29 July 2010. Global Crossing, a leading global IP network and WAN solutions provider, has launched an immersive Telepresence solution with Teliris, an innovative leader in immersive Telepresence meetings. It includes all the Teliris cutting-edge collaboration tools for high-quality virtual meetings.

Global Crossing is introducing its feature-rich managed Telepresence solution based on Teliris` innovative Telepresence platform. The service builds on Global Crossing`s global network and well-established portfolio of managed videoconferencing services, offering enterprise customers a single provider solution for their collaboration and wide-area network requirements.

The solution is provided on Global Crossing`s fully meshed Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)–based global Virtual Private Network (VPN) and tier-one global public Internet network, ensuring a reliable and secure connection for this premiere video communication technology.

Global Crossing delivers converged IP services to more than 700 cities in more than 70 countries around the world. The company delivers service to approximately 40 percent of the Fortune 500, as well as to 700 carriers, mobile operators and ISPs. 

Global Crossing`s Telepresence solution is easy to use, schedule and initiate, and is fully interoperable with other Telepresence systems and traditional videoconferencing services. It ranges from single screen personal solutions to fully custom-engineered meeting environments. (The picture is of the Teliris Telepresence NanoEX desktop model.)

Global Crossing Telepresence with Teliris is an expansion of Global Crossing`s fully-managed. high-quality video collaboration service. Using these collaboration tools, customers experience enhanced decision-making, reduced travel costs, lower carbon footprints and increased productivity.

Dave Carey, Global Crossing`s chief marketing officer, said: "Our Telepresence offer represents a milestone in our collaboration portfolio. Customers around the world continue to demand a wide range of collaboration tools to conduct meetings without boundaries.  This new capability transforms the video conference into a true-to-life interactive experience, leading to better global communications."

Marc Trachtenberg, Teliris CEO and co-founder, said: "We are thrilled to extend our market-leading immersive Telepresence and collaboration experience to Global Crossing and its customers. This partnership is the latest example of how Teliris is providing companies around the world with maximum flexibility through a broad continuum of affordable Telepresence solutions that wrap around any business requirement."

As an added benefit, customers using Global Crossing`s telepresence solution will be able to video stream Telepresence meetings through ON24`s industry-leading Webcast Center platform that delivers high-quality video for more engaging and effective meetings.  ON24 is a global leader in webcasting and virtual event solutions.

In a recent independent survey, 85 percent of Global Crossing`s customers reported being "very satisfied" with the value they received from its collaboration services and 79 percent said they were "very likely” to recommend those same services to others.

To help introduce its Telepresence solution to customers and offer ways to better utilize collaboration tools, Global Crossing plans to host “Collaborate Now”, a virtual trade show, on 1 September 2010.   You can Register for the ON24 event at:

http://globalcrossing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1139  (go to last paragraph)

21 July 2010. Globe Telecom, a leading mobile (cellular) phone service provider of has aopened its first Telepresence public room in Makati City in Manila. Globe Telecpm charges users a rental fee of $500 per hour. The service includes a 24-hour concierge service and features an online booking facility. A second Telepresence room  will be added in Cebu next year.

Globe’s first Telepresence public room in Makati’s central business district houses a three life-size ultra-high-definition 65-inch plasma screens and is equipped with spatial audio. The $500,000 Cisco Teleppresence room gives the experience of being in the same room although meeting participants could be halfway across the globe. It allows face-to-face meetings across a virtual table, for critical discussions and negotiations where facial reactions are discernable for clarity and effective communications.

Globe Telecom’s Telepresence facility in Makati City will benefit companies of all sizes, as well as business travelers, to the region who need to connect back to their home countries.

 Gil B. Genio, head of Globe Business,  said: “We continue to bring advanced solutions to enterprises that would address their evolving business needs. Today’s business environment moves very fast, and enterprises are focused on driving down costs. We can help get things done at a moment’s notice and cut travel expenses, too, with the new Globe Telepresence.”

Globe Telecom selected AT&T as its partner for AT&T’s business-exchange facility which connects Manila with other public Telepresence rooms worldwide. AT&T Business Exchange can connect more than 1,100 private and public telepresence rooms. in more than 70 countries and territories worldwide.

Backed by a reliable network for 24x7 international connectivity, Globe Telepresence will connect enterprises to more Telepresence rooms globally than any other provider in the Philippine market today.

Telepresence has been gaining popularity and growing rapidly across the globe as it offers quality business meetings in a conducive venue.
 
Source: Article by Lenie Lecturain in Business Mirror, Manila, The Philippines on 31 July 2010.

27 July 2010. The first virtual dance rehearsal of young dancers of the Children's Palace in Shanghai and their counterparts from National Dance Institute (NDI) in New York was enabled using Cisco TelePresence(TM) equipment earlier this month.

These talented children began preparations for their joint performance from opposite sides of the world using Cisco's High-Definition video collaboration technology.

Now having performed with more than 100 children from NDI in New York, these young performers, "The Shanghai Five," will reunite with their loved ones back home who are connecting to them in New York from the Cisco(R) Pavilion at World Expo over Tata's global TelePresence network.

This event marks the beginning of an initiative by Cisco and Tata Communications to use technology to virtually reunite families separated by distance.

