The intelligent video network: Telepresence
Though video communications have made significant progress toward establishing multi-vendor interoperability, extending the features of a rich immersive telepresence experience -- both internally and externally has made keeping pace with innovations in this space an ongoing challenge. This expert E-Guide identifies emerging telepresence and collaboration trends and best practices to ensure a consistent experience. By: Irwin Lazar Video conferencing continues to enjoy a strong and growing presence in the enterprise. To back up that claim, Nemertes Research survey data indicates that more than 85% of companies have deployed room-based or immersive telepresence systems, enabling groups of individuals to see each other regardless of location. Of that 85%, however, the vast majority (79.6%) have done so for less than 10% of their employees. As a telepresence trend on the rise, desktop video conferencing -- which doesn't require traveling to the telepresence room -- has been slower to catch on. Enterprise concerns about managing network bandwidth demands are increasing as vendors enable desktop video access to immersive telepresence sessions. While it's relatively easy to engineer a network to support fixed room installations, it's much more difficult to predict network demands from desktop users with the capability to initiate high-definition (HD) video chat to any telepresence room, regardless of location. Then, beyond even the video outpost of the desktop, the extension of telepresence sessions to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets adds stress to the corporate wireless local area network (WLAN). Preventing video sessions from negatively impacting other applications typically requires an Page 2 of 7
application delivery optimization that leverages Quality of Service (QoS), call admission control, compression and rate shaping. For IT managers creating corporate video conferencing strategies, the key concerns remain centered on bandwidth requirements, performance management, interoperability and extensibility. Grappling with high-stakes telepresence performance management Perhaps a bigger challenge is performance management for telepresence systems, given the high corporate profile these services typically enjoy. When the CEO is using telepresence to conduct critical company business, no one wants a performance problem to get in the way. This is why IT shops often turn to third-party organizations for managed services rather than build out their own capabilities. Often it's cheaper to leverage someone else's tools and expertise than to develop your own. Despite the availability of open standards like Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for multimedia user sessions, H.323 for videoconference transmission over IP, and H.264 for video compression, interoperability is still a challenge for telepresence, especially for multiscreen systems with directional acoustics and active speaker switching. Most telepresence vendors implement proprietary protocols to deliver these features. Cisco recently released its Telepresence Interoperability Protocol (TIP) for others to leverage, and Polycom has already delivered TIP interoperability for its HDX, OTX and RPX telepresence platforms. Yet groups including the Unified Communications Interoperability Forum (UCIF) and the Open Visual Communications Consortium (OVCC) continue to work to improve interoperability among vendor telepresence systems. Extending video beyond the corporate firewall is key demand Finally, extensibility beyond the firewall is increasingly the leading driver for video demand. More than 47% of companies are using extranet videoconferencing services to enable their employees to engage in video conferences with those outside the organization. Many IT leaders tell us that their investments in telepresence are predicated on the ability to hold Page 3 of 7
conferences that extend beyond corporate boundaries. Here again, most turn to third parties that can establish connections, provide management services and handle interoperability challenges for disparate endpoints. Tackling bandwidth and performance management, while enabling interoperability and extensibility, remain the keys to a successful telepresence. IT managers should work with vendors and seek out partners to overcome these challenges to support growing demand. By: Irwin Lazar It's hard to find a device that has enjoyed as much rapid success in the consumer market as the ipad, and as a result, it has quickly entered the enterprise. With amazing speed, the ipad's video capabilities are infiltrating enterprise but must be managed by IT and network managers, not just tolerated. According to Nemertes Research survey data, more than 74% of companies either allow or directly support ipad use, while 7% are developing internal applications to take advantage of its user interface. After its release in 2011 the ipad 2, with its front- and rear-facing cameras, became a viable enterprise device, offering opportunities for improved collaboration and business processes and applications, as well as usability and performance-management challenges. Vendors of solutions have noticed the ipad's video capabilities. Numerous consumer vendors, including Skype and FriendCaller (as well as Apple itself), deliver cloud-based videoconferencing services for the ipad. Enterprise-focused vendors like LifeSize, Mirial, NEC, Polycom, Radvision and Vidyo have extended their video conferencing portfolios to include ipad clients. Page 4 of 7
As a result, enterprise IT buyers are increasingly looking for videoconferencing solutions to support the ipad and other consumer mobile devices as part of their product evaluation criteria. Sixty-three percent of IT buyers now consider consumer mobile device support "critical" or "very important" in choosing video solutions, according to Nemertes enterprise survey results. Tablets' video capabilities beyond conferencing Beyond conferencing, a growing number of companies are using the video capabilities of tablets to improve specific business processes. Examples? One large manufacturing firm equipped its quality-control inspectors with ipads to video record product tests. Some insurance firms are using ipads to record assessments. Utility companies use ipads to establish two-way video between field crews and supervisors, and medical teams are using ipads for remote diagnosis and collaboration. Incorporating ipads into a video -- think usability Successfully incorporating ipads into an enterprise requires addressing usability challenges. Offer ipad education. One IT leader said conferencing with ipad users was "like riding on a roller coaster" due to ipad movement, and said all he saw was the bottom of his employees' noses. As a prerequisite for success, educate employees on the need to properly position the tablet in a fixed location and have the proper lighting. Check network impact. Another key challenge is managing performance and network impact, including bandwidth management. Most video clients require video over Wi-Fi, which puts additional strain on an increasingly taxed wireless LAN infrastructure. Network operators must provide ample capacity, and potentially leverage Quality of Service (QoS) and call admission control, to limit video's impact on the network, or investigate services based on the H.264 Scalable Video Coding protocol, which is more forgiving of poorly performing networks. Buy the right tools. Finally, network managers must invest in tools that will enable them to troubleshoot ipad video problems. Simply telling Page 5 of 7
employees that it's a "best effort" service may work in the short term, but eventually some executive will call the help desk for support. If IT managers do their homework up front, pay attention to network and performance issues, and help educate business units on the possibility of video-capable tablets to improve business processes, not only will their users thank them, but they may end up improving their company's bottom line. Page 6 of 7
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