Our Awards for Achievements in the calendar year 2009 made in January 2010

11 January 2010.

Corporate Awards for Industry Achievements in 2009

1. Award for “Telepresence Company of the Year 2009”: Cisco Systems. Cisco Systems was the dominant provider of Telepresence systems again in 2009; Cisco has sold over 3,000 Telepresence units or rooms and there are now 60 public Cisco Telepresence rooms available globally.

2. Award for “Videoconferencing Company of the Year 2009":TANDBERG. TANDBERG launched its Profile range of 1080p High Definition videoconferencing systems in 2009; TANDBERG now offers the most complete and technologically-advanced portfolio of VC endpoints in its history.

3.  Award for “Video-enabled Unified Communications Company of the Year 2009”: RADVISION.
RADVISION’s infrastructure products, management tools and applications provide Unified Communications with High Definition video over IP, 3G and emerging next generation networks.

4. Award for the “Most Innovative Videoconferencing Product of the Year 2009”; The Aethra Xtreme 300 series High Definition Videoconferencing solution.
The Aethra Xtreme 300 series High Definition Videoconferencing solution offers video at 720p/1080p, WUXGA resolution data on a dual monitor, a 4-site or 9-site MCU and an elegant Italian design.

5. Award for “Industry Leader of the Year 2009”: Craig Malloy, CEO of LifeSize Communications. As a co-founder of LifeSize Communications, Craig became CEO of LifeSize Communications in 2003; under his leadership, LifeSize has expanded the videoconferencing market with its highly innovative, low-cost, High Definition videoconferencing solutions. 

*  *  *  *

18 January 2010

Awards for the Best Telepresence Solutions launched in 2009

Reviewing Telepresence developments in 2009, the Editor finds Telepresence became a buzz word and won widespread acceptance; demand was strong and there were many more large enterprise-wide deployments. Every vendor of videoconferencing systems felt they had to develop their own Telepresence offering. Cisco faced strong competition from the inventor of Telepresence, Teliris and from the established videoconferencing vendors: Polycom, TANDBERG, LifeSize and Sony. But statistics on market share are not available.

We describe industry developments in 2009 and identify new trends for 2010 in more details under the segment “Our Annual Surveys”. To qualify, the Best Solutions of 2009 had to be launched or upgraded during 2009

Awards for “The Best Telepresence Solutions launched in the calendar Year 2009” were won by The 12 Telepresence solutions (in alphabetical order):

1. The Brightcom L37 Lumina Telepresence with three 37-inch screens and web conferencing functions
2. The Cisco TelePresence System 1300 with single screen, 3 cameras and 720p option for 2-6 people
3. The Cisco TelePresence System 1100, a single 65-inch screen, single-camera endpoint
4. Cisco HealthPresence combines Cisco TelePresence with diagnostic medical devices
5. The HP Halo Collaboration Studio with extended seating option and web casting
6. The Polycom RPX HD 200 and RPX HD 400 Telepresence rooms with a giant projection screen and 1080p video
7. The Polycom Telepresence Experience TPX HD 204M and TPX HD 304M with two/three screens
8. The Polycom ATX 300 Telepresence kit to be customised by qualified A/V systems integrators
9. The TANDBERG T1 Telepresence system has a new slim look and a touch-screen interface
10. The TANDBERG T3 Custom Edition is designed for A/V systems integrators to install
11. The Teliris sixth-generation G6 Telepresence systems series with 2, 3, 4 or 5 screens
12. The Videonations Videopresence 3-screen system built with LifeSize Conference 200 Telepresence kit.

*  *  *  *

25 January 2010

Awards for the Best Videoconferencing solutions launched in 2009  .

Reviewing videoconferencing endpoint developments in 2009, we find vendors emphasizing (1) HD Videoconferencing on the desktop and (2) VC room systems that display HD video at 1080p on dual screens. We describe industry developments in 2009 and identify new trends for 2010 in more details under the segment “Our Annual Surveys”. To qualify, the Best Solutions of 2009 had to be launched or upgraded during 2009.

The 12 Videoconferencing Solutions chosen by the Editor as one of “The Best Videoconferencing Solutions launched in the Calendar Year 2009” are:

   High-Definition Videoconferencing systems for small and large rooms:

1. Aethra Xtreme 300 series with 1080p video to dual screens and a 4- or 9-site MCU
2. LifeSize Express with 1080p video to a single screen and 720p for dual screens
3. LifeSize Passport portable HD VC system with 720p HD video to a single screen
4. LifeSize Room/Team 220 series with 1080p video to dual screens and a 4 or 8-site MCU
5. Polycom low-cost HDX 6000 with 720p video to dual screens for SMEs and others
6. TheTANDBERG Profile Series enhanced with 1080p HD video and dual large screens
   High-Definition Videoconferencing systems for desktops:

High-Definition Desktop Videoconferencing systems

7. HP SkyRoom non-standard, software-only codec for 4-site, 1080p video to the desktop PC
8. LifeSize Desktop with software-only decode for 720p video
9. RADVISION SCOPIA HD VC desktop client V.7.0 used with the SCOPIA Elite 5000 MCU
10. TANDBERG desktop solution Movi 2 with 720p HD video and TANDBERG HD camera
11. Vidyo VidyoOne appliance supports 50 HD video desktop/teleworker connections over the Internet

Standard-Definition Videoconferencing systems for desktops:

12. Polycom VVX 1500D videophone with a 7-inch LCD screen for H.323 and SIP protocols

*  *  *

1 February 2010.

Awards for The Best Video Network Infrastructure products launched in 2009

 The main innovations in Video Network Infrastructure products in 2009 were new DSP-based MCUs designed to support multipoint sessions for 1-screen and 3-screen Telepresence suites and HD Videoconferencing at the highest resolution using 1080p HD video These were complex, compute-intensive products requiring much greater capacity than ealrier generations of MCUs. (See discussion in our segment “Our Annaul Surveys”.