The two companies will open their Cisco TelePresence facilities for two Sundays so that families in Shanghai can have a rich in-person interactive session in real time with their relatives living abroad. The Cisco and Tata Communications Family Reunions program will run for the duration of World Expo which ends on 31 October 2010.

The children who participated at tthe 27 July family reunion traveled to New York to perform at the invitation of National Dance Institute, a non-profit arts education organization founded by Jacques d'Amboise, former principal dancer of New York City Ballet.

d'Amboise, along with Artistic Director Ellen Weinstein and several NDI dancers, joined the "Shanghai Five" to meet the Chinese dancers' parents who were in the Cisco Pavilion at World Expo in Shanghai. Over the course of their reunion, the children will share the details of their trip and what they have missed most about being away from home.

Benny Lee, managing director of Unified Communications and Collaboration, Cisco in Greater China, said. "The Cisco TelePresence experience is a key aspect of Cisco's vision of a smart and connected life, and by reconnecting families, Cisco's technology is able to spark the imaginations of a wider demographic, from children to grandparents, and to change the way people live, work, play and learn."

 Peter Quinlan, senior director, Managed Telepresence Services, Tata Communications, said: "Tata Communications is excited to expand accessibility to TelePresence technology beyond the traditional role of being a tool for businesses. Although these families are separated, they can use our TelePresence rooms all over the world in places like Los Angeles, Boston, Toronto, London, Singapore, and Sydney, to meet with one another face to face in part of this seamless global network."

The Shanghai Five have been participating in NDI's Irene Diamond Summer Institute, an intensive month long dance workshop, along with talented dancers from the US. While with NDI, the Shanghai Five have also been teaching their New York classmates elements of Chinese folk dancing.

To see a video of NDI's dance rehearsal over Cisco TelePresence, visit:
http://www.cisco.com/web/CN/expo/en/pavilion.html#video

4 August 2010. We described  the Cisco "Collaboration for Events" offering in a News Byte in the last issue. This showed how Cisco aims to transform the event industry, by leveraging web conferencing, TelePresence and online video sharing to dramatically improve event effectiveness.

Cisco outlines its own experience in a whitepaper titled "Cisco's Experience with Next-Generation Events," which describes how Cisco developed the "Collaboration for Events" offering based on their use of related technologies to enhance their own events.

The INXPO virtual events and business platform is a key component and a major contributor to the positive results cited in Cisco's Next-Generation Events solution. Cisco's largest and most complex events, which include Cisco Global Sales Experience, Cisco Live (user conference) and the Cisco Virtual Partner Summit are all hosted on the INXPO platform. For Cisco, INXPO supports a wide range of events from 500 attendee employee-only events to 5,000+ user conferences to 17,000+ global sales meetings to a 24/7/365 community with over 45,000 members.

In the Cisco Global Sales Experience (GSX) in 2009, George P. Johnson and INXPO helped Cisco achieve the following results:
- 86% cost savings: (from $65 million to $9 million)
- $19 million in productivity and time savings (reduced employee travel)
- 46% increase in breakout sessions (from 37 to 54)
- 34,000 tons of carbon emissions eliminated

INXPO is actively working with Cisco and George P. Johnson on Cisco GSX 2010, which promises to be another groundbreaking experience.

Malcolm Lotzof, CEO INXPO,  said:"We are thrilled to be part of Cisco's next generation events vision. Companies like Cisco, TechTarget, UBM and Autodesk place their trust in the scalability, reliability and flexibility of INXPO's innovative platform and we look forward to advancing event experiences with all of our clients and partners."

INXPO is the leading provider of privately branded virtual events and virtual business environments that connect, engage and educate audiences. The InXpo Platform delivers a full suite of applications including Virtual Trade Shows, Virtual Career Fairs, Virtual Events & Conferences, and Virtual Communities as well as Audio and Video Webcasts.

INXPO has delivered more than 1,000 successful virtual events and experiences for global customers and publishers including AAA, Cisco, Forbes, HIMSS, GE Healthcare, PennWell, SAP, TechTarget, UBM and Ziff Davis Enterprises.

INXPO  is headquartered in Chicago. For more information, visit http://www.inxpo.com

2 August 2010. UK casino operator, Aspers Group, is using a managed video conferencing service from mvision to reduce business travel between the Group’s growing number of locations.

The boardroom-based Cisco-Tandberg HD systems are currently used by the HR, finance and business development teams across London, Newcastle, Northampton and Swansea.

The initiative started with a small pilot between the Group’s head office in Sloane Street, London and Newcastle, and immediately saved 2-3 journeys per week between the two cities for  Gaming Operations Manager of the company.

Nick Snowden, IT Director at Aspers Group, explains: “We examined the cost of group business travel; particularly the cost of personnel commuting between our London HQ and our regional sites. We were already spending a lot on flights and rail travel up and down the country, and this was rapidly increasing with our geographic expansion.

He continue: “In a bid to make better use of technology to help control our growth, we looked at the video conferencing market and quickly turned to mvision for an affordable managed service that provides valuable support services such as a helpdesk.”

Terry Dwyer, Managing Director at mvision adds, “Although the systems at Aspers Group have only been live for a few months, the casino operator is already saving a considerable amount of unnecessary business travel time and expense.”

“Aspers Group had implemented an authority-to-travel policy that involved employees having to apply for permission to spend on transport. This was designed to engender a cultural change and encourage people to consider video conferencing first. In reality though, once users have experienced video meetings they have spontaneously evangelised it internally.”

