8 March 2010. Magor Communications based in Ottawa, Canada has announced Release 3 of the Magor TeleCollaboration™ HDWorkPlace family of Telecollaboration systems. End user list pricing for the three models of Telecollaboration systems is: HDSolo: $25,000; HDDuo: $40,000-50,000 and the three-screen HDTrio $60,000-70,000. Magor is selling the Release 3 systems in Europe and Asia as well as in the Americas.  

Magor Communications is going to be a major player in the Telepresence industry. As a new entrant, the new Release 3 is what you would create today using the best and most up-to-date technology if you could start over. It improves the way you work. But it doesn’t change how you work.

The new Release 3 incorporates innovative design features such as: peer-to-peer architecture that eliminates the need for a central MCU: advanced data collaboration capabilities that allow all participants to see, control and edit shared files; multiple network optimisation techniques to avoid troublesome bursts of data; and its own SVC++ video architecture that uses H.264 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) High Profile (HiP) to enable 1080p video to be transmitted over best effort Internet connections. The technology achievement is remarkable but not surprising given the heritage behind Magor Communications.

The Chairman of Magor Communications is Sir Terence Matthews. He founded Newbridge Networks (based in Magor, Wales) in 1986, which became a leader in the worldwide data networking with revenues of $1.8 billion before it was sold to Alcatel in May 2000. Sir Terry also co-founded in 1972 Mitel, a world leader in the design and manufacture of enterprise communications solutions.

Sir terry’s investment vehicle Wesley Clover now has interests in a broad range of next-generation technology companies, real estate, hotels and resorts. They include the Celtic Manor Resort at Newport, Wales which will host the Ryder Cup golf match between the United States and Europe teams in Autumn 2010.

Magor HDWorkPlace family of Telecollaboration systems is designed to dramatically improve the effectiveness of video-based meetings. The Magor HDWorkplace family seamlessly integrates advanced data collaboration capabilities into a peer-to-peer, high definition (HD) video conferencing experience. The impotant emphasis is on making natural collaboration the leading feature. In a face-to-face meeting, sharing documents is as easy as passing them across the table. Anyone around the table can add their modifications. You can do that just as easily in a remote meeting using Magor HDWorkPlace

With instant drag-and-drop sharing of computer desktops (any mix of PC, Mac, Linux, UNIX or Solaris systems) through an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI), Magor’s advanced collaboration capabilities allow permitted participants to see, control and edit shared files and documents in real time. So, instead of “talk now, do later”, users conduct working visual collaboration sessions that allow them to make decisions, get work done and produce results more quickly.

Dan Rusheleau, EVP of Product Development for Magor, said: “Magor TeleCollaboration systems focus on the entire collaborative experience – delivering immersive voice, high definition video and data in a single, easy to use system. By including data collaboration as an integral part of the HD video conferencing system, we help enhance decision making and improve productivity.”

“With Release 3, Magor is leading the market in extending the reach of HD video conferencing and collaboration beyond the board room and executive suite. We are taking the power of telecollaboration to ordinary meeting rooms and individual offices, where real workers can get real work done, he added.”

We describe more innovative features of Release 3 in the next news byte - Part 2.

8 March 2010. The new Release 3 of the Magor TeleCollaboration HDWorkPlace Family incorporates many innovative design features. We describe the major technology advances in this news byte.

Release 3 introduces flexible video compression processes that can adapt in real time to varying network conditions and end-user behavior. By extending basic video scaling principles with segmentation and adaptation, Release 3 effectively eliminates the potential negative impacts that video can have on networks.

Transmitting video — particularly 1080p resolution video — normally requires enough bandwidth to send large bursts of data when needed. Magor TeleCollaboration does not send large bursts of data. Instead, it manages the video to spread the data over time and considerably reduce the size of the data bursts without introducing delay. This approach protects critical network traffic and applications while delivering 1080p video and collaboration – including over best effort IP packet network connections such as the Internet.

Magor TeleCollaboration is based on a codec-agnostic, peer-to-peer video architecture, a scalable, adaptive, real time 1080p HD video. Magor TeleCollaboration extends basic scalability principles with innovative video segmentation and network adaptation processes that optimize the key areas of the picture and the required network resources. This approach protects the network from the potential negative impacts of video and overcomes the challenges of delivering 1080p video over best effort network connections.

Magor TeleCollaboration’s peer-to-peer communication architecture allows each Magor endpoint to operate independently of the others. This means that new participants can be added spontaneously and participants can drop out, with no effect on the experience of the other participants. This approach also enables users to tailor their visual experience to their own needs – choosing exactly what they see and how they see it.

Release 3 ensures that all Magor video, audio and collaboration capabilities are preserved when interoperating with other video conferencing systems. This interoperability with legacy end points and MCUs helps ensure that worker productivity is not hindered by system incompatibilities and allows an enterprise to leverage its investment in existing solutions.

Release 3 incorporates advanced remote collaboration capabilities that give people who are not sitting in front of a Magor TeleCollaboration HDWorkPlace system the ability to access the shared content online through a Web browser while participating in the conversation by phone. There is no need for the remote worker to install any thin clients nor do they have to endure any training to participate in the collaboration session.

For Magor, collaboration is not an add-on capability. It’s integral to your visual experience. You are free to instantly share documents and let others modify them within a Magor TeleCollaboration session without the security issues related to posting your documents on a server. Your documents never leave your computer.

Release 3 with 1080p video resolution, other key sources of information, such as whiteboards, flip charts and books, can also be incorporated into a session. The detail provided by 1080p video resolution is much better than 720p and brings the entire room into focus.

