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High Definition Video Conferencing - As Good As Being There?

August 17th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

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How video conferencing helps a leading private equity firm, not just stay ahead of the game, but WAY ahead of the game.

There are some things that live up to expectations, the birth of a child; a holiday maybe; and then there are some, sometimes many, that don’t. We’ve all fallen for it, stuff that just doesn’t do what it says on the, like diet pills, obvious toupees, or anti wrinkle cream! Consider video conferencing, which has in the past suffered a lackluster reputation as a boardroom luxury, and never really met expectations. Yet things are changing fast, technological advances are allowing video conferencing solutions to become powerful business tools that boost an organization’s ability to respond to market forces.

Specific developments, like high-definition, are driving major improvements in audio and visual quality. The latest video conferencing systems operate across both IP and ISDN, they are no longer difficult to manage or use and the new infrastructure solutions are reliable, inter operable and scalable. Reduced cost-of-ownership and technological advancements are making video communications available to the boardroom, the desktop and even the phone.

Indeed, the underlying infrastructure technology has advanced so much that video conferencing is, for the first-time, a cost-effective way to empower virtual teams and individuals, while managing the knowledge and information assets of an organization. This certainly is the case for one leading private equity firm, which has over 100 investment professionals working out of 10 offices around Europe, the US and Japan. this company has a reputation for providing creative and timely solutions to vendors. It has a partnership culture and works closely with management teams to create value by combining extensive geographic coverage with deep vertical sector knowledge. It’s here, that video conferencing has moved out of the Stone Age, to become a fully paid up member of its mainstream IT communications strategy. “For many years video conferencing has played a niche part of business communications, it never performed to expected levels, but this is changing - it has too - because knowledge transfer is crucial to business success.

As a private equity firm, the ability to turn information into a tangible asset cannot be underestimated; the timely sharing of market intelligence is necessary for its ongoing revenue growth. Moreover, business communications are complicated by a need to collaborate with a diverse range of external business partners and professionals, as well as with its own internationally based teams. So, the use of video conferencing has always been seen as a useful tool to aid collaborative communications. Yet, just like other organizations, its successful use of this technology has been full of twists and turns.

When the first video conferencing system was installed in 2002, from the start there were seemingly insurmountable problems for multi-site calls; “Some of our video conferences are six hours long, the first systems used just couldn’t deliver against our need for quality audio and image. Also these original systems were difficult to use and far too complex to configure and manage. If we had one technical or network hiccup, at one site, then the whole conference was affected,” said Carolyn Lees.

This was unfortunately not a rare experience of the past video conferencing systems. Traditional video conferencing systems suffer inherent problems with delivering a consistent service to multi-location conferences. This is because all participants are forced to join at the same speed and resolution, with the poorest, setting the standard for all participants. Generally, these systems only offer single pane voice activated switching which means that ‘he or she who speaks loudest’ is the person that appears on all participant screens. This limitation delivers a less than satisfying meeting experience, which is why there is a move towards systems that offer Continuous Presence for all participants. This allows everyone to be seen, all of the time, usually in a variety of layouts, determined by the individual. With Continuous Presence, it is also possible to have voice activation to place the current speaker on to the center panel of a screen. It is also this feature, which offers participants a greater feeling of real-life involvement, allowing for body language and reactions to be seen in totality, just as if they were all sat round a single table. Of course, near real-life interaction is the ultimate aim for video conferencing and Telepresence solutions alike.

Another key limitation for users of traditional multi-point systems is that they are not usually endpoint agnostic, and so there can be interoperability difficulties from the start. Not good if you need to communicate with other business partners and customers. To prevent such difficulties it has always been a default that endpoints and infrastructure typically come from the same manufacturer. Up until now, this has been the most practical user environment, avoiding the hassle of integrating disparate systems. All in all, it is no wonder that video conferencing never quite did what it said on the tin; the products available to Permira in 2002 just could not achieve anything like a visually satisfying interaction let alone a competent audio one! Despite poor quality experiences, however, video conferencing remained a vital communications tool within Permira.

he first objectives were to tackle the overall reliability issues and to ensure good quality audio. Even if you have a poor picture, people can still interact, but if you lose sound then the conference is rendered useless. We set about improving the reliability of the system by addressing some complicated network settings. In terms of the audio improvement, we introduced, what were relatively cheap, new endpoints that produced better audio. The combination of network settings and better audio output delivered an acceptable improvement in our video conferencing system capability. Having done this, at least we could stop sweating every time we started a video conference. However, there was still ample scope for improvements.

After audio, the next step was to address the poor image quality. “Fortunately, Codian had just appeared on the scene and was hailed as the must-have piece of kit for video conferencing - we evaluated Codian’s MCU [multipoint control unit], which it was claimed would solve all of our quality [voice and image] and technical issues.”

