Buckaroo Banzai's old adage, "Wherever you go...there
you are," has been turned new again by the onslaught
of video conferencing solutions available on today's
market. What was once the plaything of independent
sci-fi filmmakers is now not only a reality in the
business world, but a feasible solution to cutting
costs and increasing productivity in the workplace.
Reducing travel expenses is the mantra for the day.
Companies must implement alternate solutions, such as
e-conferencing, Web-casts, teleconferences, e-sharing,
etc., instead of trucking the team to meetings in
Tokyo and Geneva, and drying up the company coffers.
Video conferencing solutions are the benchmark of
rational business -- while they still lack a sense of
physical "personality," the ability to interact
human to human has never been closer to "the real
thing." And isn't that the role of communications?
Our systems of communications have steadily been
evolving towards one end: Instant, anywhere presence.
Video conferencing gets us closer to that goal. Does
your enterprise or small business need this
technology? Yes, it most certainly does. There is no
longer any question about it. The availability and the
various pricing schemes available make video and Web
conferencing reachable by even teenage cliques, so
there is no reason for you not to explore the myriad
solutions available.
Think of the cost savings in remote training,
interoffice communications, business meetings, press
briefings, etc. Think of the time savings for
in-office communications in large enterprises. Think
of the expanded touch a face on a screen offers -- personality no longer has only voice, but a face as
well.
As with the implementation of any new
communications device, it is important you know your
system and know your needs -- where you are and where
you want to be. Then use the video conferencing
solutions outlined here, and the emerging technologies
entering the marketplace, to arrive where you should
be: pervasively and visually present.
-Mike von Wahlde
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VBrick Model 4300
VBrick Systems
12 Beaumont Rd.
Wallingford, CT 06492
203-265-0044
The VBrick 4300 is a low cost dual MPEG-2 video
encoder with an Ethernet (IP-10/100) network
interface. It accepts up to two video/audio sources (NTSC/PAL)
and can stream DVD quality MPEG-2 video in real-time
to any network attached PC or TV. The VBrick 4300
contains an integral Web server for management and Web
browser for data collaboration.
IP VideoPhone
InnoMedia Inc.
90 Rio Robles, Ste. 100
San Jose, CA 95134
408-432-5400
InnoMedia's IP VideoPhone is a compact,
all-in-one desktop phone taking the complexity out of
video conferencing. This plug-and-play system delivers
high-quality video, and is convenient and
cost-effective. Ideal for corporate deployment, users
can place no-cost face-to-face video calls to anywhere
in the world over a broadband connection. The IP
VideoPhone is interoperable with other H.323-based
compliant video communications systems. Simply plug it
into a quality-of-service-enabled broadband IP
network, configure and dial.
Glowpoint
Wire One Technologies
225 Long Ave.
Hillside, NJ 07205
800-924-8596
Wire One's Glowpoint network service is the
first subscription-based service offering video calls
over a dedicated IP backbone. The Glowpoint network
reduces transmission costs of video communications by
up to 50 percent, as compared to traditional
ISDN-based video conferencing, and dramatically
improves the quality and reliability of video
communications. Glowpoint also offers IP and ISDN
multipoint bridging and gateway services to connect
customers with sites that are not on the Glowpoint
network or are ISDN-based.
MeetNow Web
Connex International
40 Old Ridgebury Rd., Ste. 317
Danbury, CT 06801
800-426-6639
Connex International announces the addition of
MeetNow Web to its existing line of reservationless
services, offering the ability to Web conference and
archive the event. The new service gives users a range
of options that will let them produce effective and
exceptional meetings over the Web. MeetNow Web is
designed for any meeting where users need to
communicate ideas, product information, training
review sessions, weekly sales results, corporate
financials, and communicate the information to
participants quickly across the country and the world.
ConvergenceCams/RemoteStudio
LiveWave, Inc.
359 Thames St., Suite AB
Newport, RI 02840
401-848-7678
LiveWave's ConvergenceCams and RemoteStudio kiosks
feature broadcast-quality video with fluid pan, tilt,
and zoom capabilities for all your video conferencing
neeeds. In addition, administrators have complete
professional camera functionality, such as white
balance, iris, pedestal, and gain. When streamed over
a network or the Internet, viewers can control the
cameras and direct their own programming or
participate in a real-time chat session.
viaIP
RADVISION
575 Corporate Dr., Ste. 420
Mahwah, NJ 07430
201-529-4300
RADVISION's viaIP multi-service platform is a
chassis-based solution for deploying IP-centric voice,
video, and data conferencing services. The viaIP
product family addresses the IP communication
requirements of service providers and large
enterprises and government agencies. This all-in-one
solution integrates V2oIP gateway, multipoint
conferencing, data collaboration, and gatekeeper
intelligence into a single platform. RADVISION's
first-to-market OnLAN family of networking products
may be used to build a total enterprise IP-based PBX
that supports both voice and video over IP. The OnLAN
product family includes individual stackable V2oIP
gateways and conferencing bridges along with embedded
and standalone gatekeeper applications.
