MorganCaywood

Conferencing Solutions

Videoconferencing Options

Overview

InView Videoconferencing is an entire line of products and services specifically tailored toward the video conferencing customer.  InView offers the following types of services:

Multipoint Video Conferencing Service

This is the primary video conferencing model today.  If you have your own video conferencing equipment, but require a service provider for scheduling services, call launch services (point-to-point or multi-point through a bridge, launched by InterCall), and reporting services. 

The Video Conferencing Service allows customers to utilize our videoconferencing infrastructure to connect as few as 2 participants and as many as 100+ participants to one video conference.  By utilizing us, you do not need to purchase you own video bridge, nor have people on staff that handle the video conferencing bridging and/or scheduling.

• Public Video Room Rental
• Video Equipment Sales
• Video Conferencing Scheduler (InView Online)

Each service listed above is unique, and is dependent on your requirements and the other sites involved.  Below you’ll find a description of each service. 

What is needed to use the service?

You will either need to have video conferencing equipment onsite or you can rent a room with such equipment through our Public Room Rental network.  You will also need either an ISDN or IP infrastructure in order to conduct videoconferences. Our multipoint video works with the following carrier types:

• ISDN
• Public IP connectivity, or SprintLink public IP network
• SAVVIS Intelligent IP network
• How does the service work?

Videoconferencing transmits video, audio, and data across a communications network, enabling geographically dispersed participants to meet face-to-face.  Multipoint Videoconferencing brings in the capability to use these same features with multiple sites through a reservations interface and service provided bridging infrastructure.   

To use InView: 

1. You must first be an implemented user of our service, and already have an account and password setup for use.
2. You will then schedules a reservation by logging into your Online account (http://www.inview.net), or calls the toll-free reservations at 800-603-9402 (Option 2 for Reservations), U.K. Free Phone Tel: 0800 961 996, or International Tel: 706-645-6865. 
3. A Reservation Confirmation is automatically sent to the Leader depending on their account settings (includes None, Fax Only, HTML Email, Fax w/HTML Email, Text Email, or Fax w/Text Email), and can include an outlook email attachment if sent via email (as selected on the account during implementation).
4. Leader notifies all participants by distributing the confirmation email, and Outlook Calendar attachment can be used to reserve appointment/meeting in participant’s calendar.

At the scheduled call time, depending on videoconference options, all participants are connected automatically by the operations staff or Videoconference Bridge. 

Advantages of having us dial-out to connect locations:

Dial-out videoconferences allow us to utilize our infrastructure much more effectively.  When a customer books a call with us, one of the first things that our scheduler does is look at the usage on each bridge for that particular date and time, and schedules time on the available ports.  This allows us to provide service on any of our numerous bridges from any of our video facilities.  We can also make adjustments to our utilization and bridge assignments right up to the last minute, which allows us to be much more responsive to transport, infrastructure, or location issues.

Our customers prefer utilizing our experience to control the quality and start time of their videoconference.  They can be rest assured that since we call out to the sites in advance, the call will be up and running when they are ready to begin. Our experienced operators are also proactive in troubleshooting connection issues during set up time so that it does not affect the line quality and/or your start time of the call.

Customers that are not everyday users of video conferencing love the ease of use.  By allowing us to dial out to their sites, all they have to do is make sure the unit is powered on and set to auto-answer. The unit will pick up automatically without them having to do anything.  Otherwise, they will have to know how to operate their video unit and dial out to a certain ISDN number or IP address for our bridge.

Dial-out is a true customer benefit that aids in improving the productivity and reliability of your video conferencing services. 

What size conference does the service support?

We can support videoconferences with up to 30 sites via the Online scheduler or over 30 multi-bridged participants through our toll free reservations lines.  The audio conferencing can be added to supplement the videoconference (for those users not able to participate via video conference), or the conference can be streamed over the Internet.

What Features are available?

Feature	Description
Video Gateway	A video Gateway provides real-time, two-way multimedia communication between video terminals on different networks. (IP to ISDN, ISDN to IP)
Continuous Presence	A conference that allows multiple sites to view one another on a split screen (customer can choose from numerous screen arrangement options)
Voice Activated Conference	Refers to a type of videoconference in which the cameras are (1) activated by sound, (2) switch to the site where the sound is originating, (3) display that site on participant monitors
Broadcast support	Allows the person hosting the call to control the broadcast views options through a dedicated operator assigned to the call.
Chair Control	Allows the chairperson of a call to direct what his participants see on the videoconference.
Site Name Display	Participants are able to view the names of the other participants/videoconference units in the video layout during a continuous presence videoconference.  These names are set at the start of the pre-conference setup, and cannot be changed during the conference.
Background Color	Part of a package of visual effects recently added to all videoconferencing services.  Background Colors allows for color choices to be displayed behind the continuous presence frames.  This color is chosen during the reservation process in Online scheduler.
Layout Border	Part of a package of visual effects recently added to all videoconferencing services.  Layout border allows the passive site border display to be the color of choice.  This color is chosen during the reservation process in Online.
Speaker Indication	Part of a package of visual effects recently added to all videoconferencing services.  Speaker indication allows the speaking or active site to have a different color border than the passive sites.  This color is chosen during the reservation process Online.
Entry Tone, Exit Tone	Adds entry and exit tones to a videoconference, similar to those heard during an audio conference.
Call Monitoring	Adds a video operator to a videoconference for real-time support (think operator assisted conference)
Speed Matching	Allows lower channel Codecs (Videoconferencing Unit, or VCU) to videoconference with a higher channel Codec.
Digital Recording	Gives the host or reservation requestor the ability to have videoconference recorded.  We digitally record the call, and then transfer that file to a choice of media (DVD, CD file, or VHS tape).  Please note that longer recordings may not fit on a single disk or tape.
Video streaming	Streaming is broadcast distribution via internet protocol that will allow live or pre-recorded data to be broadcast in “real time,” opening up the network for traditional multimedia applications such as news, training, entertainment, advertising, and a host of other uses.  Streaming enables the internet or company intranet to act as a broadcast medium for audio and video.  This can be distributed live or on-demand after the live event (On-Demand is only available if the event has been recorded).
Audio Conference Add-on	Allows a participant to join a videoconference via audio (telephone) only. This can be done through a video Codec (Videoconferencing Unit, or VCU), or through the video bridge, and can use our audio conferencing service.
Online Reservations	Our Online scheduling tool allows customers to schedule their conferences via an on-line web-based scheduling interface.
Toll-Free reservations	A reservations agent can assist you in booking your videoconference.

