Video Conferencing Standards
TANDBERG 5/09
The International Telecommunications Union — Telecommunications Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is responsible for generating worldwide "recommendations" (non-binding standards) for telecommunications. The ITU- T is divided into fourteen Study Groups. Each Study Group studies "questions" (i.e., topics for study); the results of their study define these recommendations. Study Group XVI is responsible for generating recommendations for data collaboration and videoconferencing. The following summarizes salient recommendations for multimedia communications produced by Study Group XVI.
Maximizing the Value of Telepresence: Interoperability is Key to Success
Frost & Sullivan 5/09
It is widely accepted that telepresence can change the way people experience meetings — and thereby change the way people work. But in the gloom of the global recession, companies are asking themselves how they can get even more value out of their communications assets. To that end, interoperability is key.
The Art of Teleworking
Polycom 4/09
There is a new class of workers out there — working from their homes nearly autonomously. Some call them teleworkers, some telecommuters. Armed with remote access to their organization's network, with tollfree numbers, VPN's and mobile phones, they escape traffic jams, bad weather, and high fuel prices, and are able to find the right balance between personal and professional life.
Video Conferencing Adoption by SMBs - The Next Big Thing
Frost & Sullivan; 4/09
Polycom's recently introduced QDX 6000 is the first video conferencing product of its kind to address the cost-conscious SMB (small and medium sized business) segment that at the same time seeks ease of use and high quality. Offering high resolution video conferencing at low bandwidths, QDX 6000 is a full-featured product that offers plug-and-play functionality for simplified setup and ease of use.
The 2009 Update: Taking the Wrapsoff Videoconferencing in the U.S. Classroom - A National and State-by-State Analysis
Alan D. Greenberg, Wainhouse Research; 4/09
This white paper updates an effort first conducted in spring 2006 to measure the adoption of videoconferencing in K-12 schools, by assessing the growth and evolution of classroom-based videoconferencing networks as of mid-2009. The paper attempts to answer several questions: what is the extent of adoption in any particular state, and how many schools and classrooms are likely to be enabled for professional-quality videoconferencing on a national and state-by-state basis. What ancillary technologies are beginning to matter to those interested in rich media for constructivist-based education, and what are the obstacles to success — as well as success factors — with these technologies.
Minimizing Operational Costs: An In-Depth Comparison between Business Travel and the Telecommunications Alternatives of Telepresence and Video Conferencing Systems
BrightCom, Inc.; 4/09
In economic hard times, businesses tend to reevaluate operational budgets to determine the most valuable and cost effective ways to succeed in their industry. One way in which businesses, small and large can cut costs and find value is by reducing business travel budgets and turning to alternatives such as telecommunication systems. This paper presents a study comparing the cost advantages of video conferencing and telepresence implementations over business travel within a five year period.
7 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Video Conferencing Solution
TANDBERG; 3/09
Don't have the time or money to support the travel demands of your far-flung operations? Video conferencing has emerged as the on-demand solution for a fraction of any travel and expense budget. But the explosion of video communications has created a multitude of video conferencing products — and it's increasingly difficult to navigate the maze of choices and end up with a solution that's powerful enough to meet your communications needs today while offering the flexibility to respond to the opportunities, challenges, and changes of tomorrow.
The Compelling Case for Video Telephony in Unified Communications
Brent Kelly & Andrew Davis, Wainhouse Research; 3/09
Enterprise class video telephony provides the richness of video communications with the ease of making a phone call. To enable video telephony, video endpoints must be able to register with and be controlled by a call control engine, typically an IP PBX or telephony server. Integrating control of the video endpoints into the domain of the telephony server removes the silos between enterprise telephone systems and enterprise video systems and provides a consistent calling model. Video telephony alternatives range from desktop video to executive video systems and on up to group and telepresence solutions. It also facilitates video-enabled contact centers as well as pushes video to mobile handsets.
The Compelling Case for Video Telephony in Unified Communications
ShoreTel; 3/09
Today's business environment is characterized by pervasive global competition, more intense business cycles, faster flow of information and communication, and increased business complexity. The business communications challenges that arise in this new environment invariably impact business flexibility, responsiveness, customer service, upplier relations, and the overall ability of each business to compete and succeed. Organizations are rapidly adopting and expanding unified communications (UC) as a strategic response to the need to productively manage communications in a multi-device, mobile and distributed environment; extend the workspace beyond the traditional desktop; speed information access; and dramatically improve collaboration and decision making processes.
Ease of Use in Web Conferencing — Why it Matters
Andy Nilssen & Alan Greenberg, Wainhouse Research; 2/09
Web conferencing is a revolutionary business tool. The technology's many benefits — which include saving travel costs, increasing individual and team productivity, and removing distance as a barrier for getting the right people (and customers) involved — has motivated many to become proficient at its use. But the recent dramatic changes in the global economic climate have brought into focus a new urgency to find ways to cut costs and work together efficiently. Web conferencing is poised to play a central role in this imperative if it can be quickly adopted by businesses of all sizes — including those who are not technology savvy, and who lack time or inclination to deal with anything that might increase complexity. Thus, while usability may have been considered “nice to have” in the past, is it swiftly becoming a necessity? Through survey data, this study examines the role of usability as the major issue that stands in the way of truly beneficial adoption of web conferencing by the mainstream.
What it Takes to Foster a Culture of Collaboration
Gil Yehuda, Forrester Research; 1/09
Corporations are taking a fresh look at the way they support internal collaboration. Inspired by the millions of people using social networking tools and hundreds of new products that foster online collaboration, IT departments are looking to technology for answers. Forrester finds a serious flaw with this approach. While IT departments are implementing the latest fashionable tools, information and knowledge management (I&KM) professionals are finding that behaviors don't change by virtue of new tools alone. Corporate culture takes the blame. But I&KM professionals rarely confront culture as their primary issue. We found insights from those who succeeded at improving collaboration by addressing culture and technology together.
