March 2003

IP Video Conferencing Solutions

AG4000

Avistar Communications Corp.

555 Twin Dolphin Dr.

Redwood Shores, CA 94065

Tel: 650-610-2900

www.avistar.com

Avistar Communications recently unveiled its Multi-Channel IP Gateway, Model AG4000. The Multi-Channel IP Gateway is designed to enable immediate video connectivity between Avistar users, within and across enterprises over corporate IP networks or IP VPN networks. The AG4000 is a four-channel IP video gateway that takes advantage of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standard for communication between gateways. The new Avistar gateway provides business quality video, configurable QoS support, high call reliability, and automatic software configuration.

The Avistar Multi-Channel IP Gateway is supported by the latest AvistarVOS Server software release, version 7.0. The software manages the gateway with automatic configuration, remote administration and management, configurable profiles, and automatic route selection to manage video traffic and assign routing priorities across multiple network types. The AvistarVOS Server software controls the AG4000 as well as Avistar�s existing H.320 (ISDN) and H.323 (IP) gateways as shared system resources for optimum system reliability and lowest overall communications costs.

Series 2000 VideoServer

Ezenia! Inc.

Northwest Park

154 Middlesex Tpke.

Burlington, MA 01803

Tel: 781-505-2100

www.ezenia.com

The Ezenia! Series 2000 VideoServer MCS is a full-featured, scalable videoconferencing server designed to enable people in multiple locations to communicate using audio, video, or data over any circuit-switched network. Among the features that the Series 2000 delivers are:

� Flexible configurations for conferences of any size over any network;

� System capacity that expands as a company�s video conferencing needs expand; and

� Broad interoperability (designed to connect users on switched or dedicated networks such as ISDN, ATM, or Frame Relay).

When combined with the Encounter 3000 NetGate, the Series 2000 VideoServer represents the most powerful conferencing solution available today for mixed IP and ISDN network environments. The NetGate enables multimedia conferencing between ISDN and IP endpoints by reconciling the differences in the network protocols, thus allowing users to collaborate in real-time via voice, video, and data regardless of their network type. The Encounter NetGate supports as many as sixteen (16) conference sessions. Additional features include restricted and unrestricted rates up to 768Kbps IMUXed, real-time voice transcoding, IP-to-ISDN and ISDN-to-IP communication, and a browser-based administrative user interface.

StreamPlayer

VBrick Systems, Inc.

12 Beaumont Rd.

Wallingford, CT 06492

Tel: 203-265-0044

www.vbrick.com

VBrick Systems, Inc., has announced the immediate availability of a new StreamPlayer product suite. StreamPlayer software, which is designed to allow desktop users anywhere on the network to view high-quality MPEG streams from VBrick appliances, is available in two versions -- StreamPlayer, a free viewing-only component that displays live full screen MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video in a Web page, and StreamPlayer Plus, which is a desktop application and provides live and stored video viewing, as well as recording and clip editing of MPEG streams.

The enhanced StreamPlayer offering provides organizations with the ability to stream real-time and stored events to the desktop, in order to provide training to employees, distribute live news to any PC, and save training sessions and lectures for later viewing. Used across a wide range of applications, StreamPlayer helps enterprises increase productivity, enhance learning, and improve security and monitoring systems.

Rounding out the software line is a new offering, StreamTracker, a powerful statistics tool that allows administrators to monitor MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video stream usage and to generate reports or billing. StreamPlayer operates under Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, NT, or XP.

Media Xchange Manager 3.0

VCON, Inc.

10535 Boyer Blvd., Suite 300

Austin, TX 78758

Tel: 512-583-7700

www.vcon.com

VCON has released the Media Xchange Manager (MXM) 3.0, which now features a suite of advanced applications designed to enhance the current set of IP video network management and video telephony capabilities. Two key applications are vPoint, a software-only videoconferencing client that runs in three modes for full remote business conferencing, and IPNexus, a secure instant messaging/data sharing tool that gives customers total control of the level of accessibility from inside and outside the network. MXM 3.0 supports both the H.323 and SIP standards.

