Posted 5 July 2010. Reliance World clims that it organised the world’s largest multi-point, multi-city video conference connecting 212 Reliance World video conferencing rooms across 98 cities and towns in India on 5 May 2010. The host location was a Reliance World in Chembur, Mumbai, India. The video conference lasted for over two hours and was attended by more than 3100 people.

The gigantic video conference was organised for Lupin Limited—India’s fifth largest pharmaceutical company and one of Reliance World’s video conferencing clients. During the conference call, a video clip of Dr.Desh Bandhu Gupta, Chairman, Lupin Limited was played and Mr.Shakti Chakraborty, Group President—India Region Formulations, Lupin Limited, addressed the nationwide sales force of the company and briefed them about the sales mission target and achievement plan for the year.

The 98 cities and towns that were connected were (alphabetically) Agra, Ahmedabad, Aligarh, Allahabad, Ambala, Amravati, Amritsar, Asansol, Aurangabad, Bangalore, Barnala, Belgaum, Bhatinda, Bhavnagar, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Burdwan, Calicut, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Cuttack, Durgapur, Erode, Faridabad, Gandhinagar, Ghaziabad, Goa, Gorakhpur, Gurgaon, Gwalior, Hoshiarpur, Howrah, Hubli, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Jallandhar, Jamnagar, Jamshedpur, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Karnal, Kolhapur, Kolkata, Kollam, Kottayam, Kurnool, Kurukshetra, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Madurai, Mangalore, Mavelikara, Meerut, Mumbai, Mysore, Nagpur, Nasik, Navi Mumbai, New Delhi, Noida, Palakkad, Panchkula, Panipat, Patiala, Patna, Pimpri, Pondicherrry, Pune, Raipur, Rajahmundry, Rajkot, Ranchi, Rohtak, Saharanpur, Salem, Sangli, Solapur, Sonipat, Surat, Tanjore, Tenali, Thane, Thrissur, Tirupati, Tirupur, Trichy, Trivandrum, Udaipur, Vadodara, Varanasi, Vellore, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam and Warangal.

About Reliance World

Reliance World is an India-based chain of retail stores that has a nationwide presence. It is managed by Reliance Webstore Limited—a Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company. The stores are designed to give the customer a delightful experience of the digital world of information, communication, entertainment and utility services.

All Reliance World stores are connected to Reliance’s countrywide optic fibre network, which is leveraged to offer a portfolio of products and services. Video conferencing services are part of this portfolio.

Reliance World has more than 230 specially-designed soundproof video conferencing rooms, equipped with state-of-the-art video conferencing equipment across 104 Indian cities. It offers pre-scheduled and walk-in video conferencing service to several small, medium and large enterprises across industry verticals.

For more information about Reliance World, visit www.relianceworld.in

5 July 2010.  German reinsurance company, Hannover Re, has chosen Tata Communications  to deploy and run its Telepresence facilities, serving the group's internal teams in 18 locations across 16 countries, worldwide.

Tata Communications will roll out the Cisco TelePresence high-definition, video collaboration systems to help employees based in Europe, North America, Asia, Middle East and Africa collaborate with each other on a daily basis.
 
The agreement provides that Tata Communications will provide Hannover Re with a solution that includes deployment and installation of rooms, maintenance, management and concierge service for scheduling and reservations, the world's first public rooms, the world's first open global Telepresence exchange as well as the Cisco-certified Telepresence network.

Tata Communications' telepresence services include managed private Cisco TelePresence rooms, public telepresence rooms that can be rented by the hour, and the ability for these private and public rooms to connect with each other.

Hartmut Fuchs, Hannover Re, CIO and Managing Director, Information and Technology, said : "What convinced us is the option to integrate our internal telepresence network into the general telepresence infrastructure provided by Tata Communications. We expect that this will allow us to extend telepresence-based communication to business partners in a second phase."

Tata Communications' 'open' exchange also means that coverage can be extend to any public telepresence rooms that Hannover Re chooses to use in the future, catering to external users such as customers, prospects and partners.

Claude Sassoulas, Tata Communications' Managing Director for the Europe and Africa Region, said: "This deal with one of the world's largest global reinsurance group is a significant milestone for our organisation. It will strengthen our position as a global provider in the German market where we are looking to continue our expansion to serve a growing number of large German MNCs as they move into the emerging markets we are currently investing in. Hannover Re awarded the contract to Tata Communications on account of its ability to provide a flexible and comprehensive solution,"

2 July 2010. Young dancers in Shanghai and New York prepared for a National Dance Institute production over Cisco TelePresence (tm). The production of "The Red Thread," choreographed by Dou Dou Huang, the highly esteemed dancer and choreographer from Zhejiang province in China, and Ellen Weinstein, the NDI's artistic director, will be performed in New York and Connecticut during July with dancers from both NDI and Shanghai Children's Palace.

This is  another demonstration of the real-time collaborative nature of Telepresence technology,

Cisco TelePresence technology enabled the dancers to start preparations for the production before they meet face-to-face. The dancers from Shanghai Children's Palace and the choreography team called from the Cisco TelePresence suite in the Cisco Pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai while NDI dancers, together with Jacques d'Amboise, the legendary dancer and founder of NDI, were in the Cisco TelePresence suite in Cisco's office in New York.

Jacques d'Amboise said: "Both the arts and technology open people's hearts and minds to limitless possibilities. Dance is basically a form of expression. The way we move and the timing of the movement are how we express ourselves, and Cisco TelePresence can help ensure that none of this expression is lost. With Cisco's help, these dancers are able to transcend physical distance to be simultaneously moved by the same beautiful piece of music and elegant movements."

