As companies become increasingly global, videoconferencing is proving to be a crucial tool in eliminating the barriers of distance and time.
Geoff Marshall steps behind the camera to see how the face of communications is changing forever

Communications and data transport technologies are rapidly converging towards an IP infrastructure and the demand for higher bandwidth video is evolving the market towards IP-based applications — particularly in the light of the capabilities that will come with the next-generation Internet.

And there is no doubt that implementing IP-based videoconferencing within an enterprise brings with it a whole host of significant business benefits. Some of these benefits are highlighted below and they make impressive reading for any business that embraces the technology:
     • Enterprise scalability and ease of wide-scale implementation
     • Enhancement of existing network topologies
     • Seamless data collaboration
     • Attractive cost of deployment and operation
     • Assured security
     • Integrated quality of service
     • Flexible and robust standards support
     • The effective enterprise level management, as well as sophisticated call management.

We asked Nick Hawkins, manager, systems engineering, at VideoServer about the technical challenges: "Traffic prioritisation must be considered and applied extremely carefully. If the router cannot distinguish H.323 traffic from the remaining network traffic, then prioritisation may actually degrade the conferencing quality.

For example, many routers are supplied with some form of incoming queue-weighting enabled by default. This queueing is designed to provide small packet-size traffic, such as multimedia streaming applications, with priority over large packet applications such as FTP.

Jitter is potentially more destructive than network delay, since endpoints adjust to the network delays during the life of the call. In an ideal world, jitter should be less than 50ms, but this is usually only obtainable within a laboratory environment. In the real world, jitter of less than 100ms through a network should provide an acceptable H.323 quality level.

"One area that is often overlooked in IP videoconferencing is the amount of additional header information that the use of IP incurs. It is important to remember that a call at 128 kbits/sec over ISDN requires between 180 kbits/sec and 200 kbits/sec to maintain the same level of quality when running over IP. Each element of an H.323 call will need to be encapsulated in either TCP or UDP packets, along with any appropriate control information, RTP timestamps."

PictureTel’s Approach
Video streaming over IP enables the speedy and cost-effective mass dissemination of presentations, training sessions, corporate announcements, product launches, briefings and other events over the intranet and extranet to the desktop. Products on the market such as PictureTel’s StarCast synchronise video, PowerPoint slides and interactive chat for both IP multicasting — broadcasting live events and IP unicasting — and storage of an event for later viewing on-demand. The PictureTel 240 gateway enables companies to videoconference over the corporate LAN, whilst protecting their investment in existing ISDN-based systems.

As part of PictureTel’s recently launched complete IP-based solution, which also includes the PictureTel 140 LiveManager gatekeeper and PictureTel 330 multipoint server, the 240 gateway connects IP videoconferencing systems — such as the PictureTel 550, Intel ProShare VS500 and Intel TeamStation — with ISDN-based systems. This allows the two network technologies to work together seamlessly and even enhance each other’s capabilities. To ensure that videoconferencing is a business benefit, not a network burden, management tools such as the PictureTel 140 LiveManager enable network managers to control the amount of video traffic on their corporate network. This gives them control over the number of videoconferences on their network and the amount of bandwidth that is allocated for video calls. Multipoint server software, like the PictureTel 330, makes videoconferencing over an IP network smooth, flexible and efficient to run, enabling multiple users to meet in a variety of configurations and conference environments, without disrupting the network.

Meeting of minds
White Pine Software. has just announced its MeetingPoint server version 4.0 for enhanced IP-based videoconferencing and group collaboration. The latest version of MeetingPoint includes ground-breaking technology which changes the face of communication over corporate networks and the Internet. In addition to core optimisations, MeetingPoint 4.0 includes add-on components for specialised functions.

These include continuous presence, the ability to view multiple video windows simultaneously and streaming media integration, features that have not previously been available for standards-based conferencing over the Internet or an IP network. Version 4.0 of MeetingPoint also includes full integration of the Labtam T.120 technology that White Pine purchased last year.

This integration improves the performance and scalability for data collaboration across networks. "This version of MeetingPoint marks a milestone in H.323 conferencing," comments Roger Wallman, senior product manager for core technologies at White Pine. "We’ve gone beyond basic audio, video and data sharing functionality and created an environment which allows people to communicate effectively from different locations on a network and to customise their conferencing experience based on specific needs. By making these add-on options available, MeetingPoint is the first multimedia conference server to provide a full range of solutions that can meet almost any group conferencing or collaboration need," adds Wallman.