Following its evaluation, they purchased the Codian MCU 4200 Series, which offers a unique video stream for each participant. This single feature, of the Codian MCU, meant that they could provide each of its participants with the best possible audio and video quality, for available bandwidth and endpoint capabilities. “Codian dynamically allocated the best resource it could to all endpoints, so sites were not communicating at the lowest common standard. This dynamic handling, also lowered the overall cost-of-ownership; no more complicated template configurations were necessary.”

“Codian was impressive from the beginning, we had it out of the box and up and running in 15 minutes flat. It has an easy interface, so it is quite straightforward to set-up a conference and manage calls. Clearly, being able to isolate and solve an individual network or endpoint problem is a huge advantage, it meant that for the first time, any individual breaks in service, could be solved without impacting the other participants.”

Video conferencing was and remains a top priority for them, making it work to an acceptable standard was the first key objective. However, with an eye always cast towards improvements, it wasn’t long before they decided to look at high-definition video conferencing, which became available in late 2006. “The Codian MCU 4200, with its inherent interoperability brought about significant improvements in reliability and overall endpoint quality. But then, Codian launched its HD [high-definition] MCU, which together with competitively priced LifeSize’s HD endpoints, took the market by storm. This was a real opportunity for us to make dramatic progress, bringing us as close to face-to-face communications as we could, without hopping on a plane. It was an easy decision for us to upgrade from SD to HD and replace our existing endpoints with LifeSize.”

The Codian MCU 4500, Carolyn Lees refers to, is hailed as the only true high-definition voice and video bridge. It supports the highest video resolution, speed, frame rate and codec of the latest HD endpoints. This includes full Continuous Presence for all conferences, including those with a mix of both HD and SD [standard definition]. Always mindful of existing infrastructure and market developments, Codian has ensured that its MCU will scale up to match future capabilities of forthcoming HD endpoints and that it seamlessly integrates with existing SD equipment as well as with other devices such as 3G, SIP and desktop video. Such clear investment protection makes it all the more compelling for companies.

“Having now completed the transition from SD to HD with Codian, we have a video conferencing experience that is more lifelike than we ever imagined possible. The take-up of video conferencing throughout many organizations is on the increase and is now an accepted part of our day-to-day operations. We have regular, weekly scheduled meetings with our teams throughout the world and user acceptance gains momentum with each conference. The interoperability of the Codian allows us to cater for external partners to join meetings, as and when necessary - plus there are rarely any technical hitches - allowing our customers and partners to experience a superior service too,” concluded Carolyn Lees.

Some things will never live up to expectations, today this cannot be said of the latest systems for video conferencing. These can now deliver a visual experience that is almost as good as being there. What’s more the new generation of solutions are reliable, easy-to-use and manage, offering a broad range of options for connectivity over IP from a multitude of devices, making video conferencing an affordable business must-have rather than a boardroom luxury.

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Florida Video Conferencing

July 22nd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

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Florida Video Conferencing - In High Definition

July 2nd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

While the cost of travel increases along with just about everything else it is nice to know some things have improved and offer greater value over time. With the advent of video conferencing many have spoken about its benefits but also its reservations. Through the years technology and know how have been able to drastically improve the visual and audio quality of video conferencing equipment. With High Definition Video Conferencing now the norm, users can enjoy visual and audio clarity that, just a few years ago would necessitate an extremely high end video conferencing equipment.

Just one example of this is provided by LifeSize High Definition video communications:

Virtual Travel with High Definition Videoconferencing

For more information regarding high definition video conferencing equipment contact: 1-813-984-2800

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Companies Cut Travel Costs But Not Trips, Study Finds

June 23rd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

TAMPA - Rather than reduce business travel because of the lagging economy, corporate travel managers are booking rooms in less-expensive and lower-rated hotels and increasing day trips in lieu of overnight hotel stays, according to a survey by OrbitzForBusiness.com.

Sixty percent of 610 respondents said they are traveling as much, if not more, on business this year than last, says the report, which was scheduled to be released this morning.

However, companies are reducing trade show and conference travel, with 44 percent either sending fewer people or simply not attending shows this year.

The Orbitz for Business/Business Traveler Magazine Trend Report was conducted online May 15 to 23.

“Most clients aren’t cutting back on travel; rather, they continue to look for ways to become more cost-effective with their managed travel programs in a cost-conscious economy,” said Dean Sivley, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Orbitz for Business.

The survey found that:

•41 percent are tightening travel policies and implementing more restrictions on travelers for hotels and dining.

•47 percent indicate changes to their company’s rental car policy, including requiring employees to rent the smaller/least-expensive car available (38 percent) and return vehicles with a full tank of gas to avoid costly surcharges (20 percent).

•42 percent are exploring alternatives to travel, including video conferencing.