For d'Amboise and the dancers in New York, this virtual dance rehearsal marked the first time they had seen "The Red Thread" being performed. Huang has been recognized both in China and internationally, receiving the title of First Class National Artist and the acclaim of critics around the world. Weinstein, who began her impressive tenure with NDI in 1985, is also an accomplished teacher, choreographer and director whose work has been performed from Carnegie Hall to the White House, where her piece "Wade in the Water" was featured at a state dinner hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton. Now, Huang turns an eye toward teaching and has joined with Weinstein, NDI and Shanghai Children's Palace to take part in this project to encourage the collaboration between dancers in Shanghai and New York.

Starting in July, the Shanghai dancers will participate in NDI's Irene Diamond Summer Institute. The dancers and choreographers from Shanghai will also teach elements of Chinese folk dancing to NDI students in New York. In the last weeks of July, the collaboration of the Shanghai and New York dancers will culminate in a series of performances of the pieces they have learned together.

About National Dance Institute: National Dance Institute is a not-for-profit organization founded in the belief that the arts have a unique power to engage children and motivate them towards excellence. Using professional artists and a distinctive combination of dance classes and performances integrated with music, literature and the visual arts, children learn how to work together to reach for their personal best. Over 2 million children have participated in NDI programs. NDI was founded in 1976 by world-renowned New York City Ballet dancer Jacques d'Amboise, and since 1995 has been under the artistic leadership of Ellen Weinstein. For more information, please log on to www.nationaldance.org.

Anthony Elvey, Pavilion Director, Cisco, said: "With technologies like Cisco TelePresence, we are elevating creativity and collaboration to the next level, changing the way people communicate and learn. That is precisely the theme of the Cisco Pavilion at World Expo: how technology can enhance your life. One day, people will be using High-Definition video to communicate as easily as they do with the telephone today. This is Cisco's vision of the smart connected life."

Watch the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMiS1N6bWAA&feature=related

24 June 2010. Students on two separate continents, almost 7,000 miles apart, now study together live via High-Definition, immersive Polycom Telepresence suites managed by Glowpoint , a carrier-grade provider of managed services for Telepresence and video conferencing.

Georgetown's telepresence systems are currently being used in two classes per semester. The Georgetown students have quickly adapted to the technology and new learning experience, and the University is evaluating ways to expand the use of the system for additional courses, student meetings and faculty training.

Glowpoint is providing technology, network, and managed services through its hosted-cloud infrastructure to deliver a seamless experience across the campuses.

Georgetown University's classrooms feature High-Definition video, voice and content-sharing capabilities, which allow students to interact with teachers and collaborate with each other, thereby bridging the geographical divide.

Students at Georgetown's Washington, D.C., and Doha, Qatar, campuses now communicate and interact using the Polycom RealPresence (tm) Experience (RPX) HD, a state-of-the-art immersive Telepresence solution.

 Mehran Kamrava, interim dean of Georgetown's Qatar campus at Doha said: "Having recently taught a class using the 'Global Classroom,' I know the value this technology can bring in connecting students with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Faculty members are excited about the technology, and they're developing new ways to use this technology to improve the educational experience for students on both campuses."

Kamrava taught Revolutions in Comparative Perspectives, just one of the classes that utilize Georgetown's Global Classroom.

The Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar is the only branch campus of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown. The program provides a four-year undergraduate degree in international politics to students from the Middle East and around the world. The Global Classroom initiative is designed to help provide a consistent learning experience between the campuses.

Joe Laezza, Glowpoint's president and Co-CEO, said: "Classrooms and cultures around the world are becoming more interactive thanks to immersive telepresence technologies. Glowpoint is dedicated to supporting capabilities that transcend the limitations of traditional classrooms. Our managed telepresence services ensure that remote students can learn from invaluable teachers in one educational setting."

Polycom Telepresence solutions eliminate the barriers of working across distance through immersive, life-like visual communications, enabling people to collaborate face to face with coworkers, customers and partners in different locations as effectively and productively as if they were in the same rooms.

Joe Sigrist, Polycom's senior vice president and general manager of video communications said, "As Polycom's telepresence solutions are based on open standards, they work seamlessly, allowing organizations such as Georgetown to interconnect their entire educational institution. Our partnership with Glowpoint ensures that our clients, such as Georgetown University, achieve the highest level of quality and service for Telepresence."

28 June 2010. AT&T has opened two AT&T Telepresence rooms in its two Bangalore offices in India. The newly installed Telepresence rooms will help enable AT&T employees to communicate internally as well as with business associates and customers globally.

AT&T has been using its own managed AT&T Telepresence Solution for over two years, and currently has more than 57 sites deployed in the U.S. and globally.

The opening of Bangalore Telepresence rooms is part of the planned US $1 billion global network investment in 2010. AT&T also expects to install additional Telepresence facilities in AT&T offices in Singapore and Hinjewadi in India later this year.

Gopi Gopinath, chairman and chief executive officer, AT&T Global Network Services India Pvt. Ltd., said: “Since launching the AT&T Telepresence Solution within our operations, we have experienced a significant improvement in collaboration across our business units and increased employee productivity. We have also seen the benefits of using Telepresence in working more closely with our customers and suppliers. The new Telepresence rooms in AT&T India’s Bangalore offices represent the latest milestone in AT&T’s efforts to expand our usage of telepresence globally.”