The MXM combines an IP video PBX, IP video network management, and rich media applications in an integrated media server designed to facilitate enterprise-wide interactive, visual communications.

vPoint detects the attached hardware and automatically operates in the appropriate mode. Cost-effective and easy to use, vPoint is integrated with the MXM allowing IP telephony capabilities such as call transfer, call forwarding, and ad-hoc conferencing. Other features include built-in echo cancellation and noise suppression, remote software upgrades, data rates up to 1.5Mbps at 30 fps, VCON PacketAssist QoS architecture, and a full range of audio and video algorithms.

IPNexus, a secure instant messaging and collaboration application addresses two main concerns of organizations: network security and employee productivity. IPNexus has multiple integrated functions that include IPMessenger, an instant messaging mode that allows two or more people to have an interactive chat session; and QuickNote, an electronic �sticky� note feature.

Click to Meet Express

First Virtual Communications

3393 Octavius Dr.

Santa Clara, CA 95054

Tel: 408.567.7200

www.fvc.com

Click to Meet Express is a software solution that combines the best of Web conferencing with the best of video conferencing into one integrated application. The solution utilizes Web-based presentation and data collaboration tools with business quality audio and video to provide a range of ad-hoc and scheduled Web conferences.

The software solution is designed to allow users to invite anyone via the Web, e-mail, or Instant Messaging (IM). A browser plug-in provides a rich palette of easy-to-use tools and �skins� and is designed to allow participants to select an appropriate conferencing environment. Click to Meet Express eliminates per minute/per participant and audio costs of hosted Web conferencing services. Existing video conferencing equipment is integrated and extended into the Web conferencing realm and costly videoconference bridging is eliminated.

Video and audio components support H.320 and H.321 (through gateway), H.323, T.120, SIP, TAPI 3.0, and CUseeMe. Video codec support includes H.261, H.263. Audio codec supports G.711, G.722, G.723, and echo cancellation when used on Windows XP. Click to Meet Express includes H.323 firewall support and NAT support.

viaIP/INVISION

RADVISION, Inc.

266 Harristown Rd., Ste. 201

Glen Rock, NJ 07452

www.radvision.com

RADVISION provides two lines of videoconferencing solutions: viaIP and INVISION. The viaIP solution is a customizable, scalable array of ports, management solutions, and custom functionality with which customers can design and quickly deploy a highly configured, scalable visual communications network ideal for each client�s unique needs. The viaIP solution is delivered in an integrated chassis.

The company�s INVISION product line is a suite of plug-and-play videoconferencing network appliances that offer an off-the-shelf, pre-configured solution with all the functionality of an entire IP/ISDN videoconferencing infrastructure, from centralized management and multipoint conferencing to gateway services and value-added applications, in an integrated device.

RADVISION also offers iVIEW, a suite of management applications for robust network management and intuitive conference scheduling. The RADVISION solutions support and interwork with and between ISDN (H.320), IP (H.323 and SIP), and 3G wireless (3G-234M) technologies, providing a crucial bridge between the legacy videoconferencing world of ISDN-based video systems and the emerging IP-based systems that leverage today�s high-speed LAN, WAN and wireless infrastructures.

Multipoint Control Unit

TANDBERG, Inc.

200 Park Ave., Ste. 2005

New York, NY 10166

Tel: 212-692-6500

www.tandberg.net

TANDBERG recently announced enhanced IP functionality across its product line. In particular, TANDBERG�s stand-alone Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) can now host video and audio conferences via IP networks. Also, the company�s patent-pending Intelligent Packet Loss Recovery (IPLR) improves both received and transmitted video on all IP endpoints, IP infrastructure and MCUs.

With this release, TANDBERG�s MCU now provides video and audio conferencing over ISDN, IP, or mixed ISDN/IP in either a 16+16 (video plus audio) or 8+8 configuration. In addition to IPLR, the TANDBERG MCU and codec now support a number of industry standard IP Quality of Service features including RSVP, DiffServ, IP Precedence, and Type of Service (TOS).

To protect the content of customers� multipoint calls, TANDBERG now provides 128-bit AES and 56-bit DES embedded Secure Conference encryption over IP and ISDN. TANDBERG video endpoints used in conjunction with the TANDBERG Management Suite (TMS) over IP will now be equipped to detect and flag attempts to gain unauthorized access through SNMP-security alerts.

[ Return To The March 2003 Table Of Contents ]