by A.B. Covell  Designing a Videoconferencing Solution Sample Scenarios To give you an idea of how the videoconferencing technology pieces can be fit together to effectively meet some business need, and to get you thinking about the range of possibilities in your environment, we've assebled some hypothetical conferencing scenarios. Scenario 1: Cub Manufacturing Inc., brings together corporate decision-makers. Executives in the East Coast home office can interact with those at the West Coast sales facility using a high-quality, 30 frames-per-second video. This is the first videoconferencing application to really catch on, with emergence of rollabout systems in the early '90s. Corporate decision-makers can interact when needed, saving on costly travel time and expenses. If the WAN connection uses an ATM link, virtual circuits can ensure dedicated bandwi dth for conferencing. Scenario 2: Yankee Engineering Co. lets users interact with the outside world via ISDN. The H.320-compatible desktop system is strategic for this company, as it enables face-to-face interaction, combined with document and applications sharing. Yankee Engineering's professionals routinely need to interact with outside consultants and clients to review work in progress, and this solution gets the job done. The ISDN switch enables many more desktops to use the PRI connection at a fraction of the cost to implement ISDN BRI on desktops. Scenario 3: Marlin Publishing enables user to have multipoint conferences internally and interact with outsiders via ISDN. In this company, the need to have internal multipoint conferences among users in different parts of the campus network is enabled with an H.323 multipoint conference server. Marlin's editors, artists and layout people are scattered throughout an office campus and need to review the elements of publications under development. The H.320 gateway enables on-site personnel to interact with telecommuters and freelance writers, artists and consultants. Scenario 4: Jill Barker, an independent real estate sales agent in the Green Mountains of Vermont, uses Internet videoconferencing to present vacation sales pitches to potential vacation home buyers. Jill has a network of colleagues in the New York metropolitan area who are Internet conferencing-ready and willing to provide connectivity at the far end for a small fee. Before potential vacation home buyers trek up to Vermont to visit homes, Jill conferences with potential clients; she gives a short presentation of available homes and answers questions. Jill then schedules these presentations during hours when the Internet is relatively congestion free (early morning on weekdays, Saturdays and S undays). The Internet and a desktop system with T.120 support enables a great give-and-take and the transmission of some good quality photos and room layouts of properties for sale. Also, using the Internet means only a local call -- no worrying about running up large long-distance bills if a conference drags on. Designing a Videoconferencing Solution Typical Videoconferencing Applications Characteristics Of A Successful Videoconference Solution Summary of ITU Videoconferencing Standards Videoconference System Alternatives Network Considerations Mix and Match Sample Scenarios Putting It All Together Videoconferencing Web Resources Print This Page E-mail this URL