We focus on the MCUs (multipoint control units) and Telepresence Servers that link Telepresence and HD videoconferencing endpoints together. We also include two examples of appliances for recording HD video conferences and streaming them over networks for live or later viewing. We are not including gateways, network traversal devices and video network management systems where most of the innovation occurred before 2009.

Awards for “The Best Video Network Infrastructure products launched in the Calendar Year 2009” are for the following 10 infrastructure solutions (in alphabetical order):

MCUs that enable multi-site 3-screen Telepresence and 1080p HD Video connections

1. Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch - CTMS-1.5- for 1080p Cisco Telepresence

2. LifeSize Multipoint 230 MCU with support for 720p and 1080p video

3. Polycom RMX 2000 MCU v.4.0 for Telepresence and 1080p HD Videoconferencing

4. Polycom RMX 4000 scaleable MCU for Telepresence and 1080p Videoconferencing

5. RADVISION SCOPIA Elite 5000 MCU with V.7.0 software for 1080p HD video with H.264 SVC

6. TANDBERG Telepresence Server TS 8710 - an MCU to interoperate with other vendor’s TP

7. TANDBERG Telepresence Server TS 7010 an entry-level MCU with functionality as TS 8710

MCUs that enable multi-site High-Definition and Standard-Definition Videoconferencing links

 8. TANDBERG MSE 8000 series MCU with MaxSD (tm) and ConferenceMe (tm) features

 Video Servers for streaming and recording HD Video conferences and other events

 9. Polycom RSS 4000 for recording and streaming server 1080p HD video conferences

10. TANDBERG Content Server - a 720p High-Definition video recording and streaming server

*  *  *

15 February 2010.

 Awards for the Best Managed Conferencing Services Providers in 2009

 Although the use of Telepresence systems grew rapidly in 2009, the majority of video-enabled endpoints are still High-Definiton (HD) and Standard-Definition (SD) videoconferencing endpoints. A typical user of Telepresence will have ten times as many VC endpoints as Telepresence endpoints. More than half the VC endpoints are likely to be High-Definition VC endpoints. So one of the challenges providers faced in 2009 was to enable companies to use a mixture of these endpoints in a video meeting.  Many more companies turned to Managed Conferencing Services to meet this challenge in 2009.

To pre-select the Best Managed Conferencing Services Providers on the basis of their improved offering of managed services in 2009, we compiled two lists.

- 15 Managed Conferencing Service Providers with a Global Telecom Network

- 10 Specialist Managed Conferencing Service Providers - Niche players:

We selected the seven Best Managed Conferencing Services Providers on the basis of their improved offering of managed Telepresence and Videoconferencing services in 2009.

We look for satisfied customers, excellent service and recognition by others in the form of Awards or certification

Each company or organisation selects a Managed Conferencing Service Provider that satisfies its own specific requirement. One glove cannot fit all different sizes of hand. Our philosophy is that the customer must detail how it expects to use the service and then select one or perhaps more than one service provider to meet these needs. Cost is a consideration but probably not the most important.

Many large multinational companies will require a provider with global reach who provides guaranteed QOS mainly using its own global telecoms network. A medium-size business may place more emphasis on automated call set up for its busy managers. A small business may prefer to use video as an adjunct to audio or web conferencing. A marketing organisation may decide its principal requirement is for assistance in setting up and streaming web casts to hundeds or even thousands of recipients.

We focus on what the customers need from a managed service provider- automated call set up and monitoring the successful operation of videoconferences. We also look at the capability to handle point-to-point and multipoint Telepresence calls.

We recognise customers like a provider with HQ or at least an office located in the same country, even though the provider can be located anywhere in the world and give the same service remotely. So the need to provide a wide geographical spread of providers has influenced our choice

The Editor takes the side of the user and looks for innovation, reliability, ease of use and price-performance. The provider must offer a global service and 24/7 support. We only look at their offering of services for Telepresence and videoconferencing; their offering of audio and web conferencing is not considered. We look for satisfied customers, excellent service and recognition by others in the form of Awards or certification.

For 2009, we are giving awards to six of the 10 niche players and one to a very progressive telecom carrier - Tata Communications.

The seven companies chosen by the Editor as “The Best Managed Conferencing Services Providers of the calendar year 2009” are in vendor alphabetical order:

1. Aethra.net (Italy)

2. BCS Global (Canada)

3. Glowpoint (United States)

4. IVCi (United States)

5. mvision (UK)

6. Talk and Vision (The Netherlands)

7. Tata Communications (India)

For the record, last year, our Editor’s choice awards in vendor alphabetical order for the 5 Best Managed Conferencing Services Providers of 2008 went to:

1. BCS Global

2. BT Conferencing

3. Glowpoint

4. Intercall

5. IVCi.

*  *  *