The mvision managed video conferencing solution for Aspers Group utilises mvision’s own dedicated video network which, along with the video systems is covered by a simple per-month cost. Now being trialled by the Group’s marketing function, it is also used live during board meetings. The coming months may also see the video conferencing network used for group-wide training and also by tenants of leased office space owned by Aspers in Swansea.

Nick Snowden concludes, “Our overall experience with mvision’s video conferencing has been really good so far. Their experience with the Cisco-Tandberg offering and expertise around interoperability was very important to us. Our installation went smoothly; the mvision engineers certainly knew what they were doing and on the rare occasions we’ve called the helpdesk, that team has been equally as good.”

Aspers casinos are a vibrant community hub that local people can take genuine pride in and enjoy. Based around the theme ‘A World of Entertainment’, Aspers goes beyond just gaming. Alongside the casino there are many more exciting and impressive facilities on offer including bars and restaurants and live entertainment as well as a variety of gaming options.

2 August 2010. Law Courts grappling with jammed dockets and prisons struggling to handle inmate health care issues can now put the power of video collaboration to work, with a new, tailored set of technology solutions and professional consulting services provided by Verizon Business.

The conferencing services and video capabilities can help enable courts and prison health care systems to operate more efficiently and effectively.

Verizon Business will help courts and prison health care systems assess collaboration readiness as well as design, implement and support a broad range of Web and audio conferencing services, and video capabilities from desktop Web cams to High-Definition and immersive video.

"The United States federal and state court systems and prisons are bursting at the seams," said Troy Cromwell, group president for global strategic services with Verizon Business. "Yet, warrants still must be issued, arraignments must be held and prisoners must be cared for. In the face of these challenges, the criminal justice system is increasingly tapping into the power of IT to make the wheels of government turn more effectively."

Verizon Business is demonstrating the two new services -  Verizon Telejustice Collaboration Solutions and Verizon Telehealth Collaboration for Prisons - at the American Correctional Association conference July 30-August 4 in Chicago and at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials conference July 31-August 4 in Houston.

Both services are available immediately under various state contracts, as well as an IT solution under the U.S. General Services Administration's Networx, Washington Interagency Telecommunications System (WITS 3) and Connections contracts and the Alliant Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) contract.

There is an audio podcast on Verizon Telejustice Collaboration Solutions and Verizon Telehealth Collaboration for Prisons at www.verizonbusiness.com.

21 July 2010. Cisco has joined with OneCommunity to transform the northern Ohio region with dynamic citizen and government programs. OneCommunity is a leader in incubating public-private partnerships and a nonprofit broadband service provider.

OneCommunity drives economic development by providing affordable, robust broadband technologies and related programs that accelerate the use of IT to transform health, education, workforce and government. Established as a nonprofit organisation in 2003, OneCommunity seeks to transform Northern Ohio into a technologically competitive, 21st century, connected community. It connect by providing access and tools, and it enables by motivating and building capacity -- resulting in effective use of technology to transform our region.

Northern Ohio has a rich history in industry and manufacturing innovation. Leaders in both the public and private sectors are turning to next-generation technologies to help transform the region's economy to one based on healthcare, education and technology. To address this transition, Cisco and OneCommunity have aligned with local governments to share the digital infrastructure, capabilities and services that underpin dedicated citizen services and public safety programs.

The OneCommunity/Cisco regional revitalization programs include:

(1) Public WiFi and Training to Improve Workforce. OneCommunity is launching an ambitious digital literacy program with more than a dozen training partners. Together this consortium of nonprofit organisations will provide digital literacy training, technical support, and help address 30,000 households over the next two years.

(2) Connected Incident Response. Fire, police, medical, hazardous-materials teams and other first responders can come together more quickly using 3,000 Cisco Unified IP Phones deployed in Cuyahoga County. Cisco Unified Communications in Cuyahoga County enables seamless communications between responders and government agencies. Municipalities are now piloting the shared service as well.

(3) OneCommunity intends to provide a range of  collaborative technology solutions including Cisco TelePresence (tm), HealthPresence (tm) and WebEx (tm) services to selected schools and colleges to enable doctor visits to be conducted remotely by video. The collaboration solution will also enable third-party teaching experts to address classes remotely to enhance the learning experience.

(4) Online Healthcare Education and Telemedicine. Cisco is working with OneCommunity to begin to deliver healthcare education to the region's school system. These education programs are designed to take an aggressive approach to disease prevention.

(5) The city of Akron is collaborating with Community and Cisco to provide enhanced wireless communications services for voice, video and data to police officers in the field.

(6) The city of Akron is creating an online portal where Akron citizens  will be able to access incident reports by  searching by name, address or date, and view it on the screen.

(7) A second online portal will permit the city to schedule community activities in more than 100 separate facilities at Akron's new Community Learning Centers.

Donald L. Plusquellic, mayor, city of Akron, Ohio said: "The northern Ohio region is undergoing a major evolution, and the city of Akron is proud to be at the center of this move toward innovation. The programs established in tandem with Cisco and OneCommunity are helping Akron recognize dynamic citizen and government services and reduce government operating costs. Furthermore, these initiatives provide 21st-century learning opportunities, preventative healthcare education and critical workforce regeneration to meet the shifting priorities of the local economy.