ActionView
ACT Teleconferencing
800-228-2554
ACT's ActionView is a standards-based video
conferencing service that includes reservations and
scheduling management along with 24-hour-a-day
operator-controlled conferences. It offers clients the
standards of technical excellence and superlative
service, which are the hallmarks of ACT's
internationally renowned audio conferencing service.
ACT provides services for a whole range of new clients
in industries as diverse as banking, manufacturing,
hi-tech, and the media. ACT's multipoint video
conferencing offers the added benefit of visual
graphics to business applications such as management
meetings, medical information transfer, training,
distance learning, and media presentations.
PictureTel 900 Series
PictureTel Corporation
100 Minuteman Rd.
Andover, MA 01810
978-292-5000
The top-of-the-line iPower offering, the
PictureTel 900 Series is optimized for the most
demanding conference room environments. The solution
boasts a Pentium III Processor that enables conference
participants to harness even the most memory-intensive
applications, delivering the highest level of
data-sharing for mission-critical applications. The
PictureTel 900 Series also offers the flexibility of
working with multiple networks, including v.35, ISDN,
and IP, enabling the end user to achieve high quality
with a variety of network bandwidths and network
interfaces. An on-board floppy and CD-ROM drive and
the ability to connect to any standard meeting
peripheral enable meeting participants to easily
re-create the in-person experience.
Access NGI
First Virtual Communications
3393 Octavius Dr.
Santa Clara, CA 95054
408-567-7200
First Virtual Communications, formerly CUseeMe
Networks, provides several products that create the
network infrastructure necessary to support rich media
solutions. The Access NGI provides a true rich media
switch capability for a wide variety of applications
and network types. Whether it is voice, video, or
data, the Access NGI provides a cost effective
solution to meet the needs of edge switch situations.
First Virtual Communications also provides a flexible,
expandable gateway product that can integrate ATM, IP,
and ISDN network resources into one comprehensive
platform.
Inktomi
4100 East 3rd Ave.
Foster City, CA 94404
650-653-2800
Inktomi's intelligent network infrastructure
software extends the viability and flexibility of
existing networks. They also provide a software-based
solution where IP multicast is not in place. Inktomi
recognizes content at the content level therefore they
are able to offer: Realtime management and control of
the media rich content, realtime audience measurement
and tracking of who's looking at what stream,
self-healing capabilities (re-routing of content
streams in realtime), scalability (as more and more
offices in remote locations log on to watch), and a
reliable multicast (knowing when the file has been
received and that it's being watched). Inktomi also
offers an intuitive publishing solution via the
Inktomi Media Publisher product which allows line of
business managers to easily capture media and publish
it so that it can be accessed on the network.
ViaVideo
Polycom
1565 Barber Ln.
Milpitas, CA 95305
408-526-9000
ViaVideo brings business-quality video
communications into the office -- in a package only
three inches wide and designed specifically for
personal use. The sophisticated integrated multimedia
processor and high-quality camera deliver full-screen,
full-motion, up to 30 frames per second,
business-quality video without sapping processing
power from your PC. Plus it provides the conference
room-quality audio you expect, with no add-in boards
to install or bulky hardware to place on your desk.
Just plug this appliance into the USB port on your PC,
load the software, and start communicating ViaVideo in
minutes.
Five
Questions |
1.What is your primary use for video
communications? Will you be using it to train, to
communicate, to share telecasts, to
conference?
2. Will you be enabling only certain
users or certain terminals? Will it primarily be a tool for
collaborative work?
3. Do you have multiple locations to
enable? Is cutting down on interoffice travel
a priority?
4. What is the quality you require?
Will any of the communications be shown
over traditional television outlets, or is
high resolution a priority?
5. What type of communications
infrastructure is already in place?
Will video require you to rethink/rework
your legacy system?
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Mobile Video Expertise
ImageCom Ltd.
Cedars Park
Cedars Rd.
