1. Choosing A Video Conferencing
Solution
Interop Las Vegas 2010
John Bartlett
john@netforecast.com

2. Video Conferencing Track
Wed 10:15
Choosing a Video Conferencing Solution
– 11:15
Wed 11:30 Personal Video Conferencing Models and
– 12:30 Demonstrations
Wed 2:00 Network Requirements for Enterprise
– 4:15 PM Video Conferencing
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 2

3. Wide Range of Choices
 Product range from Telepresence to Desktop Video
 Infrastructure Requirements differ for each choice
 Service Components – Build versus Buy
 Connecting through the IP Network
 Integration with Unified Conferencing
 Legacy connectivity
 Business to Business Video Conferencing
 Where do I start?
 What do I buy?
 How can I deliver a successful service?
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 3

4. Agenda
 Application Definition
 Video Conferencing Product Categories
 Implementation Architecture Options
 Network Transport Options
 Service Strategies
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 4

5. Define the Application
 What business process can benefit from video
conferencing?
 What are the characteristics of this application?
 Conversations within the enterprise or outside the enterprise?
 Are meeting members meeting for the first time or do they already
know each other?
 Executive meetings? Team collaboration?
 Will there be shared materials? Is this material on computers or is it
physical in nature?
 Short meetings or long meetings?
 Is the meeting space environment conducive to video conferencing?
(lighting, acoustics, noise level, stability)
 Is a high bandwidth network available?
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 5

6. Different Requirements,
Different Solutions
 Simple data
 Ease of use sharing
 Room system
compatibility  Low BW demand
 Low meeting fatigue
 Perfect eye contact
 Immersive experience
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 6

7. Return on Investment
 Video conferencing is usually justified based on travel
reduction
 Travel reduction savings occur best with a top-down mandate
 These savings can be real and can generate a 12-month ROI
 The real value comes from improving business
processes:
 Allow more team members to ‘meet’ and establish relationships
across distance without travel
 Connect more in-house ‘experts’ to in-house problems or to partners
/ customers / vendors
 Speed up development or marketing processes, get to market faster
 Improve the quality and speed of cross-company programs through
more frequent and higher quality interactions
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 7

8. Agenda
 Application Definition
 Video Conferencing Product Categories
 Implementation Architecture Options
 Network Transport Options
 Service Strategies
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 8

9. Videoconferencing Segments
Experience Products Targets
Telepresence Multi-codec
Meeting
Room-Based Rooms
Videoconferencing Executive Desktop
Offices
PC Desktop
Consumer Homes
Chart compliments of Wainhouse Research
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 9

10. Telepresence – What is it?
 Special purpose conference room dedicated to video
conferencing meetings
 Participants in the room face the video participants across a
‘common’ table
 Immersive technology
 Multiple cameras and screens for wide angle view
 Life size (HD) images of remote participants
 ‘Common’ table
 Careful lighting and acoustics
design
 Stereo sound for directionality
 Eye contact (camera
placement)
 Simple to use
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 10

11. Room-Based Video Conference
 HD Video is the underlying codec technology in
Telepresence
 I define HD Video Conferencing as single codec
systems that use HD resolution
 Some vendors label this ‘Telepresence’ as well
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 11

12. Room-Based Video Conference
 Systems designed for a conference room
 Systems have an optional second display for data
sharing content
 Older systems use standard definition (CIF or 4CIF)
 Newer systems have HD resolution (720p or 1080p)
 Room systems come in
different packaging:
 Lecture hall / auditorium
 Conference room
 Rolling carts
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 12

13. Executive Desktop & Videophone
 Integrated systems intended for executive
desktop use
 Systems often double as additional PC
display
 Desktop video phones intended to replace
telephone as well
 Decide:
 Compatibility with telephony system?
 Compatibility with room and
telepresence systems?
 Who are you communicating with?
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 13

14. Desktop Video
 Many vendors with proprietary
solutions
 Each creates a video island
 Skype, Visimeet, ooVoo, Vidyo,
Google
 Interoperable versions exist
 Polycom, Tandberg, RadVision,
Avistar
 Images are small
 Wide angle lens – short distance
 Environment is uncontrolled
 Single person image may work
well for your application
 Pixels per face is high
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15. Peripherals
 Document cameras
 Smart boards
 Special application devices
 Medical instrumentation
 Remote equipment debugging
 Projectors
 What are the specific needs for
your application?
 Drive the decision process
based on solving a real
business need
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 15

16. Environment
 Audio & Video environment must be managed
 All these can ruin a video conference
 Poor lighting  High contrast (windows, direct sunlight)
 Noise  Distracting background
 Poor echo cancelation  Small images (too many people / screen)
 Lessons of Telepresence
 Face the screen
 Pixels per face
 Lighting faces
 Excellent audio is mandatory
 Don’t put a video system at
the end of a boardroom
table – it doesn’t work!
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 16

17. Quality, Power, Bandwidth
Video Quality CPU Power
 Increasing resolution, frame rate & quality increases bandwidth
demand
 Increasing power of video compressor decreases bandwidth
requirement Bandwidth Resolution Frame Rate
 Typical BW 384 Kbps CIF 30 fps
requirements 512 Kbps 4CIF 15 fps +
today 768 Kbps 4 CIF 30 fps
1 Mbps HD720 15 fps +
2 Mbps HD720 30 fps
4 Mbps HD720 60 fps
6 Mbps HD1080 30 fps
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 17

18. Agenda
 Application Definition
 Video Conferencing Product Categories
 Implementation Architecture Options
 Network Transport Options
 Service Strategies
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 18