21 July 2010. Avaya has announced a suite of new and enhanced product innovations and services based on Avaya Aura.

The company has also introduced its next generation of Contact Center solutions. A central component of these contact center introductions is Avaya Aura Contact Center, which introduces a unique approach to enhancing customer satisfaction and agent productivity through Experience Management.

Avaya Aura has already enabled more than 400 enterprises to improve business efficiency and increase responsiveness since its introduction last year. Anchored by the open standards, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based and  Avaya Aura Session Manager, Avaya Aura instantly reduces complexity and provides the foundation for rich, contextual applications.

The new Avaya Aura tools and services make it possible for companies and organisations to simultaneously accelerate decision-making and achieve meaningful financial impact, while moving enterprises towards a more people-centric approach to collaboration.

 Avaya Aura can save large enterprises approximately 23% in capital expenditures and another 33% in operating expenditures, according to a recent survey conducted by Avaya. Mid-sized enterprises typically save even more.

The new  Avaya Aura solution include:
- Avaya Agile Communications Environment (ACE) facilitates the development of communications-enabled business applications to speed business workflow and includes Event Response Manager
-  Avaya Aura Conferencing, now available in Standard Edition, provides rich audio, video and Web conferencing features on a single server that reduces management and power requirements.
- Avaya 9600 family of desk phones now offer larger, color touch screen displays at a lower price point, function on lower power and provide a low total cost of ownership.
- Avaya Aura Messaging provides rich multimedia messaging with choices for accessing and storing messages. 
- Avaya Aura Presence Services offers an open standards-based, native instant messaging solution with federated presence and IM across Microsoft, IBM, Avaya one-X Communicator and Avaya one-X Agent and Avaya 9600 SIP phones.
- Avaya Aura Session Manager 6.0 now scales to over 100,000 users, including 50,000 SIP phones and video capable endpoints and makes it easier to administer and manage Avaya Aura components from one central location.
- Avaya Aura Communication Manager 6.0 can now be deployed as an Evolution server for easy migration of mixed H.323/TDM endpoints to SIP environments or a full SIP-based voice and video feature server.
-Avaya Aura Session Border Controller (SBC) allows enterprises to securely connect real time, SIP-based unified communications to the rapidly growing number of IP-based devices, smart phones and applications both within and external to a company.
- Avaya Aura System Platform 6.0, Avaya's virtualization technology, now encompasses all elements of the Avaya Aura architecture and applications portfolio.

The company also issues a new release of Avaya Communications Server 1000 (CS1000).

More than 200 individual beta trials and/or full implementations of the new Avaya solutions  are already underway. All these Avaya solutions are available now or will be available in Q3 2010 through Avaya or authorized Avaya Connect Channel Partners.

20 July 2010. UK distributor Touchstone Video has drawn our attention to the release of LifeSize® Communicator™ which enhances the capabilities of the Microsoft OCS unified communications platform. It is available at a SRP of £299 per seat from Touchstone Video.

Now, OCS users can experience interoperable visual communications in HD quality in their Microsoft environment. Tight integration to Microsoft OCS enables high definition interoperable video calling, leveraging the OCS client and directory. LifeSize Communicator also offers interoperability between PCs and standards-based video communication systems, and supports continuous presence multiparty HD video calls.

LifeSize Communicator enriches the visual communications experience for the OCS end user through three key pieces of software:

(1) LifeSize® Communicator™ client delivers a business-class desktop video conferencing experience, in HD. Communicator supports open standards, such as H.264, to ensure interoperability with other video infrastructure. Leveraging Microsoft’s presence directory and OCS client with Communicator’s standards-based video capabilities, high definition video calls are just a click away.
(2) LifeSize® Communicator™ Traversal Server is a complete firewall and NAT traversal solution that enables video calls across enterprises by securely connecting through firewalls. With SIP tunneling, the result is secure, simple-to-use HD video communications.
(3) LifeSize® Communicator™ Multipoint Server is a software-based multipoint control unit (MCU) that supports on demand, ad hoc multiparty HD video conference calls. Tight integration with the OCS environment ensures that impromptu, multiparty video conference calls are just a click away.

The advantages are that LifeSize Communicator enables organizations to fully realize the collaborative benefits and productivity gains of HD video calling in their unified communication environment, while delivering a high quality of experience and broad interoperability.

Key features when considering a karge desktop deployment are:
- Clear 720p30 receive and transmit @1.1Mbps
- Works with H.264 SIP-based endpoints and infrastructure
- Single-click, continuous presence multiparty conferencing
- Software-based MCU that supports true 720p30 HD calls
- Up to 8x 720p30 or 50+ widescreen VGA participants on software MCU
- Up to 500 traversal calls

Touchstone Video says LifeSize Communicator offers all of this for around £299 SRP per seat.

29 July 2010.  Polycom has announced enhancements to its visual communications infrastructure solution - the Polycom UC Intelligent Core (UC).

The Polycom UC Intelligent Core enables broad delivery of secure, high-definition (HD) video services across organisations, including immersive Telepresence, conference room and desktop video collaboration, live streaming, on-demand video content and digital signage. It is anchored by Polycom’s bridging, virtualisation, management, scheduling and gatekeeping systems.

