I'm currently in charge of trying to find a end high solutions for our video conferencing needs. I made a thread a few weeks back about looking for solutions but they weren't what we wanted and are too small scale.

We're looking to go beyond the simple webcam in front of your PC setup and go with the full conference room with LCDs and the whole 9 yards. We need to have people on the road dialing in, as well as international people dialing in. We need to be able to see every person that dials into us and carry on a meeting.

My boss and I are interested in seeing what other companies are doing. We'd like to sit in on a meeting or view a demo one Friday afternoon or a time of convenience. We'll sign confidentiality agreements, etc.

Send me a PM if you can help.

2/20/2009 9:41:44 AM

cisco TelePresence

[Edited on February 20, 2009 at 9:45 AM. Reason : although i can't help with the demo part]

2/20/2009 9:44:31 AM

Quote :

"cisco TelePresence"

2/20/2009 9:53:36 AM

Quote :

"cisco TelePresence"

Is the ultimate solution. From the little I know, it has a reported initial cost of 80-400k, with monthly metering costs of a few thousand bucks monthly (for the dedicated 10-30mbit of bandwith needed)

http://www.microsoft.com/uc/default.mspx

It's a little cheaper, and offers a lot more than JUST conferencing. Okay, a LOT cheaper. I use it everyday, and while it admittedly has a LOT of quirks, it is worlds better than any conferencing solution I've used in the past.

One-click meeting setup from Outlook, phone+internet+mobile access, IM integration, lots of really neat things that actually improve productivity. And if you call em up, they'll have a demo at your door

Yeah yeah, I'm a company man

[Edited on February 20, 2009 at 2:53 PM. Reason : ]

2/20/2009 2:52:08 PM

so when is ms going to write a silverlight plugin for *nix systems running firefox?

2/20/2009 2:58:54 PM

http://timheuer.com/blog/archive/2009/01/06/silverlight-install-on-linux-moonlight.aspx

Microsoft won't write it. The point of Silverlight is it's an open distribution platform. Anyone can write a client for any OS using the platform.

2/20/2009 3:18:06 PM

We use webex for virtual training, not sure if they have a Video solution.

2/20/2009 3:28:20 PM

Based on what you described, you should actively look into Telepresence.

2/20/2009 3:46:43 PM

NCSU uses a lot of Polycom stuff: http://www.polycom.com/solutions/index.html

They have a very wide range of solutions, ranging to the 10s of thousands of $$$ depending on what you want to do.

2/20/2009 4:36:53 PM

^ To echo the above - polycom also has some solutions for say, a single-user webcam interface which can link in to a more sophisticated office teleconference; possibly a good solution for your users on the road.

2/20/2009 4:59:57 PM

^We use Polycom internally for almost everything, linked into the UCS system. However, it's all being phased out slowly as everything moves toward virtual digital devices (roundtable, integrated webcams, IP telephony)

2/20/2009 5:35:16 PM

we use http://www.lifesize.com
i like it... it works and very easy to use, we have it on a mobile tv stand and can move it from one conference room to another with ease. all our offices have one.

2/20/2009 7:20:55 PM

Cisco TelePresence is best but if you don't want to go that high scale you could do a simple Cisco/Radvision MCU that will do SCCP or H323 video conferencing. Can do adhoc as well and is very easy to configure.


TelePresence is awesome though and way worth the money in my opinion. If you call up I am sure someone at cisco can setup a demo for you.

2/21/2009 11:38:04 AM

webex if you cant afford telepresence. we're putting telepresence in at work and that shit is expensive as fuck even if you're partner

2/21/2009 5:20:51 PM