The latest addition to the Magor TeleCollaboration HDWorkPlace family, HDSolo with MyView™ is a single screen, single camera Telecollaboration system.It makes the other participants’ PCs and applications easily accessible during the session. It is described in the next news byte

You can learn more about Magor TeleCollaboration from the white paper, “Introducing Magor TeleCollaboration” at: www.magorcorp.com.

Magor Communications works with technology and channel partners and OEMs to bring the power of telecollaboration to businesses of all sizes and to workers at all levels of an organization.

8 March 2010. Magor Communications has introduced HDSolo, the latest addition to the Magor TeleCollaboration™ HDWorkPlace family. HDSolo is an advanced single screen, single camera 1080p High-Definition (HD) video conferencing and collaboration system. HD Solo costs $25,000.

What makes this release of this new single creen Telepresence system interesting is that it expands the scope of collaboration in unique and useful ways. The whole system has been designed for intensive Telecollaboration, the word coined by Magor.

HDSolo is ideal for people who need to frequently communicate and collaborate with colleagues, partners, suppliers and customers, and who want to do it from the comfort and convenience of their own personal workspace.

HDSolo incorporates the full functionality of Release 3 of Magor’s HDWorkPlace family, including MyView™, Magor’s unique advanced filmstrip capability. With MyView, HDSolo brings together visual and data collaboration capabilities on a single screen, providing maximum flexibility and complete individual control over one’s own Telecollaboration experience.

Users of Magor HDSolo can customize their screen view, moving and sizing windows for various call participants and collaboration materials in real time. They can also – without the distraction of PTZ cameras – pan and zoom in on images as well as non-computer-based materials such as whiteboards, flip charts and physical objects, to best meet their individual preferences and work needs.

In addition to MyView, HDSolo delivers advanced collaboration capabilities that allow users to enhance productivity, speed decision making and improve time-to-market. With instant drag-and-drop sharing of computer desktops (any mix of PC, Mac, Linux, UNIX or Solaris systems) through an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI), HDSolo lets remote participants view or modify shared content or take control of the content as permitted during a collaboration session.

The main componentsof an HDSolo systemare: HDSystemSoftware, an enterprise-grade server, a  1080p resolution 46-inch video screen (other size monitors available), a 1080p Ethernet-based camera, an  Audio Tabletop Unit (ATU) and one integrated cabinet

 Ken Davison, VP of Marketing for Magor Communications, said: “By giving end users complete control over their own individual visual and collaborative experience, HDSolo delivers comprehensive, fulfilling Telecollaboration sessions on a single screen. This format helps workers at all levels of an organization be more productive while strengthening relationships with colleagues, partners and customers.”

As users of Magor’s HD Solo can take advantage of the desktop integration capability for everyday activities other than remote video collaboration, Magor HDSolo can be used at all times. This helps businesses increase utilization and adoption rates for a significantly-improved return on investment (ROI).

Learn more about Magor TeleCollaboration from the excellent white paper “Introducing Magor TeleCollaboration” at: www.magorcorp.com.

9 March 2010. Cisco has announced a major advancement in Internet networking - the Cisco® CRS-3 Carrier Routing System (CRS) - designed to serve as the foundation of the next-generation Internet and set the pace for the astonishing growth of video transmission, mobile devices and new online services through this decade and beyond. The Cisco CRS-3 is currently in field trials, and its pricing starts at $90,000 U.S.

With more than 12 times the traffic capacity of the nearest competing system, the Cisco CRS-3 is designed to transform the broadband communication and entertainment industry by accelerating the delivery of compelling new experiences for consumers, new revenue opportunities for service providers, and new ways to collaborate in the workplace.

With a proven multi-chassis architecture, the Cisco CRS-3 can deliver up to 322 Tbps of capacity, more than tripling the 92 tbps capacity of the Cisco CRS-1 and representing more than 12 times the capacity of any other core router in the industry.

This 322 Tbps capacity would enables the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress to be downloaded in just over one second; every man, woman and child in China to make a video call, simultaneously; and every motion picture ever created to be streamed in less than four minutes.

The Cisco CRS-3 enables unified service delivery of Internet and cloud services with service intelligence spanning service provider Internet Protocol Next-Generation Networks (IP NGNs) and data center. 

The Cisco CRS-3 also provides unprecedented savings with investment protection for the nearly 5,000 Cisco CRS-1 deployed worldwide.  Cisco's cumulative investment in the Cisco CRS family is $1.6 billion, further underscoring the company's commitment.

AT&T, one of the world's largest telecommunications companies, recently tested the Cisco CRS-3 in a successful completion of the world's first field trial of 100-Gigabit backbone network technology, which took place in AT&T's live network between New Orleans and Miami.  The trial advances AT&T's development of the next generation of backbone network technology that will support the network requirements for the growing number of advanced services offered by AT&T to consumer and business customers, both fixed and mobile.

The Cisco CRS-3 offers dramatic operational expense savings and up to 60 percent savings on power consumption compared to competitive platforms.  The Cisco CRS-3 also delivers significant capital expenditures savings and investment protection for existing Cisco CRS-1 customers.  The new capabilities in the platform can be achieved by reusing the existing chassis, route processors, fans and power systems with the addition of new line cards and fabric.  These upgrades can be performed in-service and be provided by Cisco Services to ensure a smooth transition.

The new Cisco Data Center Services System provides tight linkages between the Cisco CRS-3, Cisco Nexus family and Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) to enable unified service delivery of cloud services.  This intelligence also includes carrier-grade IPv6 (CGv6) and core IP/MPLS technologies that permit new IP NGN architectural efficiencies required to keep pace with the rapidly growing cloud services market. 

