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Even though it can be scaled on multiple servers for widespread training applications, the PictureTel 330 NetConference system appears to be targeted for use within workgroups that may have limited access to support staff. It was the easiest system to get up and running, and PictureTel supplies the best documentation we saw. Its installation and administration guide opens with an illustrated overview that explains videoconferencing terms and how NetConference works. It has chapter-by-chapter content guides, and "tip" inserts that provide strategies for setup and system configuration.

We administered videoconferences through the NetConference Administrator Console. If you're comfortable using Windows Explorer to browse file structures, you'll find administrator console's screen layouts intuitive. Scheduled conferences appear in a tree-like presentation with "+" boxes that can be checked to get more details. PictureTel provides a browser-based NetConference Web Center, which mediates operator logon to any NetConference server, and the management of "conference rooms" and participants.

NetConference Multipoint Server and, optionally, PictureTel 140 LiveManager Gateway Software, can coexist on a Windows NT 4.0 Server. Licensing is authenticated by a hardware key that plugs into the server's parallel port. To support up to eight ports, PictureTel recommends a 350-MHz or faster Pentium II with at least 256 MB of RAM. To support up to 24 ports, you need a 450-MHz or faster Pentium II with at least 256 MB of RAM.

NetConference supports continuous presence conferences as four QCIF panels in a CIF presentation window. If there are more than four participants, only the four most recent speakers are shown. PictureTel's Switch-on-Voice-Video also is available. In either format, if two conferees speak concurrently, NetConference automatically mixes audio from the two sources. A third environment, Moderator Control, enables attendees to identify one particular site or endpoint that always will be in view.

PictureTel has done much to improve conference quality and conserve bandwidth. A video-motion-prediction algorithm enhances smoothness and increases compression efficiency. Video-source suppression cuts the amount of network capacity used by a multipoint conference by automatically signaling clients that are not being viewed within the conference to stop sending video streams. For this to succeed, of course, participating endpoints must honor the server's instructions. In this environment, we found that NetMeeting 3.01 endpoints became confused and froze up, probably because of NetMeeting's current inability to respect bandwidth controls.

PictureTel 330 NetConference MultiPoint Video Server Software, $12,995 for eight endpoints, PictureTel Corp, (800) 716-6000, (978) 292-5000; fax (978) 292-3332. www.picturetel.com