Building and managing the multimedia network
Irwin Lazar and Dr. Mike Jude, Tech Target/Polycom; 12/08
Voice and video application deployments are booming. Ninety-nine percent of the 400+ companies participating in the Nemertes benchmark Unified Communications and Collaboration are implementing Voice over IP (VoIP) in some fashion, while more than half are adopting desktop and room-based video conferencing. Another 38% are deploying immersive telepresence systems offering a multimedia, virtual-reality environment that makes participants feel almost as if they are all in the same room. Finally, video-streaming applications are finding increased deployment for applications such as surveillance and distance learning.
QoS: What Is It? Why Do We Need It?
Berni Gardiner, Global Knowledge; 12/08
QoS can be used in converged networks to provide voice packets priority access to resources, or it can be used to differentiate data packets from different application stream and provide access to resources according to policy.
Being in Two Places At Once - Telepresence versus Videoconferencing in the Enterprise
Hyoun Park, Aberdeen Group; 12/08
Telepresence is a new technology designed to bring to fruition the promises that videoconferencing has traditionally promised to the enterprise. By producing a holistic environment where enterprises can perceive a high- quality, life-sized image capable of portraying close proximity to other participants in an immersive and interactive manner, this technology has passed the hurdle from a complicated proof-of-concept technology to a true enterprise tool made available to a majority of employees. In addition, both PC and fixed-room videoconferencing solutions also gained critical mass acceptance in the enterprise as companies have learned how video can be used as a business tool. This report is designed to show how both telepresence and videoconferencing are used in the enterprise, making sure to demonstrate and illustrate the differences between the two technologies.
Empowering the UC Environment with Polycom's UltimateHD
Ira M. Weinstein & E. Brent Kelly, Wainhouse Research; 11/08
Before the emergence of unified communications, people often were required to decide in advance which communications modality they wished to use (voice, mobile phone, email, IM, web, or video) and separate communications channels for each were established. Typically, these could not be changed or augmented while a meeting was in progress. The new unified communications paradigm allows users to start with any communications modality they choose, and then add any or all other communication methods as needed, seamlessly.
An Emerging Triple Play: Video Communications, Managed Services and Unified Communications
Brockmann & Company; 11/08
An intriguing triple-play is emerging - the combination of video communications, managed services and unified communications - to create a new approach to inter- and intra-company collaboration and operational excellence.
Video Beyond the Boardroom
TANDBERG; 11/08/09
Traditionally, organizations have started video conferencing programs in their meeting rooms. This limited installation is an easy way to dip your toe into the water. A room-based system requires usage to be pre-arranged and managed; sometimes access is reserved for upper management. As video adoption grows, however, these organizations often find that video meeting rooms are increasingly booked and that users don't want to stand in line to schedule a meeting. That's when they turn to personal video.
A Framework for Deploying Unified Communications
Brent Kelly & Jon Neville, Wainhouse Research; 11/08
Unified communications has been the subject of thousands of press articles, and it is constantly being promoted by vendors and analysts as the next great communications breakthrough that every company must adopt right now in order to remain competitive. However, this rush to unify communications has created a significant amount of doubt, uncertainty, and confusion among end user companies.
Network Management Fundamentals
CA; 11/08
Network management is a complex topic. In today's diverse networking infrastructure, the network has to handle more instances of unified communications, video, and virtualization. The role of the network manager encompasses not only monitoring for performance and security, but also anticipating future network problems and transcending technology silos to ensure everything runs well together, whether it's the network, the server, or the application.
The Benefits of a Telepresence Platform
Ira M. Weinstein, Wainhouse Research; 11/08
Telepresence is an experience based on videoconferencing in which remote session participants appear to be located in the same room and sitting on the other side of the conference room table. WR refers to the feeling that remote participants are in the same room as the telepresence effect, and systems able to provide this experience are said to be telepresence-ready or telepresence-capable.
The Power of Collaboration within Unified Communications
Polycom; 11/08
Historians of communications technologies will likely refer to the era from 1997 to 2007 as the Decade of Infrastructure readiness. Beginning with a select group of global enterprises who sought to decrease operating costs by merging their telephony and data infrastructures, the migration into the twenty-first century has seen companies of all sizes and types embracing IP-based networks for their inherent cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and ability to support business-driven applications. This whitepaper shares practical perspectives on preparing a business case for collaboration tools within Unified Communications, as well as offering best practice approaches for ensuring the successful adoption - and maximum contribution - of collaboration applications in your enterprise.
Media-Ready Network Architecture
Cisco; 10/08
Video applications are placing demanding requirements on networks, often necessitating more thorough consideration than voice-over-IP (VoIP) convergence alone. By embracing video as the next wave of convergence, IT departments can think holistically about their network architecture and its readiness to support the coming incursion of video applications and develop a networkwide strategy to provide high-quality end-user experiences.
The Evolution of Mobile Unified Communications
Zeus Kerravala, Yankee Group; 9/08
Yankee Group's vision of an Anywhere Enterprise is an organization where workers can access any information from any device over any network. As the Anywhere Enterprise becomes more mobile, it uses connectivity to compete. Historically, enterprise mobility addressed primarily the corporate professional and field service workers; but today the variety of mobile workers has become increasingly diverse and redefines their technology needs.
Management of Large Scale IP Video Networks
Polycom; 9/08
Video communications is expanding beyond the conference room and is becoming a standard communication tool and part of the daily workflow for individuals and work groups. This trend is being driven by the integration of video communications into the IP networks of commercial, educational, and government organizations and is having a profound impact on the management and scalability requirements of these video-enabled networks. The increasing demand for visual communications requires networks to support tens of thousands of users and video devices instead of a relatively small number of conference rooms.
Driving Operational ROI through Collaboration & Conferencing Services
Marc Beattie & Stacy Austin-Li, Wainhouse Research; 9/08
The organizational and employee benefits of collaboration and conferencing tools that enable interactivity, voice, and video can be seen at the bottom line. The increased flexibility of collaboration and conferencing services that relies on current computer platforms enables employees and executives to be more than one place at a time.