Public Room Rental

This service requires no video conferencing experience.  It is used by the customer who is looking for the flexibility of video conferencing services without the need to purchase equipment. 

The Public Room Rental Service allows customers to call our Toll Free number (800-603-9402) and ask us to find a public rental office space that also has video conferencing equipment.  Does your customer need to hold a video conference, but are not ready to invest in the necessary equipment? Or, are they anxious to connect unequipped colleagues or customers to their video conference events? The public room rental program is just the answer.

It allows a person or company with no video conferencing equipment to rent an already equipped room.  We have a database of close to 10,000 rooms (and always growing) that are available worldwide.  Keep in mind that:

• Rooms have different size configurations.
• There are low end video only, all the way up to executive board room configurations available
• Some rooms have catering services available.
• Rooms also have differing equipment configurations that can include multiple monitors, VCR or DVD players, even connections that allow PC content to be presented.

Rates are given by the hour, and the rate is dependent on the room provider that we broker with for the customer.  We can bridge these calls as well utilizing our Multipoint Video Conferencing Services, even point to point calls can be handled by the Multipoint Video Conferencing.

Customers can use a Public Room for numerous purposes.  They can:

• Do interviews without travel
• Provide more in depth sales training for quick turnaround opportunities
• Test whether they would want to invest in video conferencing equipment
• Communicate with International locations that require face to face communications, either due to cultural needs, or budgetary considerations
• Any time you need to "SEE" and "HEAR"

What is needed to use the service?

All you need to use this service is a desire for a face to face meeting without travel, but no access to video conferencing equipment. 

• You can simply request a Public Room reservation or callback by sending an email to publicrooms@intercall.com
• You can also call 1-800-603-9402 and press 2 to speak to a reservations agent who can help with the Public Room search and reservation
• Customers with access to our Online scheduling tool can add Public Room request information to their multipoint reservation on step 3 by accessing the Public Room tab
• Information is also provided (very basic info) on the website (http://www.inview.net/roomrentals.htm)
• Basic information needed from you:
• US Domestic, we need city, state, zip code
• International (outside US) – we need city, country, postal code, or exact address of renter/user
• All room requests – we need to know time, duration, and number of participants in room

How does the service work?

Once you have booked a public room, all you need to do is show up at the site, and you’ll be able to use the room for the time requested.

• If the customer does need extra time, they will need to ask at the location, or contact us at 1-800-603-9402 and press 2 to speak to a reservations agent
• We can work with the room contact if need be to try and extend the conference time accordingly, as long as the customer understands that there will be additional time charges (per hour increments), but also make sure they realize this may not be available at the last minute

Video Equipment Sales

Video equipment allows customers to do video conferencing at their location

• There are numerous brands; the US market sees mainly Polycom, Tandberg, and Sony as the equipment lines sold to customers wanting video conferencing equipment
• There are also numerous sizes and configurations. A customer’s specific needs and requirements are needed to provide the best pricing package to the customer
• Installation and Maintenance options are also available and recommended

Video Conferencing equipment can be divided into 3 basic types

• Network - These are the bridges or MCUs (Multipoint Conferencing Unit), but network gear can also assist in determining available bandwidth or call quality over the public Internet.  Requirements involving network equipment will need to speak with our Managed Services Group
• Codecs – Also called endpoints or VCUs (Video Conferencing unit), these are the units that work in conjunction with a screen to get the image to the customer.  Some consist of a camera that sits on a monitor, some are all-in-one units that contain a screen and camera in the same device, and some are rack mountable hardware that can be integrated into a ceiling mounted camera and dropdown screen.
• Soft Codecs – Also known as a software endpoint, these can be thought of as the low end video conferencing device.  They allow someone to utilize their computer and a webcam in order to participate in a video conference.  While there are many different versions, only some are able to be integrated into the InterCall multipoint bridge environment, while others require additional network equipment in order to handle video conferencing within the customer’s environment, and even more to allow them to function outside of the network.  Customers that want to utilize this infrastructure also need to be engaged with our Managed Services group.