Andy Miller, president and CEO, Polycom, said: “Broader video and Telepresence deployments require a more advanced, more intelligent collaboration infrastructure that tightly integrates with leading IT processes and UC applications. This ensures a higher quality experience, simplified deployment and management, and scalability, reliability and redundancy. The Polycom UC Intelligent Core and its new advancements deliver the only open-standards platform addressing these requirements, connecting the most people in the highest quality at the lowest cost.”

At the heart of UC is the ability of infrastructure to enable teams to collaborate over voice and video anywhere, anytime - securely both inside and outside the firewall for business-to-business (B2B) communication.

The Polycom UC Intelligent Core supports the deepest native integration and interoperability with other leading UC network platforms  including Microsoft, HP, IBM, Juniper, BroadSoft, Siemens, Avaya and others. The Polycom UC Intelligent Core is based on established standards and open interoperability allowing customers to cost-effectively migrate to advanced technologies and integrated unified communications while leveraging existing video conferencing investments.

Polycom says the Polycom UC Intelligent Core delivers substantially lower total cost of ownership versus competitors’ solutions.  Other key differentiators of the new Polycom UC Intelligent Core releases include:
-  H.246 High Profile for up to 50 percent less bandwidth achieved with the new, advanced MPMx media processing modules for Polycom RMX® 1500, 2000 and 4000 conference bridges.
- Bridge resource virtualisation for greater network capacity: The Polycom Distributed Media Application™ (DMA™) 7000 virtualises bridging resources across Polycom RMX media servers to  delivers up to 3.5 times more capacity. The Polycom DMA has added support for Tandberg Codian 4500 bridges .ers for their own systems while also lowering the network administrative requirements and costs.
-  The new Polycom RMX 1500 is a flexible, mid-range conferencing platform designed to support branch offices, remote sites, and teleworkers. The starting price for RMX 1500 is €33,100/£28,400/US$43,000.

 The RMX 1500, RMX release 7.0 with MPMx cards, and new DMA 7000 release 2.2 will be available in Q3 2010. To aid with planning, designing and implementation of the Polycom UC Intelligent Core solution, Polycom and its partners offer a full suite of global professional services.

One satisfied user is Philippe Decaesteke, director, Britanny, France-based SAS Novasight. He said: “Polycom’s solution for distributed video networks is unique. It allows us to combine our bridging resources into a single pool of ports and assign virtual meeting rooms for users that are not tied to any single bridge. This saves a tremendous amount of time, improves the scalability and resiliency of our network, provides failover protection, and gives our users on-demand video services they can count on.”

29 July 2010. Polycom and McAfee have announced a framework for a global strategic alliance to jointly develop and deliver Secure Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC).

Polycom plans to design solutions that feature McAfee threat protection, shielding Polycom telepresence users, from the desktop to the fully immersive suite, from potential and increasingly sophisticated security threats while making it easier to comply with privacy and confidentiality mandates.

The enhanced protections can also help IT managers in regulated industries – from healthcare to financial services – lessen the burden of meeting compliance and reporting requirements.
                                                                                                             
The alliance has three main areas of collaboration: (1) joint research and development, (2) sales and market alignment, and (3) participation in activities promoting innovation and standardisation of UC security solutions.

McAfee and Polycom will join R&D forces to:
- Incorporate McAfee’s advanced threat protection solutions, including the McAfee® ePolicy Orchestrator console, into Polycom UC endpoints and Intelligent Core, offering increased management and protection
- Align monitoring and provisioning tools to deliver powerful, secure device configuration and compliance capabilities
- Extend the reach of McAfee security leadership to ensure the veracity and security of the myriad applications that differentiate Polycom unified communications
 
McAfee and Polycom will support joint go-to-market activities including:
- A co-selling arrangement that includes sales and technical training as well as post-sales support and service offerings
 - Joint channel alignment and enablement
- Joint marketing efforts including collateral, participation in promotional events, webinars and user conferences
 
McAfee, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. McAfee creates innovative products that empower home users, businesses, the public sector, and service providers by enabling them to prove compliance with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities, and continuously monitor and improve their security.

22 July 2010. Aethra  net, the Italian leader for value added distance collaboration services and  Videoworks  AS a company with headquarter in Oslo, Norway, holding an OEM agreement  with  Sony Japan with validity on the entire Europe, have signed an agreement of exclusive distribution for the territory of Italy.

The agreement signed is of great strategic value for all the customers and channels  who have  for long term invested in the superior Japanese technology of Sony, distinguished for performances  and breadth of the audiovisual solutions portfolio. Thanks to this new partnership products will be immediately available to channels and customers along with privileged access to a professional and extremely well-qualified support organization.

“We are extremely proud of this agreement which will further strengthen the position  of Aethra.net and its partners in the Italian market,” said Luigi Astoirii MD of aethra.net.  The distribution of Videoworks videoconferencing products based on Sony technology, recognized for their unparalleled quality, blended with a wide range of added value services, creates an absolutely  different value proposition in the market."

" Along with the products Aethra.net will be able to render a number of converged services including multi-site videoconferencing in hosted and managed modes and webcasting, audio  conferencing, room  design and installation, and the unique gift of 20 years of experience in this industry coming as a legacy of the Aethra tradition.”

“Adding Aethra.net  as a partner for Videoworks brings great value with their deep knowledge and experience within the videoconferencing market,” said Even Zimmer, CEO of Videoworks AS. “We are eager to rebuild the Italian market  through  them, knowing that the channel partners will receive great support  from proactive and dedicated people with more market pedigree than many.”