Prior to the opening of Bangalore facilities, AT&T demonstrated the Telepresence capability to customers at NASSCOM India Leadership Forum earlier this year. AT&T conducted a multipoint telepresence demonstration in India connecting several endpoints at AT&T Telepresence facilities in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The fully-managed AT&T Telepresence Solution provides customers with powerful and cost-effective collaboration tools to speed business transactions and time to market, improve relationships and collaboration, while reducing the impact of carbon emissions on the environment by reducing the need to travel for meetings. Such benefits are being recognized by more of our customers.

 Gopinath added:  “The Bangalore telepresence facilities present a great opportunity to showcase how efficient and cost-effective this solution is for our business partners and customers.”

Earlier, AT&T earlier announced bringing Telepresence to more companies in more locations by expanding its AT&T Telepresence Solution global footprint to customer sites in a total of 75 countries and territories.

This expansion includes the addition of twelve new countries where it offers its fully managed AT&T Telepresence Solution bundle and 37 additional countries where AT&T Telepresence Solution includes proactive remote monitoring of customer-owned videoconferencing equipment and access to the AT&T Business Exchange.

The fully managed AT&T Telepresence Solution bundle is a turn-key, scalable service offering an immersive "face to face" meeting experience. It also allows companies to collaborate with their employees, customers, suppliers and partners worldwide in a highly-reliable, cost-effective way and transform their business processes.

For more information, visit:  www.att.com/telepresence

Posted 5 July 2010. World leaders prefered face-to-face meetings when they gathered for the G8 and G20 Summits in Toronto Canada last month.

TelePresence saw only limited deployment during the recent G8 meetings. Members of the Youth Summit used a suite set up at the Marriot Hotel in Gravenhurst, Ont., to speak with reporters in Toronto at the G20 media centre.

For now, video conferencing is being used at big summits in complementary roles, such as preparatory and supplemental meetings, said Jeff Seifert, chief technology officer of Cisco Canada. At the Copenhagen conference, for example, about 150 extra meetings took place over TelePresence that wouldn't have otherwise occurred, he said

Cisco's TelePresence was used as recently as the Canadian western premiers meeting in Vancouver in June. It was also used at the Copenhagen climate talks last year, with suites connecting delegates to their home country and to  United Nations offices in Nairobi, Geneva and New York.

Communications experts aren't as quick to believe that the role of video conferencing will grow in large-scale summits such as the G20. While the costs savings, as well as the environmental benefits, are obvious, the technology just can't replace human interaction, said Sidneyeve Matrix, a professor of media and communications at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.

“Face to face is the most rich communications channel we can get. The technology will affect the dynamics of the meeting. We'll miss all sorts of nuances, like body language,” she said. “When you get a bunch of powerful people in one place it's a remarkable opportunity to have particular kinds of social relationships form and networking opportunities happen that you just simply cannot get when it's computer mediated.”

The other benefit of having the G20 meetings, she added, is there is a degree of transparency — if not to the public, then at least to journalists — that wouldn't exist if the leaders conducted their meetings in closed suites.

Source: Article "Can video conferencing stop G20 mayhem?" at www.kelowna.com

6 July 2010. London ExCeL, the international convention centre in East London, has selected Cisco to help it deliver the 'Ultimate Venue Experience' for exhibitors and delegates.

A network based on Cisco(R) technology will allow the centre to offer innovative collaboration services to help exhibitors extend audience reach, improve the quality of interactions with attendees, and increase the return on their investment in events.

 Using the network as the platform, ICC London ExCeL will be able to offer new 'on-site' and 'virtual' services to planners, such as video collaboration, web conferencing and digital signage. These services will help improve the quality of interactions with delegates and increase revenue streams by expanding the audience beyond those who can only attend in person.

ICC London ExCeL has deployed a venue-wide network with Cisco Catalyst(R) 6500 Series Switches, which support data, wireless local area network, voice over Internet Protocol and IPTV services. The network also supports high-definition video and mobility.

Advanced network-based technologies help improve the experience for delegates as well as increase or determine the value of events for exhibitors. For example, collaboration solutions like Cisco TelePresence (tm) give conference organisers the ability to invite     speakers from anywhere in the world without their needing to attend physically.

Cisco has chosen ICC London ExCeL as the venue for Cisco Live! in Europe, its annual industry event for European IT, networking and communications professionals, running from 31 January to 3 February  2011.

Amanda Jobbins, vice president, European Marketing, Cisco, commented: "Collaboration is not only driving a new wave of growth, productivity and innovation in and between companies, employees and customers but also transforming the way business is conducted at all levels.”

“Network-based technologies are radically changing the way we participate in events, both in person and virtually, helping exhibitors gain new levels of interest and engagement from their key audiences. ICC London ExCeL is setting itself apart as a particularly innovative venue for conferences and exhibitions, and Cisco looks forward to hosting its Cisco Live! conference at the ExCeL centre in January 2011."

1 July 2010. Cisco, with IT service provider Arsenal+, has deployed a video collaboration network connecting the offices of the Tyumen region’s Social Development Department across 25 districts in western Siberia using Cisco’s Tandberg portfolio of telepresence technologies.

In the short period since the video collaboration solution was implemented in November 2009, the department has already reduced transport expenses, accelerated management processes and — with new video-based training programs – helped raise the professional skills of its staff.

At the center of the video collaboration solution is a Tandberg Video Communication Server, which connects the benefits of video conferencing and telepresence to other communications environments, including unified communications and Internet Protocol telephony networks.

The department also deployed the Tandberg Codian IP VCR 2210, a high-performance, IP-based videoconference recording, playback and streaming system, and a Tandberg Codian MCU 4210 server, a powerful IP multimedia conferencing bridge that delivers high-quality voice and video with an easy-to-use, versatile interface.