The Cisco CRS-3 is powered by the new Cisco QuantumFlow Array Processor, which unifies the combined power of six chips to work as one, enabling unprecedented levels of service capabilities and processing power.  The Cisco QuantumFlow Array chipset was designed to provide the new system the ability to scale with the ever increasing demands being placed on the IP NGN by the many different applications and billions of devices being used by both businesses and consumers in the Zettabyte era.

Keith Cambron, president and CEO, AT&T Labs, said: "We are entering the next stage of global communication and entertainment services and applications, which requires a new set of advanced Internet networking technologies.  AT&T's network handled 40 percent more traffic in 2009 than it did in the previous year, and we continue to see this growth in 2010.  Having leading edge experience in managing the largest global data network, we are pleased to continue our close working relationship with Cisco and its groundbreaking Cisco CRS-3 platform."

8 March 2010. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Vélez and Minister of Defense Gabriel Silva Luján today inaugurated the first Cisco TelePresence (tm) rooms implemented by the Colombian government, with a virtual meeting between the presidential Casa de Nariño and the Ministry of Defense in Bogotá.

The Cisco TelePresence rooms will allow government officials to meet face-to-face while avoiding transportation delays,. They are designed to foster a rapid and more effective decision-making process in government. The Colombian government’s Cisco TelePresence system will use a dedicated 20-megabits-per-second connection from Telefónica. In the future, the Cisco TelePresence rooms from the presidential palace and the Ministry of Defense will interoperate with any standards-based video conferencing system.

The equipment in the Casa de Nariño and the Ministry of Defense is the Cisco TelePresence System 3000, a three-screen virtual meeting room that combines real-time video, audio and interactive technologies to give people in distributed locations a feeling of being in the same room with other participants even when the distances between them are thousands of kilometers.

The Cisco TelePresence solution re-creates an in-person meeting by using three 65-inch plasma screens with 1080p resolution to display life-size images of the participants. Three high-resolution cameras in each room allow everyone to clearly see the facial expressions and gestures across the “virtual table.”

All Cisco TelePresence meetings will be encrypted with a highly secure system that prevents the capture of audio, data and video by third parties.

Álvaro Uribe Vélez, the President of Colombia said: “I would like to have this technology solution in all government departments as it could bring huge benefits in terms of productivity gains, travel reduction and allow us to decrease costs. The adoption of this technology is a crucial step and in name of the Colombian Government we thank Cisco.”

John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco, said: “I want to congratulate President Uribe’s government and the private sector for their recognition of the role that the network and video will play in improving communications, standards of living for citizens and increasing Colombia’s global competitiveness. Colombia has had a long history of economic success that has been underpinned by a focus on public private partnerships. This collaborative approach is an example of the leadership that Colombia is showing to the rest of the world.”

8 March 2010. An increasing number of primary and secondary schools are leveraging video conferencing for classroom-to-classroom collaboration as a way to expand their curriculum and give students memorable learning experiences by interacting with students and teachers in other cities, states and countries.

Each year hundreds of schools get their first experience through Read Around the Planet, a free, annual video conferencing event sponsored by Polycom and Two-Way Interactive Connections in Education (TWICE), Michigan's K-12 video conference organization.

Now in its ninth year, Read Around the Planet 2010 took place between 22 February and 5 March  2010 and involved more than 58,000 students in six countries.

Read Around the Planet is an international video conferencing event designed to promote reading and the opportunities for classroom collaborations in education. The program is timed with, and in celebration of, the National Education Association's (NEA) 13th annual Read Across America Day, which takes place on or near 2 March, the birthday of children's author Dr. Seuss; and also timed with World Book Day, which took place 4 March.

Each class that registers for the “Read Around the Planet” program is matched with a class in another state or country based on student age and curriculum interests. The two classes connect by video conferencing and each call is unique with content and activities determined by the teachers. This year, nearly 2,000 classes participated from six countries - the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Guatemala and Costa Rica.

Janine Lim, board member, TWICE, commented: "Since launching Read Around the Planet with Polycom nine years ago, the project has grown from 200 U.S. classes to almost 2,000 and now includes classes from six countries. TWICE embraces this project as it continues to grow every year and Polycom's investment in the CAPspace program has been instrumental in our ability to scale the program. Seeing students unite, share, collaborate and learn from each other is a wonderful and memorable experience for everyone involved."

Debbie Huxohl, teacher, Willow Creek Elementary, Houston, Texas, said: "Video conferencing is helping to open new opportunities in learning and inspire our students. We have participated in the Read Around the Planet program for three years and find the programs very impactful. We have done several collaborations with classes in Canada, which is a great way for our students to learn about another country and culture, and a good opportunity for the students to get additional experience with research, writing and public speaking. Read Around the Planet is an excellent program and something students get excited about."

Schools get involved in “Read Around the Planet” through a unique professional networking tool for educators called Polycom Collaborations Around the Planet (CAPspace). Sponsored by Polycom and administered by TWICE, CAPspace is a free tool that more than 6,000 educators from 26 countries use to easily find colleagues with similar curriculum needs who also have access to video conferencing equipment.

Through CAPspace, educators can register for events like Read Around the Planet, Polycom special events, and TWICE events, or arrange to collaborate with other classes anytime throughout the year to enhance the learning experience and expand cultural awareness.

In addition to CAPspace, Polycom offers a range of programs to help educators get involved throughout the year and make the most of their video conferencing systems.

