There is an old expression in videoconferencing: you can have a videoconference without video but you can’t have a videoconference without audio. Luckily, audio systems have progressed to the point where echos and feedback are not really a concern in designing and installing a system. However, mics continue to be a problem–where to run the wires, how to get the mics close enough to the speaker, noise from air handling systems, interference from cell phone and smart phone transmissions, etc, etc. Read the full story

Each major videoconferencing vendor offers a program to help schools and colleges write grants to obtain equipment; see list below. Often these efforts will focus on the USDA’s RUS grant program, which is highly competitive but has also funded lots of I-TV/Distance Learning projects. Getting assistance in your grant writing effort is a good idea and all of these vendors have capable people that we can put you in touch with. However, organizations should realize that if you have Brand X help you write your grant application, Brand X will make sure that all of your technical requirements are written so that Brand X is the only choice. This is the reverse of the normal process of securing fundings and then making a product selection. Instead organizations that use these services need to first evaluate the available products and select a solution, and then go to the maker of that solution for help with grant writing. As a dealer experienced in the usage of all three major product lines in the videoconferencing world, we can help you evaluate and choose the most appropriate technology for your applications.

• Polycom® Grant Assistance Program
• TANDBERG’s Grant Services Team
• The LifeSize® Grant Assistance Program

Video communications has been around for years. Whether you consider the first viable videoconferencing system to be the system that AT&T’s debuted at the world’s fair in the late 60s, or Cornel’s CuSeeMe application, or the Polycom Viewstation, there is no doubt that the technology for interacting visually with a person or persons who are geographically distant from you has existed for a long period of time.

When videoconferencing systems moved from ISDN to IP in the late 90s and early 00s, it opened up the videoconferencing world in many important ways, namely driving down the cost of making a connection. But ISDN had one big advantage: a national dialing plan. With IP, there is no one standard system for calling. Yes, every system has an IP address, but many systems are behind firewalls and have to be NATed, others are using a firewall transversal devices or gateways, and most are registered to their organization’s gatekeeper and use their own scheme for E.164 numbers, etc. Likewise, other resources that one might want to use in a video call (MCUs, video recording devices, gateways and gatekeepers, etc) take more than just knowing the IP address to access (for some good reasons). The so-called unified communications solutions have only been able to unify communications within an organization and often at great expense compared to the increase in productivity that they provide.

In the fall of 09, we saw the first traditional videoconferencing device (the LifeSize passport) with built in support for Skype in the endpoint itself. And today at CES, numerous vendors are announcing lcd displays with a built in camera and built in Skype capabilities (http://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/01/ces-2010-skype-hd-arrives-on-tv-screens-193540). In a month or two, you will be able to purchase an HD videoconferencing system at your local Best Buy. It seems clear to me that Skype is becoming the national dialing plan for video communications, allowing laptops, display appliances (like those being announced at CES), and room conferencing systems to exist together. It won’t be long until every video system from the major makers (Polycom, Tandberg, Lifesize, etc)–perhaps with the exception of Cisco whose profit margins are dependent on remaining proprietary–will offer Skype capabilities built in. Expect video streaming/recording devices to also be compatible with Skype as well.

What I think we are seeing here is the dawn of videoconferencing 2.0: the ubiquitous integration of video systems of different form factors on one network, from telepresence rooms to cell phones. Is Skype the best system/network to support videoconferencing 2.0? It doesn’t matter, because Skype has the critical mass in the marketplace. If Skype is good enough for Oprah, it is good enough for you. Skype has already become a verb in our culture, much the same way as google has. “I’ll skype you tomorrow.”, “Just Skype me later today and we’ll talk about it”.

What will this mean for distance learning? A lot, I think. For one, it will open up lots of doors for truly blended forms of distance learning–online courses can have a weekly discussion section via Skype every week. This could be a great boon from not just the student perspective, but also the instructor side. Teaching online is hard and many instructors have been reluctant to do so, but a blended course feels more like a traditional course and can give the one-on-one visual interaction with students that they need to feel comfortable. For traditional I-TV courses, it will open up new locations and opportunities for gaining students (and teachers). How else? You tell me…

Below is a short, but reliable, listing of test sites. If you’d like to load into your addressbook, this list is also included in a .csv file and can be downloaded below. To load into your lifesize unit, download your current address book, merge it with this file and upload back to your lifesize unit. If you need assistance with doing this, contact Scott at jsc@kalvideo.com .

Test Sites

• Name: Aquarium HD
  • Address: fishtank.lifesize.com

• Name: Gumballs
  • Address: gumballs.lifesize.com

• Name:  PicturePhone
  • Address: 64.132.48.70

• Name:  VTC-CALLBACK (Not HD)
  • Address: 71.14.2.158

• Name:  Washington DC (Not HD)
  • Address: 64.47.22.10

• Name:  Wisconsin Test Center (Not HD)
  • Address: 205.213.68.147

• Name:  Kaleidoscope (Call to Schedule first (573-424-4254)
  • Address: 216.106.29.103

• Name:  Polycom HDX 8000
  • Address: 140.242.250.205

Files

• Click here for a .csv file that you can integrate into your addressbook .

Have a High Definition (LifeSize, Polycom, or other brand) site that can be used for testing? Please share ! Just respond with a comment below and I’ll add to the list.

Need to simply your installation? Tired of looking through a hundred pieces of literature in an attempt to make sure that everything you purchase is compatible? Worried that you’ll forget something? Well, then our new LifeSize Kits are what you need. They include everything that you need to get up and running with the best High Definition Videoconferencing System available today at the same great pricing. Check it out at by clicking here.