Bringing the Meeting Room into the Digital Age
Alan Greenberg & Andy Nilssen, Wainhouse Research; 8/08
This has changed with the advent of the 21st century meeting room. Today the new breed of collaborative platforms enable the ability to create connected meeting rooms where distributed staff can instantly join a virtual conference, share any application and write on it using digital ink, participate in discussions and save and distribute their work as if they were in the same room. These technologies are designed for business applications — and offer the ability to regain the freedom to work freely on a surface with content, ideas, and other material, and manage/manipulate that content in the digital realm.
Scalable Infrastructure for Distributed Video
Polycom; 8/08
Video is leaving the video conference room and becoming a standard communication tool and part of the individual's daily workflow. In turn, this trend is having a profound impact on the scalability requirements of the visual communication system which now must support tens of thousands of users where once it only had to support several dozen or at most a few hundred video rooms.
Addressing the Challenges Facing the Distributed, 21st Century Business Through Telework
Alan Greenberg & Andy Nilssen, Wainhouse Research; 6/08
Telework has been around for years as a way to provide flexible work plans for knowledge workers, deal with traffic congestion and business travel, plan for business continuity, and address shortages in office space. For a long time, however, Telework remained somewhat exotic from a policy perspective. Now, Wainhouse Research and others are beginning to identify a fundamental change in attitudes towards Telework and deployment of its supporting technologies.
Video Telephony: Completing the Picture of Unified Communications Effectiveness
IDC; 6/08
Learn the benefits of the next step in unified communications — the convergence of video and phone devises to a simple, single comprehensive replacement system for core communications and collaboration.
Scalable Infrastructure for Distributed Video
Polycom; 6/08
Video as a tool for enterprise communication is departing the conference room and becoming a standard element in everyday interactions and workflows. While the benefits to organizations are myriad — faster, more informed decision-making; improved knowledge sharing; reduced operating costs, and more — the growth of video is having a profound impact on the scalability requirements of communication infrastructures.
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an application layer protocol for creating, terminating, and modifying of multimedia sessions with one or more participants, developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). SIP is independent of the multimedia session handled and of the mechanism used to describe the session. The IETF also designed SIP to be independent of the underlying transport layer. SIP is similar to H.323 and shares some of the same protocols, such as TCP, UDP, and others.
Telepresence on a Videoconferencing Budget
Wainhouse Research; 5/08
Although announcements and product releases by industry heavyweights Cisco, HP, Polycom, and Tandberg have brought telepresence into the spotlight in the recent years, telepresence is not a new concept. In fact, telepresence offerings amazingly similar to those available today have been on the market since the 1990s from companies including TeleSuite (which became Destiny Conferencing and was eventually acquired by Polycom) and Teliris.
Videoconferencing Best Practices: Leveraging the Value of a Total Solution
Frost & Sullivan; 3/08
As companies become more global and more virtual, executives are realizing the value of visual communications: Only by seeing the people they're working with can employees truly collaborate as though they are in the same room, even if they're continents apart. But as they deploy technology to allow employees to take advantage of video communications, IT managers must implement a total solution that will deliver the capabilities required by everyone in the enterprise. A solution-based approach is the only way to truly “future proof” investment: Companies can add new technologies or capabilities, easily and transparently, at any time, and with no disruption to the end-user experience, while maximizing ROI.
Managing the Company's Carbon Footprint
The Economist; 2/08
Managing the company's carbon footprint: The emerging role of ICT investigates the role of information and communication technology in lowering organisations' carbon-dioxide emissions. The report was commissioned by AT&T and Cisco.
Telepresence vs. Videoconferncing - Resolving the Cost/Benefit Conundrum
Wainhouse Research; 1/08
More than a decade after the first telepresence solution was introduced to the public, telepresence hit the limelight towards the end of calendar year 2006. With high technology giants gaining the attention of C-level customers, many conferencing and collaboration managers are beginning to look at this new class of enterprise communications system more closely and to examine their assumptions and perceptions around the concept of telepresence.
Polycom's Lost Packet Recovery (LPR) Capability
Ira Weinstein, Wainhouse Research; 1/08
Even a small amount of network error / packet loss can have a dramatic impact on the user experience during an IP video call. For this reason, the ability to host successful video calls over "lossy" IP networks has been a challenge since the emergence of IP videoconferencing in the mid- to late-1990s. In recent years, the increased use of low-cost, shared, and over-subscribed network lines (e.g. DSL, cable, satellite, high congestion LANs and WANs, general Internet, etc.) and the use of higher call speeds (often required to support higher video resolutions) have made this problem even more critical.
Scalable Sales and Marketing - The Operational Impact of Web Conferencing
Wainhouse Research; 12/07
Businesses are only beginning to measure the impact of their use of web conferencing for sales and marketing. Yet while relatively new to the scene, a few things are clear: web conferencing is beginning to help thousands of organizations with their efforts to reach customers - and to do so in a variety of ways. Are the methods—and benefits—for each functional area the same or different?
Leveraging Video in the Enterprise
Alex Brasil, & Jarad Carleton, Frost & Sullivan; 11/07
The amount of digital content produced yearly is forecasted to increase from 161 exabytes in 2006 to almost 988 exabytes in 2010 with businesses responsible for 85 percent1 of the content, most of which is multimedia content that includes video. The growth of multimedia content can be attributed to the popularity of consumer applications (such as online video and digital photography portals) and is now an expected application for communication and collaboration in the business world. With that said, businesses are poised to face significant new challenges in managing the unstructured nature of multimedia data and content.
Wireless Network Considerations for Mobile Video
TANDBERG; 11/07
When implementing a wireless LAN for voice and video it is important to understand the capabilities and limitations that are present in this technology. The demands of video can be supported however the implementation must be carefully planned and executed to ensure the desired performance level is achieved.