Additional programs including a searchable database containing nearly 250 video-enabled content providers and more than 2,100 active programs such as zoos, museums, authors, experts in a given field, etc.; an assistance program to help new users arrange virtual field trips; free special events; and a grant assistance and E-rate information program to help schools find funding for new equipment.

Two Way Interactive Connections in Education (TWICE) is Michigan's organization for videoconferencing in K-12 education. TWICE promotes and supports collaborative connections for the benefit of all students. To learn about TWICE, visit www.twice.cc

4 March 2010. The Federal Communications Commission is giving $145 million to 16 telehealth projects that will link hundreds of hospitals with broadband networks in 17 states. They will supplement $46 million in FCC funding for six rural telehealth projects announced in April 2009.

Winners of the current round of funding that totals $145 million include:

- New England Telehealth Consortium for Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, $25 million.
- Illinois Rural HealthNet Consortium, $22 million.
- Michigan Public Health Institute, $21 million.
- Oregon Health Network, $21 million.
- Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, $16 million.
- Northeast Ohio Regional Health Information Organization, $12 million.
- Iowa Rural Health Telecommunications Program for Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, $10 million;
- West Virginia Telehealth Alliance for West Virginia, Virginia and Ohio, $8 million.
- Pennsylvania Mountains Healthcare Alliance, $5 million.
- Missouri Telehealth Network, $2 million.
- North Country Telemedicine Project in New York State, $2 million.
- Northeast HealthNet for Pennsylvania and New York State, $2 million.

The FCC grants will pay for deployment, including engineering and construction, of regional high-speed broadband networks to be used for telehealth.

The FCC is expanding its Rural Health Care Pilot Program, started in 2007. Telemedicine and telehealth represent the use of telecommunications technologies and computers to enable delivery of health care to remote locations. The pilot program also intends for the telehealth networks to support data transmission for electronic health records.

“These health care networks will enable robust telemedicine services and provide high-speed highways for electronic medical records, saving lives by improving health care in rural America,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in announcing the projects Feb. 18.

The FCC has also extended by one year a major project deadline for selecting a vendor, to June 30, 2011. Many of the projects eligible for the telehealth funding have experienced delays in negotiations with vendors for network deployment, the FCC said in a news release.

Nationwide, eligibility for the FCC rural health funding is limited to 62 projects serving 6,000 care facilities in 42 states. The total funding available for all projects if $417 million. Most of the funding has not been awarded.

To date, 21 projects have posted requests for proposals to select vendors to build out their broadband networks, but have not yet selected a vendor.

Source: Federal Computer Week on 4 March 2010 .. article by Alice Lipowicz

1 March 2010. The Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry at the University of the Pacific, San Francisco, has launched a four-year Telemedicine pilot project which will help treat patients in need of critical dental care and services. Now low-income residents in the San Fernando Valley, California will be able to receive enhanced dental services by telemedicine.
 
The project is a result of collaboration between The California Dental Association Foundation, the California HealthCare Foundation, Verizon and MEND or Meet Each Need with Dignity, a nonprofit organization that serves the needy in the San Fernando Valley.
 
Dr. Paul Glassman, a  professor of dental practice at the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, and the project’s Director said: “This care-delivery model provides a much-needed community-based virtual dental home for the state's most vulnerable people. As a result, these patients in need will be able to conveniently access dental services in their own communities and remove some of the barriers to receiving care in a traditional dental office setting.”

The project will involve the setting up of a Virtual Dental Home, which will offer participating dentists a simple and secure way to electronically review patients’ dental records remotely. All they need is help from dental hygienists and dental assistants present in the underserved communities. After reviewing the records the dentist at the remote site can recommend a plan for dealing with the immediate dental requirements of the patient.
 
 Tim McCallion, Verizon West region president, said that the Virtual Dental Home shows how technology can innovate and help in the delivery of essential health care services to society. He also added that Verizon was proud to be part of this health care project.
 
Marianne Haver Hill, MEND president and CEO, explained that telemedicine technology will enable clients to connect to a dentist even if he/she is not available on-site.  he said that as the largest poverty-relief agency in the San Fernando Valley, MEND is happy to partner with Verizon, the California Dental Association Foundation and the University of the Pacific to offer optimized service for all patients.
 
The University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, which created this project, strives to provide advanced solutions for oral health. The University offers academic programs including Doctor of Dental Surgery, International Dental Studies and many others

8 March 2010. International development charity, VSO (Voluntary Service Organisation) is using the mvision managed video conferencing service to improve collaboration between its international teams.

New TANDBERG-based systems in Kenya, the Netherlands, Philippines and UK allow VSO to better co-ordinate the recruitment and placement of volunteers in some of the world’s poorest communities. They also provide a superior platform for training and human resources.

logoUzma Kazmi, Systems Manager at VSO explained, “Having face-to-face communication is proving increasingly important. There was an example recently where one of our medical teams was delivering training by video and was able to interpret facial expressions to know that one of the country teams had not fully understood it,” she continued. “Without that visual detail, they would not have immediately addressed the issue and overcome the language and cultural challenge.”

Kazmi concluded, “Now we can do more frequent but shorter meetings that get us to our desired outcomes much quicker. The motivational gains we are experiencing with video conferencing have completely changed the way that we engage with each other that simply is not possible by phone. It will help to unify us as an organisation, but made us feel truly international and one global VSO at the same time.”  

VSO selected a managed video conferencing service from mvision to avoid an increase in specialist IT headcount or resource to install and maintain the video nework system. mvision was also well equipped to interface with the different end-points at VSO including TANDBERG, Polycom and Aethra. The specialists at mvision were quickly able to set up the whole system; configuring the bridge, integrating it with VSO’s network and data switch port speeds.

