April 2000

BY CAROL DRZEWIANOWSKI

Well, let's think about it for a moment. Was the Internet immediately adopted by everyone, everywhere? Even the telephone took some time to become a mainstay. Video conferencing is finally walking, now that it has taken a few baby steps. This is evidenced by the opinions of some industry leaders in the Q&A that appears throughout this section.

According to Frost & Sullivan, an estimated 85 to 90 percent of video conferences still take place over ISDN, and IP-based video conferencing will be poised to take off in a couple years. When you think about all of the instant messaging applications out there, the business use of H.323 conferencing begins to really make sense. AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, and other messaging programs are on most desktops these days. The "buddy list" feature allows you to know who is on, and who isn't. This allows you to make a conference happen at a moment's notice. With H.320 conferencing, you could never get people together ad hoc.

The transition from voice to video is happening, and market analysts recognize this. Frost & Sullivan reported that the number of video conferencing endpoints should grow from less than 100,000 in 1999 to more than 700,000 in 2002. Granted, it might not be a boom, especially compared with the fast growth of Internet users, but there are still issues that have to be resolved, such as the expense of business clients, problems allowing IP-based video conferencing through corporate firewalls, and bandwidth.

To ease the transition into video conferencing, companies like WebCentric are offering real-time collaboration (RTC) solutions which are Web-based conferencing services that integrate audio, data, and video into a complete solution which is browser-based, provides high QoS, and scales to thousands of simultaneous users.

But Rome wasn't build in a day, and neither is a successful market. The interest in IP video conferencing is growing, and customers are increasingly demanding more and more capabilities. IP and ISDN transport for video conferencing will coexist for some time, but carriers like Qwest and Level 3 are investing in building high-speed IP networks that will help ease some of the technical issues. Also, be sure to check out the latest news in this exciting area, as well as a sidebar that explains what to do once you've got the latest technology.
-- Carol Drzewianowski

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Corporate Solutions News

• Cabletron Introduces New SmartSwitch 1500 Broadband IAD
• All Communications To Include ViewStation In Video Conferencing Over DSL Offering
• WebEx Provides Web-Based Collaboration Services For eWork Exchange
• RADVision, VCON Provide IP Video Conferencing Solutions
• White Pine's MeetingPoint Selected By Nortel Dasa

Cabletron Introduces New SmartSwitch 1500 Broadband IAD
Continuing its commitment to meeting the needs of the emerging service provider market, Cabletron Systems has announced the SmartSwitch 1500, a high-performance Integrated Access Device (IAD) that provides ATM connectivity and the integration of voice, video, and data in a single platform. The SmartSwitch 1500 is designed to deliver the performance and integration benefits of ATM over a wide area network (WAN) to service providers and enterprise locations that require higher bandwidth and advanced services. The SmartSwitch 1500 enables Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) and other service providers to offer high-speed connectivity to subscribers at lower price points than traditional leased lines. Utilizing Inverse Multiplexing over ATM (IMA), the SS1500 supports speeds greater than DS-1/E1, without the high costs associated with DS-3 broadband access. The SS1500 also supports a wide range of ATM uplink options, from DS-1 to OC-3 for flexible network connectivity. "The SmartSwitch 1500 allows service providers and branch offices to take advantage of bandwidth intensive applications, extending the benefits of ATM to remote locations," said Andrew Feldman, senior director of worldwide product marketing at Cabletron Systems. "Now customers can utilize multimedia applications, video conferencing, and even voice -- all over an ATM WAN."
No. 528, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

All Communications To Include ViewStation In Video Conferencing Over DSL Offering
All Communications Corporation and Polycom have announced an agreement whereby All Communications will offer Polycom's full suite of IP-enabled ViewStation products as part of its video conferencing over IP solution that will utilize DSL. Following the successful testing of Polycom's H.323-enabled ViewStation video conferencing product line over All Communications' IP network backbone, All Communications will launch this new subscriber service later this year, after the merger between All Communications and View Tech is finalized.
No. 529, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

RADVision, VCON Provide IP Video Conferencing Solutions
RAVision and VCON have announced that they have joined forces to provide a solution for video conferencing over IP networks. This complete video conferencing solution for the Tianjin Branches of China People's Bank (CPB) represents one of the largest room-based IP video conferencing solutions for a single banking network, and the first IP video conferencing application deployed over the China National Finance Network (CNFN). The CNFN, operated by China Financial Data Network Company Limited (CHINA FINET), is a dedicated network providing financial information and value-added services to bank branches across China. To enable video conferencing between the bank branches, the FINET network specification required a distributed application for multipoint conferencing using state-of-the-art, robust equipment that was both quick and easy to install with minimum technical support. VCON and RADVision met these requirements and won the bid to provide a complete H.323 IP-based video conferencing solution.
No. 530, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

WebEx Provides Web-Based Collaboration Services For eWork Exchange
WebEx has announced that it will provide Web-based meeting and application sharing services to eWork Exchange, the global marketplace for project-based work. With WebEx, eWork Exchange users will be able to hold online meetings and share applications all in real-time. "WebEx's online meeting tools and application sharing technology provide a great solution for eWork Exchange's users. We wanted a solution that is both interactive and spontaneous," said Mike Hanley, VP of business development. "By providing in-context access to WebEx from within the eWork Exchange service, our customers gain access to powerful collaborative tools and services which enable them to conduct Web-based business meetings and presentations."
No. 531, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