•32 percent say the area in which they are most limiting or keeping an eye on spending is air travel, and 17 percent say their company’s per diem spending for meals has decreased in the past year

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High Definition Video Conferencing

June 22nd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

Video Conferencing has only just begun. There are so many options and choices. The internet has many websites devoted to video conferencing. And companies in the conferencing business have a variety of options for customers. Video Conferencing conferencing facilitates conducting live meetings all over the world.

Included with your purchase of video end point installation, Big U Media provides basic end user orientation, for additional in-depth training Big U Media provides training courses that emphasize why an individual should utilize collaborative conferencing technologies and how to get the greatest business benefit from these technologies. This immersion type training helps users view Video Conferencing as a necessity, and not just as a nicety. Providing training that emphasizes the value of changing the way one works is the only way to convince users of the value of Video Conferencing and other collaborative technologies.

Business communication has come along way since the advent of the PBX phone system and hand-written messages. The lightening speed of conducting business today requires immediate answers to problems, issues, concerns and more efficient communications overall. One missed call could mean the difference between locking in a new account or losing the deal to your competitor. Cost reduction has driven globalization, telework, outsourcing and decentralized company structures that demand better communications infrastructure. Luckily, technology advancements have risen to the occasion. Boardroom video conferencing, once the domain of Fortune 100 executives, is now available to PC desktop users worldwide. And in the near future, video conferencing will take its rightful place, next to phone, FAX and email as essential business tools. Is your business utilizing the latest technological advances to stay ahead? Contact Big U Media Today at 813-984-2800

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What is Telepresence? How Does it Compare With High Definition Video Conferencing?

June 2nd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

A new catchphrase that is coming up over and over again is “Telepresence”. What is it? Is it better than High Definition Video Conferencing?

Telepresence is an experience. Telepresence today and for the relatively long-term future is an enterprise solution. Telepresence is a sophisticated form of robotic remote control in which a human operator has a sense of being on location so that the experience resembles virtual reality (VR). The remotely-controlled robot (or telechir ) and the human operator can be up to hundreds of kilometers apart. Telepresence is really a phone call, believe it or not .

Telepresence is the ultimate meeting experience for executives in any organization, linking sites across the globe. Telepresence is an extension and improved solution for videoconferencing. The Telepresence solution has an improved quality of sound and image. Telepresence is not only being positioned for sedentary executives. This AlwaysOn piece describes the value?of telepresence for first responders.

TelePresence is a next-generation video-conferencing offering from Polycom and to call TelePresence “technology” minimizes its scope. TelePresence includes television monitors, desks, chairs, and everything you need for connectivity. Telepresence is the concept that a physician is able to look and feel real to those in the ICU and to interact in a human way with the environment. This involves the use of a robot that projects the image of the physician in real-time onto a flat screen mounted at the head of the robot.

Telepresence is currently a tool used by CEOs or high level managers who focus primarily on face to face interactions. Employees deeper in a country would benefit more from solutions that enable sharing applications or products. Telepresence is unquestionably reshaping the Asia Pacific conferencing industry to an advanced level of virtual communications, at the same time, changing the way people interact with each other. While it is slowly breaking off the Asian culture of building relationship through physical presence, it offers the closest proximity to face-to-face meeting that one could ever experience.

So, the question arises…how does it stack up against a High Definition Video Conference system?

Telepresence systems are the next generation of video or visual conference systems. They are suppirior in both picture clarity and sound. Unfortunetly the cost can be prohibitive. With modern high definition video conference systems picture clarity and sound can be excellent at a fraction of the price of telepresence systems.

For example, Lifesize currently states that their HD video conferencing is only achievable at a bandwidth of at least 1Mbps. How many video conferencing calls are actually made at 1MB per site using H264? LifeSize Team MP makes high definition multipoint video calls easy and affordable. Bring colleagues together from up to four locations without needing any extra equipment, advance scheduling or a technician. LifeSize? Conference lets you accelerate your global business by creating an immersive, high definition telepresence experience that is realistic and authentic. It lets you do more and travel less and pay less. A complete solution.

LifeSize Room includes embedded 4-way HD multipoint capabilities to connect several participants. LifeSize designed video communications with absolute user simplicity in mind. Connect your PC to share multimedia or documents clearly.

Supported by an open architecture, they integrate seamlessly with leading telephony and presence-based networks. With its market driving technologies, best-in-class products, alliance partnerships, and world-class service, Polycom is the smart choice for organizations seeking proven solutions and a competitive advantage in real-time communications and collaboration. Supported by an open architecture, they integrate seamlessly with leading telephony, workplace wireless telephony, and presence-based networks. With its market-driving technologies, best-in-class products, alliance partnerships, and world-class service, Polycom is the smart choice for organizations seeking proven solutions and a competitive advantage from on-demand communications and collaboration.

With the expansion of the global economy and energy prices increasing, both high definition video conferencing and telepresence offer a face to face experience truly is effective in its ultimate goal, communication and collaboration. HD video conferencing offers a higher value when it is integrated and installed as a complete custom audio visual solution.

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