VSO is an international development charity that works through volunteers.  Since 1958 over 40,000 volunteers have worked in over 120 countries.  Today there are over 1600 international volunteers working in 42 countries around the world. VSO volunteers are provided with flights, accommodation, and an allowance to cover basic costs.  UK public sector professionals volunteering for between six months and two years are entitled to claim pension contributions providing they return to the public sector for a minimum of six months on their return to the UK. VSO needs to raise £10 million each year in the UK in order to continue its vital work: working through volunteers to fight poverty in some of the world's poorest communities.

27 February 2010. In Franklin County, Pennsylvania, video conferencing has brought lawyers, judges, federal agents and psychologists “into” the Franklin County Jail without ever requiring them to set foot in the building.

“There really are no negatives to this system,” Capt. James Sullen, a corrections officer at Franklin County Jail  said as he unlocked the door to the jail courtroom. In the room, a high-definition television linked to a hefty camera, similar to a webcam, sat on a wheeled cart.

Lt. Lionel Pierre, another corrections officer, picked up a remote similar to those issued by cable and satellite providers and began to push buttons. Pierre flipped through listings for public defenders offices, magisterial district judges and other criminal justice agencies. Each listing was either an IP address or a phone number that the system uses to connect inmates to the outside world. In the bottom righthand corner of the screen was a box where the camera’s feed was viewed live.

Using three of the four video conferencing systems like this one at the Franklin County Jail, the district courts have arraigned offenders, lawyers have conferenced with inmates and psychologists have performed court-ordered evaluations. The VC syustems were purchased with grants from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

 One of the units is in the jail’s medical unit. “If someone is in medical isolation, these are set up so that we can wheel one to the medical unit without bringing the inmate in here and exposing everyone to what it is he or she has,”Capt. Sullen said.

The fourth unit is exclusively used to communicate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the federal government. Only inmates suspected of violating immigration law will conference with ICE agents on the ICE unit, Sullen said.

For video arraignments, each district court has a similar setup, purchased by the commonwealth, Magisterial District Judge Duane Cunningham said. Cunningham held the first arraignment via video in Franklin County in October 2008. “I believe this works out well for all parties,” he said.

For the jail and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, holding arraignments by video significantly reduced the number of inmates transported out of the jail each day.

For the judges, arraigning by video has meant more sleep, Cunningham said. Most petty crimes are committed after business hours, often in the middle of the night, he said. In the past, that meant a series of early-morning and late-night phone calls to the on-call judge requiring his or her presence at the courthouse or the jail, he said. Now each day at 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., the on-call judge calls into the jail to arraign anyone brought to the jail after hours.

While the district courts still arraign offenders at the courthouses during business hours, Cunningham estimated about 70 percent of those arraigned now are done via video.

The biggest selling point for the system is it cuts back on “unnecessary transportation of inmates. For instance if the on-call MDJ (magisterial district justice) was in Greencastle and someone was arrested in Chambersburg, officers would have to transport the person to jail for booking, to Greencastle for arraignment, then back to jail.

“Now, everything is done from here,” Sullen added. “There really are only positives to this.”

Cunningham agreed. “I don’t foresee Franklin County ever going back,” he said. “It’s like cell phones. Now that we have them, we wouldn’t go back to when we didn’t. We need to keep up with technology like this, not step back from progress.”

Source: Article by Kate S. Alexander in the local Herald Mail

8 March 2010. Avaya and Polycom are expanding their existing relationship and will jointly develop and market integrated video, voice and collaboration solutions. The companies plan to deliver fully integrated, end-to-end unified communications (UC) solutions that use the Avaya Aura   tm)Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based platform and the Polycom Open Collaboration Network strategy.

The planned joint solutions will provide Polycom’s full range of voice and video systems integrated with Avaya Aura to deliver real-time collaboration to customers. Avaya Aura will enable companies to administer, schedule and manage the joint solutions in a single, consistent manner, and control bandwidth to support a superior user experience and optimal deployment of network resources. The expanded partnership supports Avaya Aura as a fundamental control point for managing and delivering communications across organisations.

Roopam Jain, principal analyst, Frost & Sullivan., said: “ ... Because every UC deployment has unique requirements, standards-based solutions are key. It’s encouraging to see Avaya and Polycom team to enable this type of open collaboration and feature-rich, purpose-built solutions.”

 Alan Baratz, senior vice president and president, Global Communications Solutions, Avaya, said: “The Avaya Aura platform enables our customers to integrate, manage and use communications in new ways to improve business performance. By adopting the Avaya Aura platform, Polycom products will benefit from the seamless interoperability it offers. Together we’ll offer customers a choice of collaboration solutions with the flexibility and functionality they require.”

The Avaya Aura platform simplifies existing voice and video communica­tions architectures, including the ability to integrate communications across multi-vendor networks, to deliver business communications with more capabilities, fewer costs and less complexity. The combined Avaya and Polycom offers will support customers who want to maintain their existing communications investments as they adopt new capabilities and solutions.

Andy Miller, Polycom executive vice president of Global Field Operations, said: “We continue to deliver on the Polycom Open Collaboration Network strategy, and Avaya is leading the charge in adopting open standards as the core for its business communications platform. Avaya is a significant global presence across multiple industries. These existing relationships give us an excellent opportunity to introduce customers to our new UC solutions.”

Polycom’s integration efforts with Avaya support Polycom’s Open Collaboration Network strategy, providing an open and interoperable collaboration solution that gives customers greater flexibility and investment protection for their UC environment.