Corporate Environmental Behaviour and the Impact on Brand Values
TANDBERG; 10/07
Consumers and employees reward green companies. How is 'going green' really affecting the way we live our lives? Does it impact the products we buy and the companies we work for? How can new technologies help us? And what is the best way to go about making a positive impact within our workplaces?
Defining Telepresence - How Can it Help Your Organization
Frost & Sullivan; 9/07
Telepresence is the latest in a long line of visual communications technologies that have promised to revolutionize corporate collaboration. But can the new technology meet the complex and demanding needs of today's organizations for reducing costs, improving productivity, and realizing their environmental responsibilities—or is it just another example of a solution looking for a problem?
Telepresence for the Enterprise - Key Verticals and Lines of Business
Frost & Sullivan; 9/07
Companies today are facing an array of business challenges, including the growing number of remote and virtual employees; the rising costs and stresses of business travel; the need to make decisions faster than ever before; and the desire to be ecologically responsible. All of these are putting pressure on managers to find alternatives to in-person collaboration, and are having a noticeable impact on corporate communications. The result has been significant growth in various collaboration applications, including video conferencing.
Leveraging Technology in the Pre-Trial Process
Ira Weinstein & David Maldow, Wainhouse Research; 9/07
This white paper examines the benefits of using rich media and workflow management to streamline the criminal procedure.
Video Enabling Your IP Network
Frost & Sullivan; 7/07
IT executives no longer need to justify their use of Voice over IP—the technology works, it saves companies money, and it enables communication across global boundaries. Better still, technologies that leverage an IP network address some of the biggest business challenges facing companies today: the need to support remote, geographically dispersed employees and allow them to function as a single, collaborative team; to shorten decision cycles and production times; to seize new business opportunities and reap competitive advantage by providing faster, more efficient customer and partner interactions; and to lower operational costs while increasing worker productivity.
Visual Communication is Green
TANDBERG; 5/07
Organizations around the world are becoming more environmentally conscious. This has come about for a number of reasons, including government regulation and incentives, initiatives to improve quality of life for employees, and customer demand. Whatever the motivation, the reduction of pollutants introduced into the ecosystem would be welcomed by all. This is especially true when reducing pollutants also reduces costs.
Videoconferencing Service and Maintenance
TANDBERG; 5/07
A major shift in many manufacturers' business strategies has included an increased focus on service and maintenance as a way to maintain and increase profits. Customer satisfaction and marketplace differentiation are ultimately determined by the quality of the product and increasingly by a customer's experience with the delivery of service and maintenance activities.
Seeing Is Believing: The Value of Video Collaboration
William Stofega, IDC; 4/07
Videoconferencing has emerged as an important collaborative tool that can remove geographical boundaries, encourage frequent discussions between disparate business units, increase productivity, and deliver a competitive advantage.
Six Points for Improving Crisis Communication Plans
TANDBERG; 3/07
This report is a resource for businesses, government agencies, and all organizations that seek to improve their crisis communication strategies, researched and written by academic and industry experts in crisis communication.
Web Conferencing's Expanding Role in Training
Alan Greenberg & Andy Nilssen, Wainhouse Research; 3/07
This white paper describes the results of a survey of 533 trainers conducted in December 2006-January 2007 concerning the usage levels, benefits, and justifications for web conferencing as a training application. It explores trainer attitudes concerning the relationship between a variety of synchronous and asynchronous tools, as well as the impact of web conferencing on live, in-person training.
On-demand Conferencing Infrastructure: Enabling Real-time Collaboration for the Virtual Workplace
Frost & Sullivan; 2/07
Companies today are facing several critical business challenges brought on by the increasingly virtual nature of their workplaces. More and more, employees are scattered across regions, nations, and continents—and yet they must be able to collaborate with one another, as well as with partners and customers, at any time and from anywhere. At the same time, both managers and employees want to keep travel to a minimum, since it's only getting more difficult and more expensive, both in real dollars and in terms of lost productivity before, during and after the event.
Critical Communications for Business: How to Ensure Employees, Partners & Customers Stay Connected.
Frost & Sullivan; 1/07
These days, any organization that doesn't have a business continuity plan in place is critically out of date. Everyone's aware of the big threats—terrorism, natural disasters, regional power failures, and so on. But with an increasingly remote workforce, more companies are open to more interruptions to their business—and in a virtual workplace, even if those interruptions hit on a local level, their effects reach far and wide.
Telepresence, Effective Visual Collaboration and the Future of Global Business at the Speed of Light
Howard S. Lichtman, Human Productivity Lab; 12/06
Telepresence has dramatically improved the usage and acceptance of visual collaboration by addressing the human factors of partici-pants to create a more natural, productive and realistic experience. Unlike videoconferencing, telepresence works at any scale, from the desktop to small groups to distance learning classrooms to neuro-logical surgical education. Quite simply, telepresence lets users feel as if they are "present" in the same physical space with others who might be thousands of miles away. The experience is natural, comfortable, easy-to-use, supremely collaborative and as different from traditional videoconferencing as the space shuttle is to a commercial airliner.
The Telepresence Payoff: High Definition Video Elevates Business Performance in the Boardroom and Beyond
LifeSize; 12/06
Telepresence, a vivid, true-to-life experience based on high definition (HD) video communications, promises to dramatically enhance business performance in the coming years. The quality, simplicity and manageability of this new medium promise far greater usage and value than traditional videoconferencing.
Halo Collaboration White Paper
HP; 12/06
The fact is that people do their best work in collaborative social networks. Like any winning sports team, an unforgettable ballet or the best theatrical production, collaborative social networks are the source of value creation. This is because they are our most cohesive pattern of social relationships.2 Performance is at its best as everyone contributes to the group in a fluid coordination of action. Research done over the past 15 years in China, Latin America, the U.S., France and Turkey has proven that social collaboration is the source of organizational effectiveness and is at its best when it is face to face.