Using the Tandberg Management Suite, the department can easily centralize control of on-site and remote video systems. The suite supports the management, deployment and scheduling of the entire video network, including telepresence, from one single product.

At the desktop, Tandberg Movi software provides the department with a cost-effective, easy-to-use video solution that allows employees to stay visually connected to colleagues. With only an existing PC or Mac and a USB camera, thousands of users in a video-enabled enterprise can connect from public spaces or remote offices whenever they need to do so.

In 2011, the Social Development Department plans to expand the network by installing Cisco’s Tandberg Quick Set C20 high-definition telepresence units in the central nodes, including the department and the regional family center.

Tandberg’s portfolio of offerings, now part of the Cisco TelePresence Technology Group, includes endpoints, infrastructure and cloud services capabilities that help provide compelling, innovative and easy-to-use collaboration applications for immersive, face-to-face virtual experiences.

1 July  2010.  SetFocus, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Learning Solutions, chose a set of Mirial desktop video conferencing products to meet its growing need for delivering distance training, recruiting remote students and staff and conducting virtual sales training and staff meetings.

SetFocus has been a leader in selecting, training and placing Microsoft professionals nationwide since 1997. SetFocus identifies skills gaps and develops programs that directly train and source skilled professionals to meet the immediate hiring needs of its partners. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Learning Solutions, SetFocus employs a unique hands-on learning curriculum and a combination of services to help organizations grow. SetFocus has ranked among the Inc. 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies in America for the last three years.

 SetFocus is provider of instructor-led IT training. SetFocus has been delivering its unique curriculum both in physical classes and through a virtual training solution. The use of innovative online learning infrastructure has given SetFocus the opportunity to offer its courses at more times, to more people, in more locations, without investing in additional classroom facilities or incurring significant travel expense.

Michael Simmons, President of SetFocus, said: "SetFocus has been using video-conferencing in our training and daily operations for over five years. Our students and staff depend on it daily for communication and collaboration. The quality and simplicity of Mirial technology will allow us to more easily and effectively deploy the solution to our growing number of students and corporate clients, enhancing our efforts to continue to build a borderless business."

Thanks to Mirial technology, any user with a webcam and a PC or Mac can take advantage of HD visual communication and collaborative work for interactive training and communication within the enterprise.

Cristoforo Mione, VP Marketing for Mirial, commented: "The need of giving students and teacher the same experience expected from face to face program pushed for the use of products enabling high quality synchronous audio/video communication. Mirial desktop video conferencing products are indeed designed to offer the smoothest experience in a simple and effective way".

Mirial (formerly DyLogic) is one of the world's premier providers of cutting-edge products for audio and video communication over convergent networks, and a pioneer in software-only desktop video conferencing since 1999. The company portfolio includes a comprehensive set of products enabling hosted interactive audio/video services on IP networks and professional SD and HD desktop video conferencing.

For further information visit:  www.mirial.com and www.setfocus.com.

5 July 2010. Anglian Water used Carillion Communications Ltd, a leading UK A/V systems integrator, to install 12 plasma screens and a new control system into their prestigious call centre offices in Lincoln.

Anglian Water approached Carillion Communications as they wanted the ability to display different messages on the numerous screens within their operational management centre and call centre, relating to operational risk and customer satisfaction.  They had the information but wanted it to be made visible to the whole department. 

Carillion recommended the installation of the plasmas together with a Mondo Matrix 16x16 System.  The pioneering Mondo Matrix is a full-matrix scalable Cat5 switch platform that switches and distributes video, audio and serial signals from source to displays over distances of up to two thousand feet.. This allows Anglian Water to communicate different messages on different screens all controlled by the Mondo Matrix in their communications room.  T

There are 150 people in the operational management centre on a 24/7 shift pattern and the readily viewable information enables handovers to become smoother and quicker at shift changes.

Tony McIntosh, Voice Network Engineer at Anglian Water’s Voice Network Infrastructure provider, explained: “Anglian Water had vital information that would benefit their operational and call centre teams and therefore their customers, but did not know how to show this visibly.  Carillion Communications recommended and installed the plasmas and the Mondo Matrix System.  We can now quickly show information such as how many jobs were completed to time and how many are still outstanding which in turn will help us increase customer satisfaction”.

Adrian Adams, Project Manager for Carillion Communications added: “We have been working very closely with Tony McIntosh and Anglian Water to ensure a smooth transition to this new system which provides updated information clearly and concisely to the people in the call centre. We used Calypso Encore software to create a simple interface to send the content to the screen. The ease with which new messages can be distributed to particular screens is a major benefit of this AV system. The positioning of the screens was critical to enable good visibility for everyone.“

Carillion are an audio visual solutions provider and systems integrator/ maintainer with substantial experience and expertise in the effective application of video conferencing and integration with complex audio visual installations. With a strong background in broadcast engineering, theyunderstand what installations should look and sound like.

For more information about Carillion, visit:  www.carillion.com

6 July 2010. The Corrections Department in New Zealand has retained Gen-i to provide an upgraded voice and data infrastructure, in a contract reportedly worth more than NZ $100 million. A NZ $40million Corrections applications development maintenance and support contract has gone to a consortium led by Optimation.

Gen-i’s contract also includes videoconferencing services, with potential to hold parole hearings and the like from jail, without the prison inmate having to journey to court.