(1) Iron Bow Technologies, formerly Apptis Technology Solutions of Chantilly, Virginia, a technology solutions provider and value-added reseller,  has been named Federal Partner of the Year by Polycom, a global leader in telepresence, video and voice solutions, for the second consecutive year.

As Federal Partner of the Year, Iron Bow is recognized for its commitment and expertise in engineering and deploying unified communications solutions for organizations around the world. Agencies are being asked to do more with less and video conferencing allows them to reduce travel costs while providing effective communications. Iron Bow has a proven track record of providing innovative solutions which maximize efficiency while simultaneously reducing operational expenditures.

"We're honored to earn Polycom's recognition as Federal Partner of the Year for the second consecutive year. This award further validates our ability to provide innovative solutions that meet our clients' business needs," said Rene LaVigne, President and Chief Executive Officer for Iron Bow. "Polycom brings a range of open standards video solutions that extend our ability to provide robust enterprise architectures that have the scalability to meet future needs."

(1) Glowpoint, Inc., a carrier-grade provider of managed services for telepresence and video conferencing, today announced that it has been selected by a major sports broadcast network to provide managed event services for live, interview coverage of the professional football drafts, beginning in 2010. The 2010 draft coverage begins April 22 and ends on April 24.

Glowpoint's services will support live, interactive programming on national television, featuring team pick reporting and interviews in high definition (HD up to 1080i resolution at 60 frames per second), using telepresence-grade technology and services for the first time ever. Live interviews will be carried via Glowpoint's Telepresence interExchange Network (TEN) from remote team locations across the country to the broadcast studio.

The 2010 draft programming will leverage Glowpoint's cost-effective services to conduct live interviews between program hosts located in New York City's Radio City Music Hall, leading sports analysts located at the anchor's broadcast studio, and team officials located at 32 team locations nationwide. Coverage will frequently include a split-screen format, demonstrating the ability to provide zero-latency, quality of service (QoS) connectivity in a live-to-air application of video conferencing technology. Periodically, Glowpoint's service will be recognized with the accompanying on-screen credit.

(2) Deutsche Telekom has won a contract to provide the new Deutschland TelePresence live conferencing service to German trade fair company Deutsche Messe, organisers of CeBIT. This will allow exhibitors, guests and business people from the Hanover region to conference with partners worldwide in HD and HiFi quality from early-summer 2010. The new service is based on Cisco TelePresence technology.

(3) Speaking at the company's inaugural media and analyst summit in London last week, Srinath Narasimham, managing director and CEO of Tata Communications, explained that the telecommunications company had been investing its efforts on expanding its network capacity across the globe.

Tata Communications is today the world's largest submarine cable operator, carrying 8Tbps (terabits per second) lit capacity. It owns several submarine cable systems, including the TGN-Intra Asia line that connects Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Vietnam and the Philippines, and is also part of various subcable consortiums including the APCN-2 and Seacom. Its TGN-Eurasia system will be ready by the first half of this year, completing the TGN cable ring around the world.

Vinod Kumar, president and COO, told analysts that his company is a “global player with its heart in the emerging markets”. Tata Communications’ strategy moving forward is focused on providing managed services to multi-regional global companies, particularly in emerging markets such as China, Brazil and Africa. Its suite of managed services will range from hosting, co-location and security, to cloud computing services, which the company will be launching before the end of 2010 in multiple markets.

In the past, the capability and range of services that the company had to offer to both carriers and enterprises were always limited. Now, with much larger capacity going into these markets, the company is in a position to create a broader portfolio of services. This portfolio will include catalyst services such as Telepresence. The company currently manages 13 Telepresence public rooms and plans to add another 25 by the end of 2010.

(1) At the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society HIMSS2010 at Atlantalast week, two themes were dominant on conference's vendor floor: "We Can Help You Connect" and "We'll Make It Meaningful for You."  

John Halamka -- chair of the Health IT Standards Panel, co-chair of the Health IT Standards Committee and CIO of Harvard Medical School -- wrote in his blog's post-HIMSS observations that many of HIMSS' nearly 30,000 attendees came to the party to better understand how they could participate in the euphoria of HITECH stimulus dollars (and  the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).

Observers said there is growing uncertainty about what kind of talent Hospital organizations will need in the near future, particularly because the U.S. Federal Government has yet to finalize guidelines on the "meaningful use" of Electronic Health records -EHRs (Kolbasuk McGee, InformationWeek, 3 March).

Although 80% of physicians believe EHRs can improve patient care, a higher percentage are concerned about health IT costs and 60% say EHR systems can distract from personal interactions with patients, according to a physician survey released at the HIMSS 2010 conference, (Health Data Management reports).

(2) Kaiser Permanente officials announced that its HealthConnect Electronic Health Record system is fully operational in its 21 hospitals and 160 medical offices nationwide, the Oakland Tribune reports.

Kaiser says HealthConnect is the largest private sector EHR system in the world.  The project cost $4 billion over 10 years, and upgrades will be made to the system over time.

Kaiser spokesperson Marc Brown said HealthConnect lets physicians, nurses and other health care providers access members' EHRs at any of Kaiser's facilities.

In addition, Kaiser says that about three million members also use a Web-based tool called My Health Manager that is included within HealthConnect.  My Health Manager lets Kaiser members securely e-mail their physicians and access personal health information online (Avalos, Oakland Tribune, 3/2).

(3) US-based technology market analysts ABI Research predicted last year that there would be 15m medical devices with built-in cellular connectivity in use worldwide by early 2012.

(4) Jaakko Aarnio, a project officer in the European Commission’s Information Society and Media directorate, discussed the EC’s mobile healthcare policy recently. He highlighted the handful of successful mobile health projects the EC has funded, including one that introduced a new phrase, “ambient assisted living.”

