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Video Conferencing
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Author:  JohnSheridan [ Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Video Conferencing

I have just been asked to see how easy/hard it would be for our company to start using video conferencing instead of flying guys all around the world.

To be honest I have never done this so am open to suggestions/help!

We have, in the boardroom, a nice 50" plasma TV (which I assume I could use with a webcam?) along with a computer and broadband/network points.

Suggestions/thoughts?

Author:  rustybucket [ Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Video Conferencing

I would look at have a contractor install and maintain it.

The initial outlay might be a bit steeper but I imagine the TCO would be lower

Try these http://www.penninetelecom.com/ - I know the MD.

Author:  Coref [ Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Video Conferencing

A normal webcam would look cr@p on a TV that large so you may have to go for some specialist solution.

The HD polycoms my work use are pretty good, but I have no idea how much they cost. The Halo we have is also amazing but at £20k/month shockingly expensive.

Author:  big_D [ Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Video Conferencing

I am currently looking at oovoo.com as a way of doing it.

We looked at ivisit, but it had problems getting through the firewall... :?

GoToMeeting is very good, but doesn't give video - that said, sharing your desktop and showing a presentation or showing data, demoing software etc. is possibly more useful. oovoo should also do something similar.

GTM is around $40 a month, oovoo is $8 per user (computer) per month, for a 3-way conference, going up to 8 or 12 way, I think. We have 3 sites we need to link and I have a budget of zero, so it is "challenging", working out a good solution.

Skype is great for 1-1, but can't cope with more than one video connection, going to 3 or more participants is audio only.

GTM goes all the way up to thousands of participants, oovoo is more limited, but for a limited number of attendees, it seems to be a good solution - don't let the personal chat look of the initial website put you off. The free version of oovoo includes advertising, which can be annoying, but the paid versions are ad free.

I specced out a nice little setup with 3 computers, 3 projectors, 3 web cams, 3 conference microphones (with built in noise cancellation and speakers, essentially a USB / Bluetooth version of a normal telephone conference device). But it got dropped down to the cheapest pair of loud speakers I could find and the webcams... :? Even the 3 Pentium D computers I tried to spec (I wanted C2D, but knew they would be too expensive) were thrown out, I have to reuse Athlon XP 1.2Ghz machines! :?

Author:  JJW009 [ Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Video Conferencing

Did you come up with a solution? We've been asked several times for similar packages. We do SIP hard and soft phones that support 2 way video, but we don't have anything for a multi-way conference yet.

I've seen various options and I've considered coding my own web based solution on our server which has a 100Meg internet connection, but I don't want to waste time reinventing the wheel and I value your opinion.

Author:  big_D [ Sun Feb 28, 2010 5:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Video Conferencing

We are going with Skype for 1-1 and oovoo for multi-way - although some users prefer Gotomeeting for sharing desktops (why do I need to see the person I'm talking to, I just need to show them how to do something).

oovoo works very nicely, but you have to pay for the 3- or more way video service, the free accounts are piled up with adverts. So we went with a paid version for the conference room and the management who want 1-1 meetings get a corporate Skype account (free account, you can create all the accounts you want and manage them centrally).

Author:  JJW009 [ Sun Feb 28, 2010 5:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Video Conferencing

Thanks. I'll have another look at oovoo. MeBeam and TokBox are others I'm looking at, but an in-house solution is still a possibility. If it ever happens I'll let y'all trial it :D

Author:  AlunD [ Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Video Conferencing

Apparently this is worth looking at as well. http://www.mvision.co.uk/

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