A Gen-i spokesperson says Corrections Department will not make use of the company’s high-resolution “telepresence” style of videoconferencing under the current contract, but this possibility is being explored for the longer term over “the broader Justice sector”, including the Ministry of Justice and Police.

This would put Gen-i at centre-stage in the current controversy on the use of videoconferencing in a broader Justice context, with advocates demanding rights for accused to appear in Court live.

Gen-i will provide cloud services to Corrections under the five-year agreement, beginning with its ReadyCloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) offering, with longer-term business in cloud storage and backup. The change will begin in August and various pieces of work will be migrated at appropriate times over about the next 12 months.

The infrastructure deal is part of the impetus for an upgrade of Gen-i’s Wellington datacentre. The datacentre will now provide support for Wellington clients moving their workload into the cloud. These services were previously centred in Auckland.

The move fits with government’s broader intention to take advantage of cloud services, even adjusting legislation to accommodate the terms and conditions of international cloud providers. The Gen-i contract should allow Corrections’ cloud work to be kept substantially onshore.

According to Finance Minister Bill English, speaking earlier this month at a conference organised by the New Zealand Herald. “Corrections will be in two or three years the largest government department, bigger than the Ministry of Social Development or the Inland Revenue Department.”

Corrections chief information officer Jon Cumming commented: “The objective is to outsource functions to specialist providers that can work with us to meet our future IT needs, allowing Corrections to focus on our core function of improving public safety.”
 
The Optimation-led consortium, known as OHR, also includes India-based global services company HCL and business consulting and project management specialist Resultex. They will provide development and support services for the Integrated Offender Management System (IOMS), which Resultex implemented and has supported since 2005. Optimation migrated IOMS to .Net in 2009.

“The new arrangements with Gen-i and OHR are designed to give us the flexibility, knowledge and backup we need to support ongoing business transformation,” Cumming said

Source: Computerworld  New Zealand article by Stephen Bellon on 6 July, 2010

6 July 2010. Microsoft has launched a HD webcam - LifeCam HD-5000, a small device capable of delivering 720p video with a 16:9 aspect ratio at a respectable 30fps. The LifeCam uses an unusual flexible mounting to work either on a desk or clipped over a flat panel monitor – or even a laptop screen. It's more versatile than the plastic clip mounts  found on other cameras. one is were able to fit the camera to a sytem using a USB-enabled monitor to simplify connections.

HD webcams seem to be may be a luxury at the moment (although at £49.99 the LifeCam is surprisingly cheap for a luxury), but they'll soon become a necessity with the next generation of business communications software.

Microsoft used its TechEd 2010 event in New Orleans to unveil the HD features in Office Communications Server '14' and the next version of Office Communicator.

The bundled control software is easy to install and use, with tools for picking image resolution and for adjusting the microphone and brightness. There's also an anti-flicker option which will adjust the camera to avoid mains interference. Oddly the camera defaulted to the US mains frequency of 60Hz on a UKr test system, prompting a quick change to 50Hz.

Once the LifeCam was connected, one can configure Skype to use it.

The HD-5000's autofocus makes its easy to quickly send images of objects and documents. In a test using Skype video conferencing,one is able to read 7-point text easily, just by holding a document close to the camera. se.

The HD-5000 shows natural skin tones and white paper at all times. Getting light balance right in natural and artificial lighting is hard, and Microsoft's TrueColor works well.

Web conferencing is about more than just video, and the LifeCam boasts a workmanlike microphone. Voice quality was good over Skype, and we quickly made the LifeCam the default microphone on our test PC. There's some noise-cancelling capability, and reasonable off-axis reception, so we were able to use the camera as a basic teleconferencing microphone. Using the Skype test number to listen back to call quality we found that voices were clear, and noise from a (in)conveniently a passing helicopter was muted effectively.

To get the most out of communication and collaboration tools like these you're going to need to deploy budget-friendly devices – and the LifeCam HD-5000 fits that bill handsomely.

Source: Simon Bisson on ZDNet UK First Take Blog

5 July 2010. BT Conferencing have expanded their Unified Communications portfolio by adding Kontiki’s video solutions which includes live video webcasting and video on-demand services.

 The Kontiki video solutions will enable BT Conferencing to offer multi-national organizations the ability to quickly and cost effectively send broadcast quality video content to their employees' PC's regardless of which network they are on.

Some of the specific uses include:
- CEO all-hands town hall meetings – live video webcasting that reaches all employees for company-wide events and without the need for any network infrastructure upgrade;
- ‘Global Presence’ service – enabling the video conference to be watched as it is happening or to be watched it on-demand on a more convenient time;
- any live video broadcast to employees – for business unit executives, product managers, HR or the training department who need to reach a large audience of employees using video.

Aaron McCormack, CEO for BT Conferencing  commented that video is becoming a 'must have' tool for business communication programs, and the new BT solution offers a natural step for customers who are already using collaboration services and want to add or expand the use of live video webcasting or video on demand to their company-wide events.

Kontiki has claimed that their end-to-end Enterprise Video Platform provides all of the robust functionality enterprises want today – an integrated platform, multiple delivery options, enterprise-grade class security and analytics – all in a single complete suite.

With Kontiki, users get solutions for all-hands webcasts, executive communications, company newscasts, employee training, employee video portal and enterprise TV natively integrated from a single vendor. The platform can act as the infrastructure foundation any enterprise needs to support future enterprise video ubiquity.

Eric Armstrong, President and CEO for Kontiki added that the new service with BT Conferencing will deliver live video webcasting and video on demand to all of their customers' employees simply and easily.

Video is delivering real ROI in the enterprise and doesn't have to be complicated – it can be as easy as email with no impact on existing network traffic.