The term, from a five-nation programme called CAALYX (Complete Ambient Assisted Living Experiment), refers to home-based and mobile monitoring technology that lets elderly and chronically ill patients live semi-independently. Technologies generally performed well during a 2007-08 trial, but many users found the devices to be uncomfortable. CAALYX has moved into a second phase of testing, also supported by the EC, to integrate monitoring sensors into wearable garments and to prepare a market validation study. (Source: http://ehealtheurope.net)

(1) HaiVision Network Video has announced the availability of FURNACE version 5.5.  The newly updated FURNACE 5.5 will debut at the 2010 NAB Show. It is a complete solution for end-to-end HD H.264 video-over-IP distribution. The powerful integrated solution supports the compact MAKITO™ HD H.264 encoder to manage and distribute live video to computers and set-top boxes, to create scheduled playback channels for enterprise TV and signage, and to record content and deliver video-on-demand in a secure, easy-to-use system.

HaiVision's Furnace Portal Server controls the direct and secure distribution of SD and HD H.264 video to both the "zero-footprint" InStream™ player and the STINGRAY™ set-top box; the Furnace Playback Manager supports scheduled channels for IP video broadcast and signage; and the Furnace Media Server leverages the efficiencies of H.264 to enable HD video-on-demand (VOD).

Peter Maag, HaiVision's senior vice president, said: "FURNACE 5.5 is targeted at HaiVision's integration partners who wish to control and make the most out of recorded media. We have included powerful features specifically for the medical and enterprise segments. All of our developments are focused toward intelligent video. FURNACE 5.5 enables users to capture, tag, distribute, and publish content securely and with ease."

FURNACE 5.5 includes the support of API-controlled and extensible network video recording with HotMarks technology and record/review/publish workflow. The multistream monitoring feature has been extended to address the specific challenges required for OR monitoring at a nurse's station including preset screen and channel configurations.

"FURNACE 5.5 supports the immediate vision of the merger between Video Furnace and HaiVision, emphasizing systems that deliver intelligent video," added Joe Gaucher, HaiVision's chief technology officer. "This is our first step in implementing referential metadata, a technology that will empower organizations with useful video assets."

1) Cisco has developed a forecast model to estimate future global IP traffic growth. Based on Cisco and independent analysts' forecasts, highlights include the following:

•Global IP traffic will increase by a factor of five from 2008 to 2013, approaching 56 exabytes per month in 2013, compared to approximately 9 exabytes per month in 2008.
•By 2013, annual global IP traffic will reach two-thirds of a zettabyte (673 exabytes). A zettabyte is a trillion gigabytes.
•By 2013, the various forms of video (TV, VoD, Internet Video, and P2P) will exceed 90 percent of global consumer traffic.
•By 2013, global online video will be 60 percent of consumer Internet traffic (up from 32 percent in 2009).
•Mobile data traffic will roughly double each year from 2008 through 2013.

(2) In the United States, online advertising nears 10% of total U.S. market, according to Jack W. Plunkett, CEO of Plunkett Research, Ltd. He says the online retail sector is positioned to grow in 2010.

(3) Founded in 2003, LifeSize began to offer High-Definition video communication solutions in 2005. Since then, the company has shipped 30,000 video conferencing solutions — including customer premises infrastructure such as multi-point controlling units, control and management software, IP and ISDN gateways and end-point produts — to nearly 9,000 companies across the globe.

(4) LCD TV shipments increased by 2% in 2009 according to DisplaySearch's publication Quarterly Advanced Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report. Global TV shipments increasd to 211 million units in 2009.

Flat panel TV technologies like LCD increased by 37% in 2009. In Q4 2009, LCD TV shipments were up 50% the weak sales in Q4 2008. 

Strong flat panel TV shipment growth in emerging markets like China (up more than 100% Y/Y) led the flat panel share of total annual TV shipments to pass 75 % and earn more than 90% of all TV revenues. The global volume-weighted ASP (average selling price) declined more than 8% worldwide and fell 24% Y/Y for LCD TVs.

For LCD TVs, growth in sub-40” sets outpaced growth of big screens in mature developed markets like North America during 2009.

DisplaySearch says. LED backlights have become significantly more affordable and offer many valuable attributes like lower power consumption, thinner and lighter cabinet designs, and better picture quality. The premiums for LED-backlit LCD TVs were prohibitively high until 2009, and is expected to narrow much further in 2010 with explosive growth expected. LED-backlit LCD TVs only accounted for 4% of global units shipped in Q4 2009, but they had a 11% share of 40” and larger, and a 24% share of shipments of 50” and larger.

Samsung achieved its highest revenue share ever, 23.6 per cent of global TV revenues in Q4 2009. According to DisplaySearch Samsung has been top in both TV units and revenues worldwide every quarter for more than three years. Korea's LGE was the number two brand worldwide with a revenue share of 13 per cent in Q4 2009.

Sony at 11.5 per cent was third in global TV revenues in Q4 2009. Sony’s full year 2009 total TV revenue share was down from 13.5 in 2008and at the lowest level since 2005 when it last led the overall TV market.

(1) Office furniture designer/manaufacturer SMARTdesks of Baltimore, MD has launched its Boomerang™ Video Conferencing furniture. Boomerang™ designs have been created for two-camera/screen or three-camera/screen Telepresence geometries; genuine flipIT® appliances are installed for presentation data to be viewed in the user space; no on-site customization required. They can be shipped to any destination worldwide. 