The continuous presence option for MeetingPoint enables the server to combine four streams of video into one split-screen image that is delivered to participating client endpoints. Standard H.323 endpoints, such as Microsoft NetMeeting and Intel Proshare, which have previously been limited to showing a single incoming video window, can now show multiple video windows.

MeetingPoint, with continuous presence, allows the end user a more user-friendly and intuitive conference experience than traditional video switching. If there are more than four participants in a conference, the end user will see the last four participants who have spoken. With the option for integration of streaming media, MeetingPoint is able to broadcast a live interactive conference to hundreds or even thousands of people using a streaming media server and player, such as the Microsoft NetShow Server and Windows Media Player. Conferences can be broadcast live or recorded and played back on demand. As the Windows Media Player is widely available as a free applet, it extends the possibilities for conferencing and communication to a much wider audience. This combination of technologies, with both an interactive and a viewing group of participants, lends itself to a number of corporate and Internet scenarios.White Pine’s videoconferencing software products, CU-SeeMe Pro and MeetingPoint, create a client-server solution that allows users to participate in real-time, multi-point video, audio and data conferences over the Internet and intranets. White Pine’s ClassPoint provides a complete solution for corporate training and distance learning. White Pine recently announced plans to support the Linux operating system for its MeetingPoint conference server.

White Pine has joined as a developer partner with Red Hat, the Linux developer and service provider. MeetingPoint, which is currently available for Windows NT and Sun Solaris operating systems, will be the first IP conferencing server solution to support Linux.

The new Contact set-top videoconferencing system from Sony is set to revolutionise the videoconferencing market, especially in the SME sector, according to Rob Portwood, managing director of Videocall: "Cost, user applications, quality of broadcast, reliability and future-proofing have all been issues affecting the adoption of videoconferencing in the past, but Contact has taken all these restrictions away.

"Sony Contact, available through Videocall, offers the highest possible performance within existing standards, which is a first for such a compact system. It is this video quality which makes it suitable for any application, from meetings with suppliers and customers to high-level boardroom strategy meetings. In addition, its portability will make it ideal for meetings-on-the-move and on-demand meetings with customers and suppliers."

Surveillance applications
Axis Communications recently launched a dedicated surveillance product, the AXIS 2400 video server, a self-contained network video server designed to make remote surveillance powerful, easy and low cost. Capable of transmitting live, high-quality Motion JPEG images at up to 30 frames per second; it brings real-time video transmission over any network, including the Internet, to a remote PC for instant viewing. Images can be automatically stored in the internal buffer or to a remote PC. The AXIS 2400 retails at £1,250. Users can attach up to four video sources to the AXIS 2400, then directly connect the video server to a 10/100MB Ethernet network, assign it a network address and then, using any PC, employ the built-in installation wizards to do simple configuration and customisation of user applications.

Users then launch their favourite Web browser on any PC, type in the assigned IP address and instantly they are able to view live video and control the AXIS 2400. The product is easily integrated with an existing CCTV system and has built-in control for many popular pan/tilt/zoom units through its two serial ports. In addition, these units can be programmed with preset positions to perform guard tours and controlled live by a user-friendly point-and-click interface. All video sources can be viewed simultaneously in quad mode.

Final comment comes from Karin Nielsen, director of worldwide marketing communications at VideoServer. "Conferencing over IP, as defined by the H.323 standard, opens up the possibility of cost-effective mass deployment of multimedia conferencing throughout the organisation. Users will no longer be limited to dedicated endpoints in conference rooms — they’ll have ‘virtual meetings’ capability right on their desktops. With H.323, for the first time multimedia conferencing is a true networked application. Users can participate in a conference that appears in one sector of their computer screen and read e-mail or do other network-based tasks simultaneously.

"The functional ‘bottom line’ for companies deploying networked conferencing will be even greater collaboration among workgroups, regardless of location, greater access of expertise across organisations, greater flexibility in work locations and the ability to implement distributed training on a scale never before possible.

"Multimedia conferencing will become more seamlessly integrated into users’ daily lives. In the process, the limitations of distance, time and geography will become less important."

MeetingPoint Version 4.0