Aethra.net has recently launched the new partner program, a unique one because it is based both on products and value added and innovative services.

For  further information please visit their websites:
www.aethra.net  and www.videoworks.no

(1) Distributor Azlan, a subsidiary of Computer 2000 (Tech Data), has extended its distribution deal with Cisco Tandberg in the UK market. Azlan will provide VARs with training and business development schemes through Tandberg’s enVision partner programme, and will also look to recruit new resellers.

The UK contract extends Azlans existing EMEA distribution agreement with TANDBERG, announced last year when Azlan was appointed as a CDP for Italy, Spain, Portugal and Sweden.

Azlan, a long-time Cisco partner, is already in the process of building a dedicated UC unit to provide resellers with pre- and post-sales support. Tandberg kit will ultimately form part of Cisco’s unified communications (UC) offering.

Ian French, strategic development director at Azlan, said his firm wants to become the UK’s leading UC distributor. He said: “The combination of Cisco's TelePresence, WebEx and UC systems and Tandberg's videoconferencing systems will be very powerful indeed. It will enable reseller partners to offer a complete range of video solutions to customers across the whole spectrum of the market from single desktop solutions to complete enterprise Telepresence infrastructures.”

(2) World Wide Technology, Inc. (WWT), a market-leading systems integrator based in St. Louis,  has become a TANDBERG enVision Platinum Partner. WWT has been certified to provide industry leading TANDBERG TelePresence and infrastructure solutions to its global customer base.

Jim Kavanaugh, chief executive officer for WWT,said: “WWT believes that TANDBERG products and the entire Cisco collaboration portfolio will improve productivity through face-to-face interactions and advanced capabilities like never before.”

WWT is a Cisco Gold Certified Partner with various Cisco specializations, including Master Unified Communications Specialization, Master Security Specialization, Advanced Data Center Networking Infrastructure, Advanced Data Center Storage Networking, Advanced Wireless LAN and more.

WWT employs over 1,200 people and operates more than 1.5 million square-feet of warehousing, distribution and integration space in 20 facilities throughout the world.

(3) Imago Group plc, Europe’s largest video communications distributor has now installed dedicated suites based on Polycom’s ATX immersive Telepresence solution at its offices in Thatcham, Berkshire and at its French subsidiary in Plaisir, West of Paris, and is inviting reseller partners to use the suites for demonstrations to customers.

“Unless you have been involved in a telepresence meeting, it is hard to appreciate just how true to life they can be,” says Ian Vickerage, Managing Director of Imago. “The key to immersive telepresence is that it should feel as if all the participants are in the same room. The dimensions enable participants to speak with and see the body language of others, without any concerns about the technology that allows it to happen.”

The demo centres in Thatcham and Paris feature identical Polycom ATX units and Benchmark furniture. Resellers who are interested in booking the telepresence suite should contact Wayne Mason on 01635 294318.

(1) Glowpoint reports that a top international law firm which ranks in the top three ranking in the USA is using video communication services and managed Telepresence services provided by Glowpoint to improve communications between its 300 employees in 14 locations worldwide. The firm has implemented Glowpoint's Telepresence interExchange Network (TEN)  among its interconnected offices in New York, Florida, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, and Paris.

Glowpoint has installed and provides support for 20 dedicated conference rooms, ranging in size from eight to eighty seats, at all of the firm’s 14 locations. The video network is used for a wide variety of uses, from communication with outside clients and other attorneys to conducting training sessions.

Glowpoint has made operator supervision available on demand for those conferences that involve multiple locations. The law firm also has access to Glowpoint’s hosted, cloud-based infrastructure supporting Polycom RMX, Codian and RADVISION bridges.

The Telepresence interExchange Network (TEN) is Glowpoint’s business-to-business video and managed video services network. Its implementation has conferred many benefits upon this top law firm. Attorney-client interactions have been increased as a result of TEN’s adoption.

Glowpoint’s vice president of Marketing Jonathan Brust said that technology needs to work seamlessly in order to satisfy high-level expectations. Glowpoint already services more than 30 other legal firms.

(2) Easynet Global Services and its subsidiaries have managed to reach an agreement with BSkyB (Sky Broadband ) over its proposed sale to private equity firm Lloyds Development Capital (LDC). Staff numbers are not expected to be affected by the sale, which is fully funded by the Lloyds Banking Group. Sky stated that Easynet's Global Services business was no longer core to their longer-term strategic goals and has thus been divested.

LDC will pay Sky £100m for Easynet on completion of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval and a works council consultation in respect of certain Easynet employees. LDC has also given its full backing to Easynet's existing management team, including CEO David Rowe, whom helped broker the deal.

Sky will retain the UK network assets, which it acquired as part of the original £211m acquisition of Easynet in 2005. Sky and LDC have agreed on a long-term supply agreement in which Easynet will have continued access to Sky’s fibre network. BSkyB will also continue to be a business customer of Easynet.

(1) As teledermatology gains acceptance throughout the healthcare field, dermatologists must ensure that they and their residents are comfortable with this technology, according to John Bocachica, M.D. who is chief of dermatology and teledermatology, Alaska Native Medical Center , Anchorage, Alaska. He is also Chairman of the American Telemedicine Association's (ATA) Teledermatology Special Interest Group (SIG).