Maidenhead
Berkshire, ENG SL6 1RZ
01628 688700
ImageCom's Mobile Video Expertise provides excellent
moving and still images that will operate across
standard mobile networks, including GSM, GPRS and
HSCSD environments. The benefit of using MVE is its
excellent surveillance qualities whereby the user can
operate the equipment either at very short notice or
where you do not have access to traditional wired
phone networks. In real terms, this means one can use
this almost anywhere, provided you are within reach of
a mobile network MVE has a number of mission-critical
applications, ranging from rapid-response
surveillance, security, emergency services, TV
broadcasting, remote diagnostics, and tele-medicine,
to name but a few.
Avistar VOS
Avistar
555 Twin Dolphin Dr., 3rd Fl.
Redwood Shores, CA 94065
650-610-2900
Avistar is a leading provider of desktop video
communication solutions for the financial services
industry. Their technology, with its unique integrated
suite of video applications, really outclasses
standard video- and web-conferencing. The
standards-based Avistar VOS software platform lets
users place video calls from their desktops through a
simple GUI, so they can: Easily make two-way or
multi-party collaborative video calls from their
desktops; record themselves or their
calls/videoconferences for later playback; instantly
create video presentations and distribute via live,
streaming video broadcasts; and seamlessly bring in
desktop applications (Excel, PowerPoint) or video from
outside sources (CNN, CNBC) to discuss with the call
participants/recipients.
Ridgeway VX Communication System
Ridgeway Systems
10535 Boyer Blvd., Ste. 101
Austin, TX 78758
512-231-7300
The Ridgeway VX Communication System gives service
providers the ability to quickly and easily supply IP
voice and video services, even to H.323 end-points
with private IP addresses. The Ridgeway VX
Communication System is comprised of hardware and
software solutions available for service providers and
enterprises to deploy. The hardware family, including
the VX Application Server and the VX Media Server,
enables cost effective scalability and reliability.
The software solutions, including the VX Media Manager
and VX Media Client, enable secure delivery of media
over existing network infrastructure and into private
IP environments.
Eyeball Video Comunications Systems
Eyeball Networks
500-100 Park Royal West
Vancouver, BC V7T 1A2
Canada
604-921-5993
Eyeball Video Communications Systems provide highly
reliable and scalable video communciations over
corporate Intranets and the Internet. Based on the
Any-Bandwith technology, it delivers the best possible
video quality for each user based on their network
bandwidth and CPU capacity. End users are given easy
single-click access to other online users while
administrators can easily maintain the system and user
accounts through a Web-based server.
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To The November 2001 Table Of Contents ]
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A new type of application that combines the best of
desktop video conferencing and instant messaging is
being born -- let's call it "video instant messaging."
With the transition of video delivery from ISDN to IP
networks, and the usability of instant messaging, it
only seems natural to unify these two applications to
make real-time, rich media communications accessible
to more people at their desks.
Presence Detection
One of the fundamental functions of instant messaging
is its presence detection feature that lets users see
when contacts are online and available. With
software-based systems, presence detection is managed
at the server level where the status of any one user
is maintained, and their information is shared amongst
other servers and clients in real-time. With video
instant messaging, users can see when their contacts
are open to communications, not just in text, but with
voice and video as well. Further, they can send
messages to contacts that are offline or unavailable.
This makes real-time communications easier and more
available than complex hardware-based systems and much
more effective than text-based instant messaging
alone.
Usability
Many large businesses that invested in room-based
systems have trouble getting buy-in from their
employees due to lack of training and the perceived
level of operational complexity. However, video
instant messaging, as it extends on the functions of
familiar text-based messaging programs, will enable
companies to see an immediate increase in ROI.
Administrators will find software and IP-based video
instant messaging systems much easier to manage
through integration with existing hardware and network
infrastructure, and remote management capabilities.
Workers will have an intuitive interface to work from,
and are much more likely to use it for day-to-day
business operations with teammates, clients, and
partners.
Accessibility
Recent trends in the decline of corporate travel have
made video communications a critical part of
inter-office meetings, where the level of
participation requires more than simple phone
conversations or email messages. Video instant
messaging enables more people to take part in
face-to-face in meetings without leaving their desk --
or even their home for that matter. Further, outside
participants -- clients, partners, suppliers -- can
more easily participate due to the ubiquity and
interoperability of IP-based systems. There is no
doubt that increased usability and accessibility will
attract more businesses to video instant messaging, as
there is tremendous value in being able to see and
immediately engage online contacts in a real-time
voice and video conversation through one unified
interface.
Angie Hirata is marketing manager at Eyeball
Networks.
[ Return
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