19. Components of a Video Solution
Video Services
Provider
Endpoints
Firewall
Mobile Internet
Video Media
Enterprise
Call Servers
Network
Control
Desktop
Video Firewall
Recording / Traversal
Streaming
Call Manager / Video
Gatekeeper Exchange
MCU
Telepresence PSTN
Gateway
Room
Gateways
Video PSTN
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 19

20. Transport vs. Signaling
 Transport (Media)
 How video conferencing video and audio is carried between
endpoints
 Most current implementations using IP network or moving to IP
network in the near future
 Video/audio connects directly from endpoint-to-endpoint or
endpoint-to-bridge based on IP routing
 Signaling
 How video endpoints find each other on the network to set up a call
 Signaling options:
 Stand-alone videoconferencing
 IP-Telephony-based
 Unified Communications-based
 Cloud (service) based
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 20

21. Enterprise Client-Server
Video Services
Provider
 Infrastructure resides
within the enterprise Mobile
Firewall
Internet
 Video is a stand-alone
Video
Enterprise
Network
communications solution
Desktop
 Call control managed by Video
Recording /
Streaming
Firewall
Traversal
H.323 gatekeeper or SIP Call Manager /
Gatekeeper
Video
Exchange
server Telepresence
MCU
PSTN
Gateway
 Local dialing plan Room
Video PSTN
 Often support remote workers
via VPN connections
 Gateways required:
 Cross firewall for B2B calling
 PSTN integration for ISDN video and for PSTN telephony integration
 Capital $$$ investment, lower cost of operation
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 21

22. Unified Communications Based
Video Services
 Infrastructure still resides Provider
within the enterprise
Firewall
 Video communications
Mobile Internet
Video
Enterprise
now integrated with IM & voice Network
 Call control managed by Desktop
Video Firewall
Recording / Traversal
UC manager through UC Mgr
(e.g. OCS)
Streaming
Video
presence MCU
Exchange
Telepresence PSTN
 Remote workers supported Room
Gateway
through VPN Video PSTN
 Gateways required:
 Cross firewall for B2B calling
 ISDN video calls
 (Note, voice integration comes with UC)
 Capital $$$ investment, lower cost of operation, unified
communications provides additional productivity
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 22

23. Cloud-Based Service
Mobile
 Infrastructure resides
Video
in-the-cloud (service Firewall
Internet Call Manager /
Desktop Recording /
provider) Enterprise Video
Service
Gatekeeper Streaming
Network
 Video is a stand-alone Provider
Cloud
communications Telepresence
solution Room
Video
Firewall
Traversal
MCU PSTN
Gateway PSTN
 Call control managed by
servers in the service provider cloud (H.323, SIP or proprietary)
 Connect to anyone with Internet access and account access
 Service may provide gateways to:
 Standards-based conferencing (for proprietary solutions)
 ISDN
 Voice
 Low capital $$$, cost based on subscriptions or use
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 23

24. Agenda
 Application Definition
 Video Conferencing Product Categories
 Implementation Architecture Options
 Network Transport Options
 Service Strategies
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 24

25. The Network
 There is one more key component of the video
infrastructure, the Network!
 Transporting video conferencing is a learning
experience
 Has all the real-time issues of VoIP
 Plus it has an insatiable thirst for bandwidth
 Ensure your network team is an integral part of the
video conferencing discussion
 Determine network requirements for the video
conferencing deployment
 Transport bandwidth demand
 Quality of Service needs
 Service Level Agreement
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 25

26. Converged or Overlay Network?
Internet
 Overlay – Separate network Firewall
Border
carries video traffic Video WAN
 Isolates bursty data traffic Enterprise WAN
Security
from voice & video SERVICE
DESK
MSP
 Simple to design and configure ISDN
Gateway
 Allows rapid and successful video deployment
especially for high visibility telepresence systems
 Can be migrated back to converged over time
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 26

27. Converged Network Solution
 Converged – All data, Internet
voice & video on the Firewall
Border
same corporate network Enterprise WAN
 Provides best long-term
cost and manageability Security
SERVICE
DESK
 Difficult to get it right
MSP
ISDN
Gateway
 Requires new understanding about traffic support,
tools, QoS and bandwidth management
 Will be a requirement for desktop-based video
Network for Video Session 2:00 PM today!
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 27

28. Agenda
 Application Definition
 Video Conferencing Product Categories
 Implementation Architecture Options
 Network Transport Options
 Service Strategies
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 28

29. Your Role as Service Manager
 Understand your customer
 Align the service with customer requirements
 Define your enterprise service offering
 Service features and service levels
 Secure corporate sponsorship and budget
 Deploy and manage the right technology
 Endpoints, transport infrastructure,
media services, management platforms
 Build an effective delivery organization
 Centralized and remote support team
 Skills and experience
 Focus on Service Level Management
 Quality-of-Experience, Capacity Utilization,
Cost Efficiency, Business Value
 Manage to targets; proactively measure and report results
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 29

30. Managed Service Providers
 Managed Services Providers can help
 Most infrastructure components can be
outsourced via network links
 Service providers bring a wealth
of knowledge about managing
a video conferencing environment
 May have specialized tools for support of
video conferencing environment
 Scheduling, billing, reporting
 Small deployments benefit from concentrated
knowledge base of service provider
 Think through bandwidth issues before outsourcing MCU to a
service provider
 Hosted – Service provider owns bridge, charges per call, needs high BW connection
 Managed – Enterprise owns bridge, service provider manages, bridge located in enterprise
network
©2009, NetForecast, all rights reserved. 30

31. Choosing A Video Conferencing
Solution
Questions?
Thanks for attending.
Interop Las Vegas 2010
John Bartlett
john@netforecast.com