Boomerang™ gets its name from its distinctive shape in conference tables (See picture). The stable, robust tubular steel legs give a sculptural support for the top and modesty panel that arrange the participants for the cameras.

Constructed of 30mm MDF, contour milled and fully encapsulated in high performance 3D thermofoil, Boomerang™ will retain its good looks, resisting scratches and wear, impervious to aggressive environmental factors, such as shipboard marine environments.

The two-camera/screen video conferencing configuration -- Boomerang Studio4™ -- has a footprint of 426 x 122 cm (168 x 48 in) and is designed in two sectionals.

The three-camera/screen telepresence configuration --Boomerang Studio6™ -- footprint is 635 x 152 cm (250 x 60 in), designed in three sectionals.

This design permits the units to easily travel the corridors, doorways and elevators to arrive at their destination for installation. All surfaces are dressed for the cameras.

Genuine flipIT® appliances are integrated into the Boomerang™ top with matching surfaces. flipIT® Laptop Safes are available in 18 or 23 models, which accommodate 432mm (17 in) laptops, the 23 giving more side room for laptop power and data connections. Laptops are dressed for the camera, present data to the users, and can be quickly put away, clearing the desktop to remove visual clutter from the video composition.

Similarly, flipIT® wide screen LCD stations, available in 19 and 23 widths, accommodate 16:9 aspect ratio displays up to 508mm (20 in) and 610mm (24 in) diagonal, respectively.

The benefit of having presentation data in the user space is that it is easier for the user to view and when data is being viewed, the people on camera have a context for their averted eye movement that shows engagement, rather than sending an errant body language cue of aloofness.

Screens are presented in a semi-recessed position so they do not obstruct the camera sight lines, and the backs of the LCDs are dressed for the camera. When not needed, they instantly disappear from the shot.

SMARTdesks takes a team approach for each customer taking the structure of the customers’ organization into account. Accordingly, design approach, proposal preparation, product customization, delivery and installation is a process that is managed to leverage the best use of the customers’ internal project team. SMARTdesks ships computer conference furniture world-wide. Contact the entire team through http://www.smartdesks.com.

Q1 2010

21-23 March 20103 at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC
First Conference on Medical Technology and Individualized Healthcare
Organized by IEEE, the world's largest technical professional association, and the American Medical Association (AMA). It will address how to overcome the challenges facing the adoption of individualized healthcare and the technological innovations necessary for it to truly improve the quality of patient care.
For more information, please visit: http://ama-ieee.embs.org/

25 March 2010 from 08.30 to 10.30 am at mvision’s Telepresence Suite in Central London
Telepresence Forum demonstrating TANDBERG Telepresence T3.
You will hear from leading experts on how telepresence is driving a broader agenda within organisations, by improving overall business performance.. There is a complementary breakfast too.
For an invitation e-mail: dyoungerwood@mvision.co.uk

28 - 31 March 2010 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain
Cisco Networkers Bahrain 2010
Cisco will host its industry-accredited Networkers for the first time in the Middle East.
Aimed at training, education and networking, the event has been developed in collaboration with the Bahrain government. 2000 key technical and business decision makers from across MENA will attend. Speakers: 300 of the world’s renowned experts.

Q2 2010

14 - 16 April 2010 at LUXEXPO S.A., L-1347 Luxembourg
Med-e-Tel 2010 conference
A networking opportunity to meet with technology and solution providers, to engage with national member associations of the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH) and to stay updated with the latest developments and opportunities in Telemedicine and eHealth.
For further information and registration, visit: http://www.medetel.eu

19 April 2010 at the Steigenberger Hotel, Berlin, Germany
Wainhouse Research - A pre-event meeting - The CSP Summit
CSP Summit will focus on the needs of Collaboration Service Providers
Register at http://www.wainhouse.com/berlin2010

20 and 21 April 2010 at the Steigenberger Hotel in Berlin, Germany
Wainhouse Research sixth annual European conference - the Collaboration Futures Summit
The Wainhouse Research Summit has become known as the premier conference and networking opportunity that brings together top enterprise managers, analysts, and industry experts.
Register at http://www.wainhouse.com/berlin2010

22 April 2010 at Reston, Virginia, United States
The Inter-Company Telepresence and Videoconferencing Conference and Working Group.
The program is hosted by The Human Productivity Lab who recently published The Inter-Company Telepresence and Videoconferencing Handbook. It explains how your organization can create an inter-company Telepresence and videoconferencing program to cut costs, improve individual and organizational productivity, and accelerate time-to-market advantage.
More details and to register at: http://www.telepresenceoptions.com/conference.php

11-12 May 2010 at Hilton New York, New York, USA
Streaming Media East 2010 Conference & Exhibition
Now in its 13th year, thisshow is the place to come see, learn, and discuss all forms of online video business models and technology. Attendance 3,500 executives in 2009. More than 100 speakers from the media, broadcast, enterprise and education markets
 
9-11 June 2010 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
InfoComm 2010 
About 900 exhibitors will showcase A/V technology including: integrated display, projection, audio, conferencing, lighting and staging, digital signage and communications system solutions. InfoComm 2010 will also feature new special exhibits addressing sustainability, 3D technology and camera production. Attendance expected to be 32,000 visiitors.
Additional information is available at: www.infocomm.org

Q3 2010

13, 14 & 15 October 2010 at Novotel London West, London UK
Streaming Media Europe 2010 Conference & Expo 
The only conference in Europe to cover technology solutions and business models for online video. • Workshops 13 October, • Content Delivery Summit 13 October, • Online Video Strategies 14 & 15 October
More at: http://www.streamingmediaglobal.com/europe/index.asp