Kontiki is thrilled to help complete BT's leadership position within the Unified Communications category and leverage the growing demand for Unified Communications, enterprise video and social media, he added.

5 July 2010. Cisco's new Cius tablet has a 7-inch screen and weighs just 1.15 pounds (0.5 kilos). Cisco says the Cius tablet is designed to provide professionals with a specific platform for unified communications. It has a forward-facing HD video camera and a rear-facing 5 Megapixel camera. It can deliver high-quality video conferencing with its 720p video camera. 

The tablet can communicate over your choice of WiFi, 3G, or even 4G data networks. It has a detachable battery which Cisco claims should deliver eight hours of use.

You should be able to buy a Cius for portable videoconferencing in Q1 2011.  Its price is expected to be in the neighborhood of $1000.

Where the Cius may have the iPad beaten is in the enterprise market. "Apple is generally considered a consumer company, and many CIOs are hesitant to use Apple products because the company offers no enterprise road map, whereas other vendors do [though it does offer enterprise services]. Therefore, a competing tablet with similar capabilities from a trusted vendor is going to be attractive to CIOs," networking consultant Ryan Faas writes in Computerworld.

It may come down to user preference. "The truth is that for most hospitals and practices, there's really little difference between the Cius and the iPad [or a PC]," Faas says. As long as data on tablets are protected to HIPAA and state specifications, both platforms are fine for healthcare.”

 "With no major technical differences, the deciding factor between the Cius and the iPad may come down to what IT wants to purchase and support versus what physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers want. IT departments may feel more comfortable with the Cius because it is from a well-known vendor [especially since they're likely used to managing Cisco products].

When Bank Systems and Technology interviewed Wayne Mekjian, IS Head at Wells Fargo, these were the excerpts relating to the Cisco Cius.

“BS&T: Would you look at a new device, such as the Cisco Cius tablet, which seems to be geared toward internal, high-end telepresence, when it comes out?

Mekjian: Absolutely, we look at just about everything that comes on the market if we think it will help in those areas I just mentioned. I'm sure we'd run into areas of security and cost, but we would look at something like that.

BS&T: $1,000 per device seems a bit high, but might be worth it if you were doing a lot of videoconferencing.

Mekjian: It would be a lot if you bought one device per user, but if you gave it to people that travel in groups, like salespeople or executives, it would be a nice way for them to communicate without forcing them into a room. There are a lot of good uses for something like that that wouldn't have to be at the individual level.”

Posted 6 July 2010. According to articles by Patrick Hoge who covers technology in the San Francisco Business Times, Andy Miller’s performance as the new CEO of  Polycom has been well received on Wall Street. “He came in and really shook things up,” said Jason Ader a stock analyst with William Blair & Co.. “It’s had a very large impact, and I think we’ve only seen the beginning of it.”

In another article on www.dailyfinance.com, Andy Miller is quoted as saying: "The industry is at an inflection point. In the past, video communications was mostly a boardroom technology, but that is rapidly changing." Miller expects Polycom to grow about 40% this year. IDC (IDC) predicts the compound annual growth rate for the industry for the next five years will be about 23%, roughly twice as fast as during the previous five. So Polycom is aiming at increasing its share of the markets it serves.

Polycom had laid off 150 people in the first quarter of 2009 and started 2010 with 2,720 employees. Now Polycom is adding 920 people this year. It has already hired about 400 employees, and plans to hire 520 more by year’s end. About 100 of those hires are slated for the company’s three Bay Area locations, including its Pleasanton headquarters.

The new hires so far include about 200 “high touch” sales people, including systems engineers and architects, and 150 people in Research and Development. Miller is also doubling the size of the company’s executive staff, adding a chief strategy officer, chief technical officer and head of European operations, among other positions.

Polycom plans to build 16 costly product demonstration centers around the world to help sales.

 According to Patrick Hoge, Polycom is positioning itself as a champion of open standards and interoperability, painting Cisco in particular as a less-flexible, closed system. The company is planning a rebranding campaign, and currently has requests for proposals out with three large branding firms.

Company officials say Miller was the prime mover behind the Polycom Open Collaboration Network, an evolving interoperability and resales initiative announced in January 2010 that now includes partnerships with Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, IBM, Siemens, Juniper, BroadSoft and Avaya.

Miller says video communications will get another boost as mobile communication hardware and networks become more robust. For example, Apple's iPhone 4 has a front-facing camera, which will pave the way for the videophone as a mass-market mobile app for consumers and enterprises alike.

A few months ago there was speculation that like Tandberg and LifeSize, Polycom would be acquired. But Andy Miller, whose background is in marketing and sales and who was also a top executive at Cisco, threw cold water on the idea, insisting Polycom can go it alone and would likely be acquiring companies itself. Polycom finished the first quarter with $470 million in cash and investments and no debt.

Polycom appears to have changed its approach. It is becoming more confident of its future and much more aggressive. At the same time, the markets in which the company operates now have more players and Polycom faces stiffer competition.

(1) In the United States, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today awarded more than $62.5 million in federal stimulus funding through its Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) to a group of national research and education networking organizations including Internet2 (also known as University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development), National LambdaRail (NLR), Indiana University, and the Northern Tier Network Consortium. In collaboration with technology companies Ciena, Cisco, Infinera, and Juniper Networks, the group proposes the construction of the United States Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN), an advanced 100 Gigabit per second network backbone that will link regional networks across the nation, including other projects funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The NTIA grant will be supplemented with an additional $34.3 million in contributions from the proposal partners and suppliers.