"It takes three months to see me face-to-face," Dr. Bocachica says. But with store-and-forward teledermatology, "I can get an answer back to the physician within 48 hours." With 42 percent of Americans living in areas underserved by dermatologists, teledermatology is the answer in many cases says John Bocachica, M.D.

Teledermatology uses high-resolution images, usually accompanied by a brief patient history. In Alaksa, a teledermatology cart or platform is used at the point of care to capture and transmit necessary data to a consulting dermatologist virtually anywhere in the world.

Live interactive telemedicine includes a videoconferencing link so that the off-site consultant can interact with the patient if needed. But Dr. Bocachica says store-and-forward telemedicine has proven more popular because it allows remote consultants to review cases on their own schedules. Additionally, some sites use a hybrid model that combines real-time interaction and static images for applications such as follow-up appointments.

The ANMC's carts include a PC, complete with monitor, keyboard and mouse; a scanner; a digital camera and other peripherals, including an otoscope. All told, each cart costs $25,000.  A simpler setup including a PC, a digital camera, a network infrastructure and a willing operator can suffice if needed.

The people at the originating sites just have to know how to take the photograph and send it to me," Dr. Bocachica says. The ANMC cart employs color coding and user-friendly templates to guide operators through these processes. Training camera operators is critical to success.

Source: Article by John Jesitus in Dermatology Times entitled "Teledermatology offers advantages to patients, physicians. 1 August 2010.

(2) InteractiveMD, a leading U.S. telehealth company that provides round-the-clock, remote access to licensed physicians, has previewed the national launch of their new videoconferencing technology by providing a live medical demonstration on TV Statation WCIU Chicago.  During the program, Dr. Friedman performed a mock video consultation of a WCIU staff person, showcasing the platform’s ability to clearly examine a patient’s ear, nose and throat.

During the show,  InteractiveMD unveiled a selection of USB/BlueTooth enabled medical devices that will soon integrate into the platform, including a digital stethoscope and otoscope.

InteractiveMD will begin conducting live video consultations on the new platform in August 2010.

 InteractiveMD now provides the perfect complement to traditional care, Dr. Friedman stated, “You have your primary care doctor, but during after-hours, on weekends, on vacation, or anytime you can’t access that doctor, you can simply log on to our system 24/7 and connect with a physician licensed in your state at your convenience.”

(1) The organizers of the 8th annual AlwaysOn & STVP Summit at Stanford 27-29 July 2010 selected ViVu as their exclusive, live video provider. ViVu streamed HD-quality video of the two-and-a-half-day summit, which featured more than 100 speakers, representatives from the region’s most innovative companies, eminent technologists and influential investors.

This is the second year that ViVu has delivered live video for the Summit at Stanford. Last year, more than 10,000 people from 80 countries logged on to watch the summit, using ViVu’s technology. ViVu delivers live video in the cloud, synchronized PowerPoint slides and a live, Twitter-based chat platform. People can view and interact with the broadcast from their Windows, Mac or Linux desktop, iPad or iPhone. iPad and iPhone users will have full access to every aspect of ViVu’s participative experience — an industry first.

 ViVu’s VuCast platform because of its ability to stream live video footage and interactive tools to thousands of viewers on the Web without expensive equipment or setup fees. ViVu is headquartered in Cupertino, CA and has offices in Bangalore, India.

(2) Thuraya IP is the first satellite broadband terminal to reach 384 Kbps video-streaming speeds and has Standard IP speeds of up to 444 Kbps. (See picture)

Thuraya IP is described as the world's smallest satellite broadband solution. A-5 sized, it is a lightweight and portable device that offers asymmetric streaming whereby the user can select download and upload speeds without having to compromise on quality or cost. Using Thuraya IP, customers can access high speed data services regardless of their location without having to install complicated and specialised software.

"Thuraya IP is a practical solution that facilitates easy access to the internet and email within the network's vast 140-country coverage area," said Thuraya's Vice President Technology Services, Mr. Ahmed Al Shamsi.

The terminal has vertical market customers such as broadcast media, government, oil and gas, military and individual users.

(3) Vodafone, one of the largest mobile telecommunications companies in the world, is using video communications and content delivery as a key element of its internal collaboration strategy. Vodafone uses VBrick Systems' fully integrated, end-to-end IP video streaming solutions to optimize communication across a vast network of 79,000 employees and offices in 27 countries on five continents.

(4) The International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (IVCI) may be the first music competition in the world to have an iPhone app. The app will feature news from the competition, past Laureate recordings and videos, and access to the 2010 IVCI schedule, which runs 10-26 September 2010. And, as in 2006, each round of the competition will be available on demand through live video streaming on the IVCI website (www.violin.org).

(1) Data from ABI Research shows that Telepresence revenues grew to $567 million in 2009, and will grow to $2.7 billion by 2015.

(2)  A recent report by Research and and Markets (Frost and Sullivan in Europe) says that , the Telemedicine market will be worth $418.4 million in Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries) by 2014. This will represent a growth of 15.8 percent per annum from 2009.

(3) Frost & Sullivan estimates that revenues for ready-built Telepresence suites in Asia Pacific grew  46.6 per cent in 2008, 71.1 per cent in 2009 and will grow a further 64.4 per cent in 2010 when revenues will total $73.0 million.