IP Videoconferencing Security for the Department of Defense
Ira M. Weinstein, Wainhouse Research; 10/06
The convergence of voice, video, and data communications over IP networks has increased the complexity and range of security risks for Department of Defense (DoD) videoconferencing users. In the IP environment, videoconferencing users must be concerned not only about the traditional RED/BLACK (TEMPEST) requirements, but also a new set of Information Assurance (IA) guidelines. This whitepaper explores the security challenges, risks, and resolution alternatives for agencies seeking to deploy and maintain a secure IP-based videoconferencing environment.
Converged Collaboration & Conferencing Services
Marc F. Beattie and Andrew Davis, Wainhouse Research; 10/06
Work today is not discrete. Work is comprised of a huge volume of inter-related items, people, and processes. When each of these items are dislocated from the other and managed discretely, people and organizations are working unproductively. When the elements are smartly connected, enormous efficiencies in both time and cost can be achieved.
The Evolution of Video Conferencing: UltimateHD
Polycom; 10/06
This white paper discusses high-definition (HD) and how it relates to the video conferencing industry today. HD video conferencing standards, requirements, resolutions and formats are defined. Additionally, the complete end-to-end HD experience in video conferencing, UltimateHD is examined, as well as what is needed from a vendor and from the end user to ensure a complete HD experience. Readers of this HD video conferencing white paper will be well-informed and will be able to clearly determine what is needed to implement HD video conferencing in their organization.
HD in Distance Learning
S. Ann Earon, Ph.D., Telemanagement Resources International Inc.; 10/06
For decades, students at remote sites have been educated through distance learning. Initially this involved correspondence courses and then various forms of conferencing (audio, data, and video). With the advent of the Internet, education has become more virtual, with teachers and students communicating globally and degrees being conferred without ever meeting the educators or other students. Distance learning offers: a) flexibility for the learner, b) access to increased educational resources, c) valuable global interchange, and d) equal opportunities for students and teachers regardless of location.
HD in Healthcare
S. Ann Earon, Ph.D., Telemanagement Resources International Inc.; 10/06
In a healthcare environment that is technology oriented, providers and patients are recognizing the benefits of video conferencing. With the constant pressure to increase the quality of patient care and the desire to provide new services, while at the same time controlling costs, healthcare providers are leveraging the power of video networks to link patients, specialists, and clinicians, thus extending the reach of healthcare. Patients seek lower out-of-pocket costs, less travel and shorter wait times as they receive medical care. Live digital video and high-speed network connections enable physicians to evaluate and diagnose illnesses in real-time, without the need for either the patient or physician to travel.
Codian HD Endpoint Interoperability Guide
Codian; 9/06
The video conferencing industry is moving towards High Definition (HD) now that several technologies are reaching maturity and a suitable point on the price-reliability curve. These include high quality IP networks, HD flat screen displays, HD cameras and real-time video processing DSPs.
Multipoint Conference Units - The Advantages of Encoding Per Participant with MCUs
Codian; 9/06
Most MCUs (multipoint conference units) have been developed over time from legacy ISDN equipment. Therefore these MCUs were developed to be used in low bandwidth environments when all data was guaranteed to get from the MCU to the endpoints it was connected to.
The Cisco TelePresence Opportunity for Service Providers
Cisco; 9/06
Cisco® TelePresence is a new conferencing technology that creates a unique, “in-person” experience over the network by combining innovative video, audio, and interactive elements. According to market research conducted by Cisco Systems, telepresence network services will represent an estimated US$4 billion in revenues for service providers by 2010. The optimum Cisco TelePresence experience is delivered over an IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN), which has the intelligence to assign priority to telepresence traffic and dynamically allocate bandwidth as needed. Service providers that offer a network connection for Cisco TelePresence not only can capture a significant revenue opportunity today, they also lay the foundation to offer additional tiered and bundled services that provide market differentiation, strengthen customer loyalty, and generate incremental revenue.
Taking the Wraps off Videoconferencing in the U.S. Classroom—A State-by-State Analysis
Alan D. Greenberg, Wainhouse Research; 7/06
This white paper measures videoconferencing adoption in K-12 schools as of mid-2006, and attempts to answer several questions: what is the extent of adoption in any particular state, and how many schools and classrooms are likely to be enabled for professional-quality videoconferencing on a national and state-by-state basis. The data was gathered over several months via primary and secondary research, with numerous online resources contributing to a counting process, more than 40 end user and organizations contacted via email or phone, and via conversations with numerous equipment manufacturers, state network providers, and resellers.
Video Conferencing with 3G Handsets
Codian; 6/06
This Whitepaper describes the how the best-in-class H.323 and H.324M (3G) integration can be achieved for the enterprise by using Codian and DyLogic infrastructure.
Ending the Multipoint Videoconferencing Compromise
Ira M. Weinstein, Wainhouse Research; 5/06
In its most basic form, videoconferencing is quite simple. One location (or video system) calls another location, and a few seconds later the meeting begins. This type of two party video session, which is often called a point-to-point video call, is conducted in a manner similar to a typical phone call. Hundreds of thousands of point-to-point video calls are placed each and every day around the world.
Emerging, Converging Collaboration Solutions for K-12 Learning Communities
Alan D. Greenberg, Wainhouse Research; 5/06
While the general concept of using technology for educational purposes has had its advocates and its opponents, research says when effectively leveraged, technology in an educational campus can be valuable for a wide variety of applications.1 This white paper is meant to explore the latest phase of multimedia communications technologies for education. It discusses the features and benefits of converged collaboration solutions, showing how they can be applied to improve communications among all stakeholders while also enhancing educational opportunities for both teachers and learners.
Visual Communication is Green
TANDBERG; 4/06
Organizations around the world are becoming more environmentally conscious. This has come about for a number of reasons, including government regulation and incentives, initiatives to improve quality of life for employees, and customer demand. Whatever the motivation, the reduction of pollutants introduced into the ecosystem would be welcomed by all. This is especially true when reducing pollutants also reduces costs.
