Instant Messaging and HD Video Conferencing
In a down economy, travel budgets shrink and global face-to-face
meetings become harder to justify. Many of our clients look to a variety
of communication technologies to reduce travel costs and to facilitate
communication and collaborate between locations and parties.
Most companies are used to conference calls. Now a much wider variety
of communication tools are available: Instant Messaging,
Instant-Paging, Web Meetings, Video-Conferencing, and
High-Definition (HD) Video Conferencing can all be
integrated and available as communication tools. There are also multiple
levels of sophistication within each of these areas. Video-conferencing
can be done at a desktop level with personal web cameras or in highly
sophisticated conference rooms with “telepresenceâ€
capabilities.
True High-Definition Video Conferencing has picture resolutions of
1080i or 720p. Resolutions other than these are not truly
High-Definition. High-Definition will provide a clearer, sharper picture
over legacy standard-definition (SD) analog television video
conferencing. Also, because HD transmits much more data than SD, the
screen you see the other participants on can also typically be much
larger than regular TV screens.
There are many requirements and elements to consider with HD Video
Conferencing. Are all of your endpoints HD-compatible? If not, the
experience will differ greatly for the meeting participants at each
location. The HD also requires a higher level of bandwidth over the
network to transmit its data. You may need to assess your network
capacity and decide, even if your existing network can handle the higher
traffic volume, whether you want to clog up your regular-user network
with HD data. Do you want to transmit data on your HD calls? Powerpoint
and other documents can be shared with all call participants, but video
requires even more bandwidth. Audio is often an afterthought on video
conferencing calls. You do not want call participants to strain to hear
or be heard. There are multiple audio options available ranging from
separate phones with microphones, which can be spread across the table,
to fully integrated, bi-directional microphones and speakers to deliver
stereo surround to all participants at all locations.
Lastly, reliability and support are critical factors. You need your
meetings to be as predictable as a regular dial-tone. If video hookup
can't be achieved, you need to know immediately what your options are
for troubleshooting and controls at each location. Without having put a
plan in place, unreliable technologies will quickly lose support.
JCS can help you navigate the range of solutions and vendors in the
HD video-conferencing marketplace, and help you match your various
business audiences and needs with the wide variety of options and
budgets. We can also help you implement the solutions.
Follow this link for more information on our
System Selection and Integration capabilities.