room. It's about bringing the resources you need, no matter where the expertise or information is located, to solve real problems. Polycom telepresence is an essential part of the new classroom, along with contributions from wireless, virtualization, embedded security and Web 2.0 technologies," added Dr. Jamal.
NDU iCollege also plans to expand its use of visual communication beyond the Polycom RPX. It is currently in the process of deploying the Polycom Converged Management Application, which offers a highly scalable desktop video conferencing application that allows for interoperation with the Polycom RPX room.
"NDU's iCollege is an exciting customer to work with because they have very progressive ideas about how visual communication can and will be used within an integrated unified communications environment," said Rene LaVigne, president and chief operating officer, Apptis Technology Solutions (News - Alert). "They will provide a great example to the government leaders going through their programs about how this technology can be applied to solve real-world problems."
NDU is not the only company taking advantage of Polycom’s flexible offerings. Coms also announced this week that it has broadened its relationship with the Polycom video conference service. Coms’ video conferencing service is based on the Polycom CX5000 video conferencing phone. As more and more companies recognize the value of conferencing solutions, Polycom continues to enjoy strong growth.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Patrick Barnard
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