The Power of Centralized Video Communications Management
Alan D. Greenberg and Ira M. Weinstein, Wainhouse Research; 4/06
Video communications is now an accepted method for conducting meetings, product development, customer support, recruiting, distance education, and healthcare, along with many other applications. Once considered just an alternative to travel, videoconferencing has now become a core, mission-critical business tool for both large and small enterprises. Its deployment is rapidly growing, and in fact, Wainhouse Research reported that more than 420,000 units (group and executive / personal desktop videoconferencing clients) were shipped to enterprises in 2005,1 joining the several million two-way video systems already in use. These video systems were placed in ISDN, IP, or mixed network topologies where their various capabilities are put to the test daily to support mission-critical applications.
Unified Communication Industry Study
Forrester Consulting; 2/06
Surveys conducted by Forrester Research to knowledgeable employees within healthcare, retail, and banking industries endeavored to discover communication shortfalls and to determine how these problems could be improved with unified communications.
The ISDN to IP Migration for Videoconferencing
Ira M. Weinstein, Wainhouse Research; 1/06
Since the release of IP-capable videoconferencing solutions in the mid-1990s, the percentage of video calls hosted over IP networks has continued to grow. As shown in the left chart below, WR estimates that in 2004 IP became the most common network used for hosting videoconference calls.
Employing IT-Level Security for IP Videoconferencing
Ira M. Weinstein, Wainhouse Research; 1/06
In recent years videoconferencing has morphed from an ISDN-centric to an IP-centric model. In fact, most videoconferencing systems today support IP networks out of the box, while ISDN network connectivity- once the de facto standard- has become an option add-on. The addition of IP capabilities to videoconferencing systems and infrastructure devices has provided many performance, management, and cost benefits and has paved the way for large-scale deployments of videoconferencing within the enterprise.
Supporting Real-time Traffic: Preparing Your IP Network for Video Conferencing
Polycom; 1/06
Voice over IP (VoIP) and video conferencing over IP create real-time traffic streams with characteristics very different from run-of-the-mill data applications. If you are considering running voice or video conferencing over your IP network, you should prepare for this different and often challenging traffic type. The fact is that most enterprise networks are ill-equipped to carry video conferencing traffic, and will need to be evaluated, tested, and possibly reconfigured and upgraded to ensure acceptable quality.
Overcoming Barriers to Effective Visual Communication
TANDBERG; 12/05
Users of visual communication have become more sophisticated and, as a result, much more demanding. Users are discovering ingenious ways to use video to communicate ideas, build trust, and quicken time to market. They are demanding that technology keep up with their needs to take video out of the meeting room, reach across company firewalls, and integrate seamlessly with other collaboration tools.
High Definition - The Way Video Communications Was Meant to Be
LifeSize; 11/05
If seeing is believing, then the videoconferencing experience of the past has always been something less than believable. Despite boastful claims that the video was "just as good as being there" and would allow us to "extend the conference room table 10,000 miles," the truth was always something short of expectations.
Video Communications Management Software: Critical Success Factors for Technology Decision Makers
LifeSize; 11/05
As next generation video and audio communications technologies come to market, organizations have the potential to dramatically enhance their productivity, profitability and innovative capacity. However, the financial impact of these distributed collaboration and communication media will be influenced heavily by the ability to effectively manage them and provide a positive, reliable user experience.
Lean Communications - Enabling Manufacturing Processes Through Visual Technologies
TANDBERG; 10/05
In every organization there are wasteful activities, both in operations and in communications. Seldom, however, are these activities conveniently labeled as wasteful, nor do these activities standout and beg for improvement. In fact, many of these activities masquerade as critical functions, consuming valuable resources with little return value. It wasn't long ago that manufacturers considered inventory a business asset. It took the application of Lean Manufacturing principles to reverse that thinking (see Find Waste!), pointing out that unsold inventory was a waste and a symptom of overproduction. Lean Communications—delivering the right information when it is needed, where it is needed—can have an equally profound impact on manufacturing.
High Definition: The Evolution of Video Conferencing
Polycom; 10/05
This white paper defines high-definition (HD) and how it relates to the video conferencing industry today. HD video conferencing standards, requirements, resolutions and formats are discussed, as well as the benefits of HD video conferencing in key industries today such as telemedicine, government and distance learning. Readers of this HD video conferencing brief will be well-informed and will be able to clearly determine when and how to implement HD video conferencing in their organization.
Emerging Technologies for Teleconferencing and Telepresence
Wainhouse Research; 9/05
This white paper focuses on a relatively new wave of enhanced conferencing and collaboration tools and solutions that present users with an enhanced or non-traditional teleconferencing experience. Some of these solutions focus on a specific element of a teleconference. In other case, they provide an immersive meeting environment that approaches a "true" telepresence experience.
Optimizing Your Video Network: Improving the User Experience. Advantages of the TANDBERG MXP Platform
TANDBERG; 8/05
The new TANDBERG platform, the Media Experience (MXP), is the base for the broad range of TANDBERG's visual communication product families. This platform introduces an exciting array of features, and this white paper provides an overview of the MXP feature set and the rationale for its development, including considerations such as the increasing importance of open standards in the visual communications space, maintenance of higher quality video and audio transmission, greater flexibility and improved reliability.
Key Considerations for Maximizing Your Video Architecture: Moving Beyond Point-to-Point Conferencing
TANDBERG; 7/05
Video communications have come of age—corporate networks are becoming more powerful, with sufficient bandwidth to carry video, audio and data signals simultaneously; there is a keen recognition of the cost and productivity advantages of face-to-face video communications; and an increasing number of private and public sector enterprises are adopting this technology as a strategic, mission critical necessity at the core of, and throughout their organizations.