White Pine's MeetingPoint Selected By Nortel Dasa
White Pine Software has announced that its MeetingPoint conference server has been selected by Nortel Dasa to be embedded in a new, high quality, satellite-based video conferencing service offering. MeetingPoint was selected for purchase and integration into the service after the extensive testing of several server candidates. In addition to overall performance and support, White Pines MeetingPoint was chosen by Nortel Dasa for its Continuous Presence feature (the ability to show multiple video windows simultaneously), its IP multicast capability, and its ability to easily cascade or link multiple software-based servers together for network growth. MeetingPoint will be offered in Nortel Dasa Satellite Communication solutions, providing video conferencing and high-speed data collaboration capabilities to the business-to-business market.
No. 532, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

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A:Polycom and the market analysts agree that for the next 3-5 years the video conferencing market will experience multiple transports. However, IP as a transport promises to eliminate one of the hurdles of mass video conferencing deployment. On IP, video conferencing endpoints become a node on the network. This eliminates the requirement for companies to manage the standalone ISDN network video conferencing has traditionally relied upon.
-- Kim Kasee, Polycom, vice president of marketing, video division.

Absolutely. Over the long haul IP will become the dominant mode. In the beginning H.323 will be used to wire up the premise. WAN connections will be made via ISDN using gateways (H.323 to H.320). As WAN IP networks capable of providing QoS become available, video calls will be made from premise to premise without ever converting to switched services.
-- Seymour Freidel, Zydacron, chairman

We all intuitively believe video conferencing should be a part of everyday life. We envision having staff meetings over video from PCs at work, video conferencing with relatives in another city from home, and commuting over video from home offices. But the cost and reliability constraints of traditional ISDN video conferencing have kept that vision from being a reality. Video conferencing over IP clearly has the potential to bring video far beyond anything we've seen so far. Couple this with the plummeting costs of end points with the entrance of players like Polycom and Microsoft into the market, and throw in ability to access video through a Web-based Video Portal like FVC.COM has created, and you have an environment where near-television quality, two-way broadband Internet video can touch every desktop.
-- Rich Beyer, FVC.COM, president and CEO

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A: Some of the integration issues are making sure you have the proper equipment, IP bandwidth, and network design. Usually corporate MIS personnel have a firm hold on what applications their network can support. MIS wants to optimize the use of their network by adding additional applications (like voice and video conferencing). With the assistance of the router manufacturer, system integrator, and network provider, any company can build a network to support these additional applications.
-- Steve Feldstein, RADVision, national account manager

Broadband access is rapidly changing the face of the communications industry, and adapting to that is critical. To some extent, networks are always going to be in transition so it is important that video conferencing products, and all communications devices, be versatile in how they can connect to different networks. For example, all Polycom video conferencing products work using H.323 standards (for IP conferencing), though most users of our products are using it over ISDN (using H.320). And more importantly, endpoint manufacturers need to keep pushing forward to provide devices that will work and take advantage of integrated networks, along with driving industry standards.
-- Kim Kasee, Polycom, vice president of marketing, video division

There already are ways of solving the network issues of combining voice, video, and data over IP. One is through proprietary Class of Service (CoS) schemes such as policy-based management in the LAN and on the edge of the WAN. Another is through over-provisioning the WAN with large amounts of bandwidth or segregating video traffic from data at the WAN edge by having a parallel video network. The industry is in the process of solving the IP-QoS issue with techniques such as DiffServ, but progress is slow.
-- Rich Beyer, FVC.COM, president and CEO

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Once you have a video conferencing product installed, it will become apparent that there are more differences between a video conference and an in-person meeting than just the human element. Here are some helpful tips for enhancing your "presence" in video meetings and presentations.

BEFORE THE MEETING
Set up the room. As with portrait photography, a solid light blue or gray background is preferred, and lights should shine on the speaker from behind the camera. Never have the lights shine at the camera lens. Windows make a poor background because daylight hitting the lens can cause glare, trick the camera into thinking there's more light on the subject than there is, and reflect spotlights into the lens.

"Dress to compress."  Because videoconferencing relies on image compression technology, avoid "busy" images. Plain materials permit greater compression ratios, reducing the amount of data to be transmitted. Do not wear the color red, which bleeds, or bright white shirts that overload the contrast.

BEGINNING THE MEETING
Speak directly to the people on the screen. This may seem obvious, but since we don't usually chat with our TVs, you might be reluctant the first time you try it. Speak in a natural voice, without shouting, place the microphone close to the presenter, away from fans, air conditioning ducts or other "white noise."

Frame the camera on the speaker. The view should have the waist at the bottom of the screen and the eyes one-third of the way down from the top. Begin the video conference just as you would any other meeting.

DURING THE MEETING
Your picture will be almost as smooth as broadcast television, depending on the speed and quality of the network connection. Video meetings set at 384 Kbps and 30 frames per second provide the best video quality without taking up too much bandwidth. Sitting rigidly looks awkward, but movement emphasizes the limitations inherent in video compression and makes the picture less sharp. Nervous movements such as swiveling in your chair, twirling your pen, shuffling paper around the microphone, or tapping your pen on the table can be picked up very clearly by the microphone and heard at the far end, and should be avoided. Also remember to pause a second or two before responding, because there is a slight delay between parties on a video conference. Keep these pointers in mind, and when combined with the technology, your video conference will surely be a success.

Sybille Gray is Event Marketing Manager for PictureTel. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.picturetel.com.

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