Interop has four conference sessions on video conferencing for the first time this year. With so many enterprises turning to video collaboration as a way to decrease costs and increase communications, we thought it was time for some focused meetings on the tradeoffs between different technology and deployment choices. Here is what we will be talking about.Choosing a Video Conferencing Solution There is a tremendous range of products available that qualify as video conferencing, from high-end immersive telepresence systems all the way down to desktop software and Skype. For the enterprise or small business that is trying to figure out how to take advantage of this technology, the choices can be overwhelming. This session is designed to help users sort through the myriad choices and ground their decisions based on the needs of their particular company.
Network Requirements for Supporting Enterprise Video Conferencing OK, this is the stuff where I spend most of my time. Here we will take a look at all the network requirements for supporting video conferencing on the enterprise network. We will discuss bandwidth demand, bandwidth allocation, how to locate the video conferencing infrastructure, quality of service of course, classification, authentication and more. Then we will extend the conversation by looking at the requirements for business-to-business video conferencing. Three folks will join the panel for this session: Jennifer Geisler from Cisco, Chris Carr from Masergy and Lou Chiorazzi from Glowpoint. These folks represent a supplier of networking equipment, a wide area network service provider focused on the support of video conferencing, and a business-to-business telepresence and video exchange. I am hoping for a lively and technical discussion.
Telepresence or High Definition Video Conferencing? Everyone knows that Telepresence is very cool, thanks to the magnificent marketing efforts of Cisco. But we also know that it is very expensive. A single-codec high definition video conferencing system costs much less and still delivers 720p or even 1080p resolution at 30 or 60 fps. A lively debate has ensued as to whether the average enterprise needs to spend the extra money to get the immersive telepresence experience or whether the single-codec system will do. We intend to pick up that debate, and to help find the pros and cons there will be a panel including Joan Vandermate from Polycom, Erica Schroder from Cisco and Jason Macres from Siemens. Come help us and make sure your side of the debate is discussed.
Why Would I Want Desktop Video Conferencing? Last but not least is the software desktop, which promises to soon become the highest volume of installed video endpoint. Desktop video is a very different type of communications than room-based or telepresence systems because it is a personal communication and the video is usually a head-shot. But it eats up resources on the PC, both in terms of screen real-estate and CPU power. In this session we will debate its merits. I am hoping to have the audience and the panel help me understand the different use cases for desktop video, to understand where it will make a significant impact on the business. The panel for this session includes Peter Nutley from Tandberg, John Dye from Aastra and Marty Hollander from Vidyo, all three providers of desktop (and other kinds of) video solutions. Come help me find out if desktop video is a product searching for an application or a real tool solving real needs.