Ensuring Scalability for Your Video Network: Selecting a Multipoint Control Unit
TANDBERG; 7/05
Multipoint control units (MCUs) are an essential component in today's enterprise-wide video communication solutions. An MCU is sometimes referred to as a "bridge" because it connects multiple video and audio participants into a single conference—each participant connecting through what is commonly called a "port." Selecting the right MCU for your requirements is critical in order to effectively deploy and manage your video network and provide users with the optimal communication experience.
The Business Case for Videoconferencing—Achieving a Competitive Edge
Ira M. Weinstein, Wainhouse Research; 3/05
It wasn't so long ago that email was considered a corporate perk—a nice-to-have capability for employees and remote workers. Now, email is practically in the same category as heating and lighting—most workers, and certainly all knowledge workers expect email connectivity as part of their work environment. Today, rich media solutions for conferencing and collaboration, driven by video and web conferencing technologies, are making the same transition.
The Business Case for Internal Video Bridging
Ira M. Weinstein, Wainhouse Research; 3/05
Today's business climate is more competitive than ever before. For this reason, companies continue to depend upon communications technologies to allow them to more effectively utilize and leverage their employees for the benefit of the firm.
Enabling End-to-end IP Visual Communication by Securely Traversing Firewalls and NATs with TANDBERG Expressway
TANDBERG; 2/05
TANDBERG's Expressway is the right solution for secure firewall and network addresstranslation traversal. While there are a few solutions available, many are expensive, not secure, not available everywhere, restricting of feature sets, not ISP-friendly and not scalable.
Overcoming Secure Visual Communication Obstacleswith TANDBERG Expressway
TANDBERG; 1/05
Deploying visual communication services over an IP network? Concerned about security? Security and investment are two of the top concerns when deploying visual communicationservices over IP, and organizations are looking for a practical solution that does not requirecostly infrastructure upgrades.
Internet and Intranet Calling with PVX
Polycom; 10/04
PVX brings unprecedented video conferencing technology to your desktop PC with the first software application ever offered by the industry leader. Using the industry's highest quality audio/video algorithms, PVX is the only PC application to offer both secure communications and People+Content
Core Technologies of Sony's PCS-1 Videoconferencing System
Sony; 9/04
Videoconferencing has a surprisingly long history. Experimental analogue-video-based systems were developed decades ago. The first commercial system based on digital technology, using digital- circuit-switched networks, was put on the market in the early 1980s. However the poor quality of video and audio and the exorbitant price of the equipment hindered its wide acceptance. The high tariff on circuit-switched lines created another bottleneck to the acceptance process. Videoconferencing systems were used only in wealthy organizations and in schools and until the end of the 90s they were not considered to be popular or user-friendly.
Super-Size Bandwidth and Two-Way Video in the Classroom
Alan Greenberg, Wainhouse Research; 7/04
For a time after it was founded in 1996, Internet2 was perceived among many as "that other network," an exotic luxury that was limited in value to all but a few research institutions. This is evolving, however, and Internet2 is now rapidly becoming a "mover and shaker" that is changing how researchers collaborate and how educational institutions reach out to one another.
Unified Communications: IP Networks, Connecting People Anytime, Anywhere.
Cisco 6/04
Business communications in today's work culture is having a significant impact on how companies and people operate. People want information right now, want to share complex applications to brainstorm ideas, make decisions, etc. This is driven by global workforce, rapid travel and faster business cycles. Applications like instant messaging, IP telephony and video conferencing are becoming a necessity. In fact, businesses not adopting unified communications are being forced by their customers, suppliers, etc to do so.
The Evolving Role of Videoconferencing in Healthcare
Alan Greenberg, Wainhouse Research; 4/04
This white paper discusses a gradual evolution taking place in the healthcare field, one so subtle it is occurring “below the radar screen” of many healthcare professionals. This evolution is about the use of videoconferencing technology to speed and improve the transfer of knowledge in the healthcare field.
Usage Trends of Collaboration Technology by Business Travelers 2004
Wainhouse Research; 4/04
Wainhouse Research conducted an online survey from April 13 through April 20, 2004 to determine if the habits of frequent travelers and their usage of collaboration technology have changed in the last year, and to compare these results to a similar survey conducted in August 2002.
Path to Success: The Integrated Approach to Enterprise Video
STARBAK; 4/04
Enterprise video has come a long way in 10 years, from its roots in early satellite and cable TV-based corporate systems to today's streaming media. Despite the technical achievements made over this period, nearly everyone agrees that video has yet to reach its full potential in business. This white paper examines how video has evolved in the enterprise and looks at the factors leading to what has become today's disconnected “islands” of video systems. It then explores the benefits of a newer approach involving more tightly integrated video systems based on open and de facto industry standards.
TANDBERG Management Suite and Security
TANDBERG; 3/04
TANDBERG Managements Suite (TMS) is a tool for monitoring, maintaining and booking video conference systems through a web page. Installing such a service can and often will raise some questions from IT administrators on how this will affect the network in terms of security and performance. This document is meant to address the issues that might come up during an integration of TMS in a company's network.
Business Communications and Meetings Survey
RoperASW and TANDBERG; 11/03
In order to better understand the state of communication in business today, TANDBERG and RoperASW teamed up to conduct a survey of business professionals to measure behaviors and attitudes around specific communication methods used in the workplace.
Best Practices in Live Content Acquisition by Distance Learning Organizations
Alan Greenberg, Wainhouse Research and Russ Colbert, Polycom; 10/03
This Best Practices guide is based on interviews with numerous content providers, content recipients, and content brokers who utilize two-way, interactive video conferencing as a means of enhancing students’ educational experience. The guide’s focus is on the primary and secondary school levels.
Demystifying IP Migration for IT Professionals
Timothy M. O'Neil, Polycom; 10/03
The application and transport convergence that is occurring today in modern IP networks is significantly impacting Collaborative Networks (CN) and CC Collaboration Applications (CA). It is the intent of this paper to discuss all of the pertinent variables that must be considered in order to cost effectively and efficiently deploy or migrate CN and CA to IP networks.