U.S. UCAN`s coast-to-coast advanced infrastructure will, in partnership with regional and state research and education networks, connect America`s community anchor institutions—schools, libraries, community colleges, health centers and public safety organizations—to enable advanced applications not possible with today`s typical Internet service. U.S. UCAN fills a critical gap, linking community anchor institutions together into an open, national network with next-generation capabilities, operated with end-to-end transparency and the high levels of performance uniquely suited to the needs of this community.

U.S. UCAN will ensure that life-changing applications such as telemedicine and distance learning are available to all community anchor institutions, including those in areas previously considered too remote or economically depressed to support advanced network services. Led by the same research and education networking community that has already connected 66,000 community anchors through partnerships across public and private sectors, U.S. UCAN will prepare Americans—now and in the future—to compete successfully in an increasingly competitive global economy.

The network will offer its services to community anchors nationwide through a new not-for-profit organization (also called U.S. UCAN), which will be directed and governed by a partnership of the research and education networking community and representatives of community anchor institutions. In essence, the network will be owned and directed by its stakeholders. As a first priority, U.S. UCAN will make sure that it meets the needs established by its governing body of community anchors.

U.S. UCAN provides a jumpstart in implementing the FCC National Broadband Plan released in March 2010 which recommends the development of a unified network dedicated to community anchor institutions that builds on the extensive investment the research and education community has already made in national network infrastructure and leverages the human expertise and collaborations that have already developed to greatly accelerate the delivery of broadband to all of the nation`s community anchor institutions.

(2) Telekom Austria is looking ahead to LTE to divert the flood of data, announcing the successful trial of a high definition videoconferencing platform in Vienna. Telekom said technical engineers on in a bus in Vienna made LTE calls to their counterparts in the provincial capitals of Graz, Klagenfurt, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck using a telepresence videoconfering system, which supports life-size images with an ultra-high-definition video signal.

Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO of Telekom Austria Group said that the firm’s mobile network has registered a 250-fold increase in its monthly data volumes over the past five years. Meanwhile, mobile broadband customers have reached more than 500,000 subscribers, which represents a seven-fold increase since 2006. The LTE trial will sit alongside HSPA+ and the company’s fixed net infrastructure to help Telekom effectively work with an increased surge in traffic volumes and multimedia and data-hungry applications.

“We expect data volumes to continue to surge going forward,” Ametsreiter said. “Such sharp rises in data traffic will only be able to be managed by combining the latest mobile and fixed net technologies based on so-called air-to-fibre solutions. LTE will meet the significant future capacity requirements of mobile usage. “AirToFiber” enables the transfer of large data volumes most efficiently,” he said.

(1) AVI-SPL has announced that it realized its largest growth to-date in video-related revenue during the first five months of 2010. The growth in revenue can be attributed to a stronger focus on video communications solutions and the growing demand for Telepresence solutions and the associated video infrastructure.

AVI-SPL recently won the company’s single largest video contract valued at more than $2 million, which includes six Telepresence rooms and more than two dozen HD video systems, plus multi-point bridges, firewall traversal equipment, gatekeepers and AVI-SPL’s VNOC managed services for the system.

 Don Mastro, executive vice president of sales, said: “It is great to see how our whole sales organization has responded and the tremendous growth we are achieving as a result. Our customers and partners are becoming increasingly aware of our depth and capabilities as it relates to video communications and we expect continued strong growth in this segment for the remainder of the year.”

AVI-SPL is focused on helping people meet and communicate, whether in an office environment between a few people, a large stadium where tens of thousands of fans want to hear and see the action, or a command and control center monitoring global activity. AVI-SPL is uniquely positioned to prvide expertise across all audio and video technologies.

(2) GeckoSystems Intl. Corp.www.geckosystems.com/) announced today that they are now soliciting retail dealers for their first product, an elder care capable personal assistant robot, the CareBot™.

GeckoSystems is a dynamic leader in the emerging Mobile Service Robot industry revolutionizing their development and usage with "Mobile Robot Solutions for Safety, Security, and Service™.

"In the last few months, as a result of our on going in home elder care robot trials, we have received numerous inquiries as to the criteria we will be using to select continental U.S. retailers to sell our CareBots. We will be qualifying our resellers, both domestic and international, very carefully due to our strategy of using limited distribution, much like that of the automotive industry," announced Martin Spencer, President/CEO, GeckoSystems Intl. Corp.

He added: "They will enjoy satisfying and sufficient margins to compensate for the high level of service they will be expected to provide all their CareBot customers. As long as they attain our mutually agreed upon annual sales quota and customer satisfaction criteria, they will be able to maintain their geographic exclusive and the profits they deserve for their diligent efforts in the sales and service of this new home appliance."

(1)  ACT Conferencing has extended its contract with AB&T Telecom, a national telecommunications master agent headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, as AB&T increases its focus on conferencing services.

Founded in 1963, AB&T Telecom is a master service provider in telecommunications, cloud computing and converged technology solutions. AB&T works with 500+ value-added resellers, agents and consultants across the U.S. to deliver voice, data, SaaS, Internet and wireless network solutions to business and government customers. As a result, AB&T Telecom, in collaboration with ACT, is launching a series of education and training initiatives to enable AB&T reseller partners to even more efficiently offer ACT Conferencing services to their customers.

(2)  AT&T hasr announced bringing Telepresence to more companies in more locations by expanding its AT&T Telepresence Solution global footprint to customer sites in a total of 75 countries and territories.

