Videoconferencing uses audio and video telecommunications to bring people at different sites together. This can be as simple as a conversation between people in private offices (point-to-point) or involve several (multipoint) sites in large rooms at multiple locations. Besides the audio and visual transmission of meeting activities, allied videoconferencing technologies can be used to share documents and display information on whiteboards.
An industry expert described some benefits of telepresence: “There were four drivers for our decision to do more business over video and telepresence. We wanted to reduce our travel spend, reduce our carbon footprint and environmental impact, improve our employees’ work/life balance, and improve employee productivity.”
Rather than traveling great distances in order to have a face-face meeting, it is now commonplace to instead use a telepresence system, which uses a multiple codec video system (which is what the word “telepresence” most currently represents). Each member/party of the meeting uses a telepresence room to “dial in” and can see/talk to every other member on a screen/screens as if they were in the same room. This brings enormous time and cost benefits. It is also superior to phone conferencing (except in cost), as the visual aspect greatly enhances communications, allowing for perceptions of facial expressions and other body language.
Mobile collaboration systems combine the use of video, audio and on-screen drawing capabilities using newest generation hand-held mobile devices to enable multi-party conferencing in real-time, independent of location. Benefits include cost-efficiencies resulting from accelerated problem resolution, reductions in downtimes and travel, improvements in customer service and increased productivity.
They are designed for individuals, not groups .However that distinction has become increasingly blurred with technology improvements such as increased bandwidth and sophisticated software clients that can allow for multiple parties on a call. They use Webcams which are popular, relatively low cost devices which can provide live video and audio streams via personal computers, and can be used with many software clients for both video calls and videoconferencing.
A videoconference system is generally higher cost than a videophone and deploys greater capabilities. A videoconference (also known as a videoteleconference) allows two or more locations to communicate via live, simultaneous two-way video and audio transmissions. This is often accomplished by the use of a multipoint control unit (a centralized distribution and call management system) or by a similar non-centralized multipoint capability embedded in each videoconferencing unit. Again, technology improvements have circumvented traditional definitions by allowing multiple party videoconferencing via web-based applications.
A telepresence system is a high-end videoconferencing system and service usually employed by enterprise-level corporate offices. Telepresence conference rooms use state-of-the art room designs, video cameras, displays, sound-systems and processors, coupled with high-to-very-high capacity bandwidth transmissions. Telepresence systems have the unique advantage of being “immersive”.
Typical use of the various technologies described above include calling or conferencing on a one-on-one, one-to-many or many-to-many basis for personal, business, educational, deaf Video Relay Service and tele-medical, diagnostic and rehabilitative use or services. New services utilizing videocalling and videoconferencing, such as teachers and psychologists conducting online sessions, personal videocalls to inmates incarcerated in penitentiaries, and videoconferencing to resolve airline engineering issues at maintenance facilities, are being created or evolving on an on-going basis.
Cisco TelePresence places people at the center of the collaboration and video experience, empowering them to work together in new ways to transform business, accelerate innovation, and do more with less. It’s next-generation video conferencing, where everyone, everywhere can be face-to-face and more effective through the most natural and lifelike communications experience available.
Organizations around the globe are experiencing the transformative power of Cisco TelePresence. Imagine scaling experts to be in more places at once, optimizing employee time and driving more innovation throughout your organization. Our customers are gaining competitive advantage through better collaboration and realizing that telepresence is no longer a nice to have—it’s a must have.
Whether you are a small business owner just getting started, a government agency, or part of a global enterprise that is expanding its deployment to thousands of users, we have a solution for everyone, everywhere. We invite you to learn more about one of the most comprehensive telepresence portfolios and collaboration architectures in the industry. The road to video adoption is easier than you might think.