Polycom Guide to Conferencing and Collaboration
Polycom; 10/03
In an increasingly global, fastmoving, knowledge-based economy, organizations must react to change by processing information and making decisions quickly. At the same time, they must cut the costs of doing business as the global slowdown maintains its stranglehold and travel becomes more difficult, more complex, and less convenient.
IP Migration Simplified for Government Professionals
Timothy M. O'Neil, Polycom; 9/03
The application and transport convergence that is occurring today in modern IP networks is significantly impacting Collaborative Networks (CN) and Collaboration Applications (CA). It is the intent of this paper to discuss all of the pertinent variables that must be considered in order to cost effectively and efficiently deploy or migrate CN and CA to IP networks.
Advantage TANDBERG: H.264 Dramatic Leaps in Video
TANDBERG; 9/03
Organizations looking for dramatic leaps in communications efficiency and effectiveness can immediately take advantage of one of the most exciting developments in the history of collaboration technologies: the H.264 video compression standard. If they carefully select the right video communications systems, users will experience twice the video quality with no increased network costs and a reduced Total Cost of Ownership.
TANDBERG on Streaming—an Application Note
TANDBERG; 8/03
This document is intended to provide help during installation and use of the Streaming functionality implemented in TANDBERG videoconferencing products. It is also intended to give some general background on what streaming is and how to make use of the feature.
Evaluating Conferencing Solutions A Buyer's Guide
Sonexis; 4/03
What type of conferencing is best for your organization? Is audio-only conferencing adequate—or are there extra benefits that only the combination of audio and web conferencing can deliver? Is there a role for videoconferencing? Does it make more economic sense to purchase conferencing services on a per-usage basis or to invest in an in-house conferencing solution?
Polycom Management Solutions - Selecting the right combination of applications for your organization
Polycom; 4/03
Video and Audio communications are becoming a critical part of more and more organizations each year. As organizations increase their dependence on this technology, it becomes increasingly important to maintain the technology's proper operation and measure and track its usage.
Deployment Of Multi-Network Video And Voice Conferencing On A Single Platform
Polycom; 3/03
This document provides an overview of the issues, capabilities and benefits to be expected from a single platform solution for video and voice multipoint and gateway conferencing. How Polycom meets these challenges and how to configure the Polycom Unified Conferencing Bridge to meet your requirements are also addressed.
Deploying the Polycom Office
Polycom; 2/03
The Polycom Office is a blueprint that allows organizations to make decisions on deploying a collaborative conferencing network that includes voice, video and data communications.
TANDBERG MCU and IP
TANDBERG; 1/03
H.323 is an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard that describes the protocols, services and equipment necessary for multimedia communications including audio, video and data on networks without guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS). These networks technologies may include Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Token Ring and protocols like Internet Protocol (IP) or Integrated Packet Exchange (IPX). Due to the need to communicate between smaller networks connected to the Internet, IP will be a more popular transport for H.323.
Under the Hood of the SoundStation VTX 1000
Jeff Rodman, Polycom; 1/03
Since its introduction a short time ago, interest in the Polycom SoundStation VTX 1000 has been intense. In many respects, it is a revolutionary product. It is the first integrated audioconferencing system to provide wideband audio capabilities over the public telephone network; this alone makes it a major advance over the existing state of the industry. But there are numerous other firsts in the SoundStation VTX 1000. Some of these will be helpful to those who are using, selling, or considering a purchase of the system, and some may just be interesting to know. The purpose of this paper is to give a peek inside the SoundStation VTX 1000, to help you understand just why this system is so extraordinary.
Voice Over Internet Protocol Tutorial
The International Engineering Consortium (IEC); 10/02
This tutorial discusses the ongoing but rapid evolution of Internet telephony, the market forces fueling that evolution and the benefits that users can realize, as well as the underlying technologies. It also examines the hurdles that must be overcome before Internet telephony can be adopted on a widespread basis.
A Guide to Multipoint Conferencing White Paper
ClearOne; 6/02
Once your organization has embraced video conferencing, the need for a multipoint conferencing solution may quickly follow. Multipoint conferencing simply refers to the ability to simultaneously connect three or more conferencing systems together in a single call. But that's where the simplicity ends. There are a number of choices available to help you connect with other video conferencing systems and the technology can become complicated. The goal of this white paper is to provide a general overview of the options available, the strengths and weaknesses of each, and the economics involved. We will also provide a list of questions to help you determine your specific needs and to help guide your selection process.
Application-based Quality of Service For IP Video Conferencing
Polycom; 5/02
IP video communications and voice over IP (VoIP) applications differ from traditional data applications in that they are real-time applications, and as such, require higher bandwidth than traditional data applications.
IntelliNet IP Network Service Technical Whitepaper
IVCi; 2/02
IVCi's IntelliNet is the world's first globally available, intelligent private IP-based video collaboration network. IntelliNet provides you with the ability to have a completely reliable, on-all- the-time, secure video conferencing network for a fixed fee each month.
Deploying Secure Enterprise Wide IP Videoconferencing Across Virtual Private Networks
Polycom; 12/01
Overview of how to effectively and securely provide IP-based video conferencing applications between multiple locations within a corporate enterprise, using dynamically created Virtual Private Networks across the Internet.
Video Communications: Building Blocks for a Simpler Deployment
Polycom; 5/01
The convergence of IP-based (H.323) and ISDN-based (H.320) standards intoday's video communication network requires in-depth knowledge to smoothly deploy IP video communication applications across a network. Deploying IP video communication extends beyond connecting video communication terminals to the LAN. The full implementation of video communication incorporates many components and architectural designs to facilitate the "ease of use" for end-users and IT professionals.
For additional information regarding video conferencing, IP network and streaming video whitepapers, please contact IVCi at 800-224-7083, or click here to have an IVCi Representative contact you.