This expansion includes the addition of twelve new countries where it offers its fully managed AT&T Telepresence Solution bundle and 37 additional countries where AT&T Telepresence Solution includes proactive remote monitoring of customer-owned videoconferencing equipment and access to the AT&T Business Exchange.

(3) Glowpoint, Inc.has made two additions to the Glowpoint management team focused on the company's technology advancement efforts. Anil Balani joins Glowpoint as Senior Vice President, Product Development; and Shane Bouslough as Vice President, Information Systems. Both executives have previous experience building and managing technology in the Unified Communications (UC) sector, and will play critical roles in driving Glowpoint's service portfolio in the rapidly expanding Telepresence and videoconferencing market.

Balani will be overseeing all aspects of R&D and product management with a primary focus on advancing Glowpoint's hosted, cloud-based platform delivering global open access to a full suite of managed video services across unified communications technologies and networks. Bouslough will be focused on the company's system and operational support development initiatives, as well as sales channel support systems.

(1) England’s official football ambassador David Beckham is going to make himself available to answer questions from fans in a web cast on the global website Yahoo! at 14:30 BST on Wednesday 14 July 2010. Over 90 minutes an interview with Beckham will be beamed live via video linkup on Yahoo. he will answers questions asked by fans in England and 20 other countries worldwide.

Fans from each country will interact with David Beckham through video utilising Cisco’s TelePresence high definition video suites.

Earlier this month, David Beckham signed a global sponsorship deal to serve as Yahoo!’s Global Sports Ambassador.

Yahoo is asking it’s 600 million users around the world to think of the one question they would like to ask the footballing icon and to submit them live during the event through Yahoo! Mail, Beckham’s Facebook page, the Yahoo! World Football Facebook page and Twitter.

Beckham said: “It’s always great interacting with fans, but I’ve never been part of an interview quite like this – being able to take questions direct from people in 18 different countries across five continents. It’s definitely a first for me.”

(2) Excerpts from a Conferencing News  Interview with Ben Chodor of Stream57 now part of InterCall.

Question: Congratulations to you and Stream57 in getting acquired by InterCall. Why did you decide to be acquired?

Ben Chodor: When InterCall approached us, we were not looking to be acquired; ... . We were at a point where we could have taken on some outside funding to continue our growth ... On a pure business slant, as InterCall is the largest conferencing company in the world with an extremely large dynamic sales force, their level of access and global resources can enable us to achieve our original goal. Our management team thought the synergies and the opportunity was ideal. ...

Question: How will the Stream57 acquisition benefit InterCall?

Ben Chodor:: InterCall didn't own a streaming product, instead contracted out all of their software needs. The buy enabled InterCall to truly benefit from Stream57's webcasting and rich-media software suite, as well as our expertise in the industry. As this field continues to grow and streaming gets solidified as a major part of corporate communications, the sale helps InterCall to continue as the unified communications leader.

Question: What will happen to the brand name of "Stream57"?

Ben Chodor:: Over time, our streaming software will be integrated fully into the InterCall suite of applications and the Stream57 brand will be InterCall's development arm. We will continue to lead the field in developing virtual event, webcasting and streaming technologies.

Question: What goes into the production of a typical web event for a Stream57 client? What are the range of services you provide around an actual event?

Ben Chodor: This is a great question, but also one that can be answered in many different ways. Stream57 has three kinds of clients: those that ask us to produce their events from start to finish, including customizing the interface, hiring video crews or studios, encoding the video on-site, facilitating and supplying tech support.

Then there are the "power users" who can handle most of the programming and managing the events themselves, but still need us to host the content and supply a la carte services like technical support and video production. Last are the licensed clients who manage 100 percent of events on their own and simply use our streaming technology. All three kinds of clients play an important role in the growth of our technology and how we stay at the front of the industry.

(1) A new study by Frost & Sullivan (http://www.conferencing.frost.com) entitled "World Enterprise Telephony Platform and Endpoint Markets", finds that the market earned revenues of $7.77 billion in 2009.

The world enterprise telephony platform and endpoint market is estimated to have shipped 37.3 million enterprise telephony lines, 12.6 million units of Internet protocol (IP) desktop phones, and 12 million IP desktop communication clients in 2009.

Although 2009 was a very challenging year, it was also characterized by landmark events that will have a long-term effect on both technology evolution and competitive dynamics. On the negative side, the 2009 economic turmoil caused the sales of almost all major enterprise telephony vendors to decline at double-digit rates. It also speeded the collapse of Nortel Networks.

Although the effect of the recession is expected to linger for another 12 to 18 months, 2010 promises to be better than 2009 in terms of world demand for telephony solutions. IT and communications spending will pick up steam in 2010 for North America and in 2011 and 2012 in Europe.

Asia Pacific, Central America, and Latin America will probably have smoother transitions, with growth expected in the coming years.

Q3 2010

8 July 2010 at at mvision's TANDBERG Telepresence Suite in Central London,
Breakfast Meeting from 09:00 - 11:00 hours covering topics such as:
An Introduction to Telepresence; Justifying the Cost of Telepresence; Telepresence Managed Services; and How Telepresence Fits Into the Bigger Communication Picture.
Register at: http://www.telepresence-forum.co.uk/

8 to 11 July 2010 at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
The 5th International Carers Conference 2010: “New Frontiers in Caring”
Key international speakers from business, health and technology sectors will consider how to prevent a worldwide social care crisis in a generation's time.
Visit their website: http://www.carersuk.org

28 to 30 September 2010 at the St. Julien Hotel, Boulder, Colarado, 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/

Q4 2010

13, 14 & 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