(4) Tthe global market for telepresence systems endpoints is projected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 25.7 percent between 2008 and 2013. Source - Dataquest Insight: Videoconferencing Products and Services Market: Forecast Worldwide 2007-2013. Gartner, 28 September, 2009.

(5) The volume of Global Crossing's collaboration services grew by 13 percent in the first half of 2010 compared to the first half of 2009. Increased usage was driven in large part by the rising cost of energy, business travel restrictions and other global economic factors, the company said.

(1) Vaddio, the leading manufacturer and OEM distributor of specialty pan/tilt/zoom cameras and high-end camera control systems,is now selling contemporary furniture systems for classrooms and videoconferencing applications.

“We saw a niche in the market for contemporary good-looking classroom and training room furniture,” explains President and CEO of Vaddio, Rob Sheeley. “Edge and Instrukt are designed to integrate our existing electronics with third-party products to complement any higher education classroom or training facility.”

The Edge Videoconferencing Carts are ideal for a variety of videoconferencing environments and come in several styles. Each cart includes monitor brackets, adjustable shelf, rubber-coated handle and 4-inch thermoplastic elastomer, twin-wheel casters (two locking casters with leveler feet).

The Edge Standard Videoconferencing Cart fits 37-inch to 55-inch diagonal flat screen monitors. Reducing the height of the cart allows for easy viewing of a flat screen monitor for meeting participants at a conference table.

The Edge HighBoy Videoconferencing Cart is designed for classroom and presentation environments where monitor viewing-angle is critical and the monitor must be installed at a height that can be seen over a group of participants. The Edge HighBoy also fits 37-inch to 55-inch diagonal flat screen monitors.

The Edge Jumbo Videoconferencing Cart is designed for very large format flat screen monitors from 55-inches to 65-inches diagonal. Built with a tall frame for optimized viewing heights, the wide base offers stability, strength and portability.

The Edge Double Wide Cart fits two flat screen monitors, from 37-inches to 47-inches, on a single Edge monitor stand base. The wide base provides stability and four monitor brackets secure the mounting of both flat screen monitors.

The Edge Dual HighBoy Cart features two large flat screen monitors, from 37-inches to 55-inches, on separate HighBoy carts, and includes a Camera Bridge mounted between the carts to hold any of Vaddios REVEAL PTZ cameras or IN-Wall Enclosures designed to fit the most popular videoconferencing cameras available.

Each cart is custom-built to ensure form, function and portability into any conference environment. Additional camera mounting systems for the Edge Series provide a platform for the Vaddio ClearVIEW HD-18, Polycom EagleEye, TANDBERG Precision HD cameras, as well as a variety of other popular PTZ cameras on the market today.

The Instrukt line of educational teaching stations and lecterns are built for the K-12 or higher education classroom, or corporate training facility.

Q3 2010

1 September 2010 a Global Crossing virtual trade show streamed by ON24
Global Crossing hosts “Collaborate Now” to present its new Telepresence managed
service solution launched with Teliris (See our News Byte published 4 August 2010.)
To register for this ON24 event go to:
http://globalcrossing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1139  (go to last paragraph)

1 September 2010 at the Marriott Chicago Oak Brook, Oak Brook, IL, USA
AVI-SPL University Professional Series 2010 - Chicago
See how the RADVISION range of products can Work for You

8 September 2010 from 12:30 to 14:30 for Telepresence demo and lunch at Barbican, London 
Telepresence Forum with demo of the Cisco Tandberg T3 Telepresence suite
and short breakout sessions covering topics such as:
- An Introduction to Telepresence: What's All the Fuss About
- Justifying the Cost of Telepresence and Guaranteeing ROI
- Taking the Stress & High Cost Away From Telepresence with Managed Services
-  How Telepresence Fits Into the Bigger Communication Picture
Register with mvision at: www.telepresence-forum.co.uk/

22 September 2010 from 09:00 - 11:00 for Telepresence demo and breakfast at Barbican, London 
Telepresence Forum with demo of the Cisco Tandberg T3 Telepresence suite
and short breakout sessions covering topics such as:
- An Introduction to Telepresence: What's All the Fuss About
- Justifying the Cost of Telepresence and Guaranteeing ROI
- Taking the Stress & High Cost Away From Telepresence with Managed Services
-  How Telepresence Fits Into the Bigger Communication Picture
Register with mvision at: www.telepresence-forum.co.uk/

28 to 30 September 2010 at the St. Julien Hotel, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Tele-Presence Forum Expo - Boulder
Tele-Presence Forum 2010 Expo highlights the rising importance of Tele-Presence to businesses, organizations and institutions of all sizes. Speakers have been identified that can address present concerns, ongoing issues and the future outlook of Tele-Presence. Includes "Telepresence Best Practices" with Tim Szigeti of  the Enterprise Systems Engineering team at Cisco Systems.
Register at: http://www.telepresenceforum.org/xpo/

29 September 2010 at Long Beach Convention Center,Long Beach, CA, USA
AVI-SPL University Professional Series 2010 - Los Angeles
See how the RADVISION range of products can Work for You

Q4 2010

10-14 October 2010 at Eilat, Israel
RADVISION Annual Global Partner Forum 2010

13-15 October 2010 at Novotel London West, London UK
Streaming Media Europe 2010 Conference & Expo 
The 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