videoconferencing picture clears up network world fusion focus : neal weinberg on product review of the week
today ' s focus : videoconferencing picture clears up
03 / 14 / 00
dear wincenty kaminski ,
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ this newsletter sponsored
by w . quinn ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
how to regain the 30 % of nt / 2000 server space that ' s wasted
free ! get a grip on spiraling disk consumption and regain 30 % or more
of your site  , s enterprise storage capacity . wquinn ' s storagecentral
lets you : monitor , track and control user disk consumption ; identify and control what types of
files your users can write to your servers .
get a grip on your nt / 2000 storage space - - free eval :
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copy and paste urls that break in two lines and remove extra spaces .
today ' s focus : videoconferencing picture clears up
by neal weinberg
if you  , ve been turned off by the jumpy frames and poor audio quality
associated with real - time videoconferencing , the reviewmeister has good
news for you . there  , s a new generation of videoconferencing end - point
devices that provide business - quality pictures and sound for under
$ 12 , 000 .
we grabbed a box of popcorn and tested eight videoconferencing systems ,
using 384 k bit / sec isdn and ip connections .
in the category of videoconferencing appliances that is , standalone
systems that go in a conference room for group video sessions with
colleagues or business partners polycom  , s viewstation mp was the
clear winner .
the polycom viewstation provided outstanding video and audio quality .
in addition , it was easy to install , configure and use .
in the category of pc - based products , which are especially good for
virtual collaboration from your desktop , vcon  , s mc 800 was the hands -
down winner , based on its high - quality components .
the beauty of these products is they allow you to have a real - time
video image of the person you  , re conferencing with in one corner of
the screen , with the rest of the space available for data collaboration .
if you  , re in the market for a system , be sure to get one with a sony
evi d 30 / 31 video camera ; an unidirectional boundary microphone , like
the audio technica ; and a quality sound mixer . and look for remote
administration and system management tools . for example , the
viewstation allows you to upgrade software , change settings , or change
address book entries directly from the administrator  , s system .
most systems will allow you to transmit over isdn or ip , but we found
performance over ip was dragged down by ip  , s overhead requirements . for
the complete product review , go to :
of course , there  , s more to videoconferencing than end points , so we
whipped up an implementation guide that lays out the network topology ,
bandwidth and quality - of - service issues .
based on our testing , the reviewmeister says now is the time to start
pilot - testing a videoconferencing system . your chief information
officer will love it when you tell him you can slash your company  , s
airline and hotel bills because you  , ve got people from all over the
company in virtual rather than face - to - face meetings .
next week : we loaded windows 2000 on a pc and a server and ran gigabit
ethernet to the desktop . guess where the bottleneck was ?
to contact neal weinberg :
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
neal weinberg is features editor at network world , in charge of product
reviews , buyer ' s guides , technology primers , how - tos , issue - oriented
feature stories and the technology insider series . you can reach him at
mailto : nweinber @ nww . com .
for related links - - click here for network world ' s home page :
http : / / www . nwfusion . com
videoconferencing picture clears up , network world , 03 / 13 / 00
but implementation is still fuzzy , network world , 03 / 13 / 00
how we did it , network world , 03 / 13 / 00
subscription services
to subscribe or unsubscribe to any network world e - mail newsletters ,
go to :
to change your email address , go to :
subscription questions ? contact customer service by replying to this
message .
other questions / comments
have editorial comments ? write jeff caruso , newsletter editor , at :
mailto : jcaruso @ nww . com
for advertising information , write jamie kalbach , account executive ,
at : mailto : jkalbach @ nww . com
network world fusion is part of idg . net , the idg online network .
it all starts here :
http : / / www . idg . com
copyright network world , inc . , 2000
videoconferencing picture clears up
network world fusion focus : neal weinberg on product review of the week
today ' s focus : videoconferencing picture clears up
03 / 14 / 00
dear wincenty kaminski ,
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ this newsletter sponsored
by w . quinn ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
how to regain the 30 % of nt / 2000 server space that ' s wasted
free ! get a grip on spiraling disk consumption and regain 30 % or more
of your site  , s enterprise storage capacity . wquinn ' s storagecentral
lets you : monitor , track and control user disk consumption ; identify and control what types of
files your users can write to your servers .
get a grip on your nt / 2000 storage space - - free eval :
l
copy and paste urls that break in two lines and remove extra spaces .
today ' s focus : videoconferencing picture clears up
by neal weinberg
if you  , ve been turned off by the jumpy frames and poor audio quality
associated with real - time videoconferencing , the reviewmeister has good
news for you . there  , s a new generation of videoconferencing end - point
devices that provide business - quality pictures and sound for under
$ 12 , 000 .
we grabbed a box of popcorn and tested eight videoconferencing systems ,
using 384 k bit / sec isdn and ip connections .
in the category of videoconferencing appliances that is , standalone
systems that go in a conference room for group video sessions with
colleagues or business partners polycom  , s viewstation mp was the
clear winner .
the polycom viewstation provided outstanding video and audio quality .
in addition , it was easy to install , configure and use .
in the category of pc - based products , which are especially good for
virtual collaboration from your desktop , vcon  , s mc 800 was the hands -
down winner , based on its high - quality components .
the beauty of these products is they allow you to have a real - time
video image of the person you  , re conferencing with in one corner of
the screen , with the rest of the space available for data collaboration .
if you  , re in the market for a system , be sure to get one with a sony
evi d 30 / 31 video camera ; an unidirectional boundary microphone , like
the audio technica ; and a quality sound mixer . and look for remote
administration and system management tools . for example , the
viewstation allows you to upgrade software , change settings , or change
address book entries directly from the administrator  , s system .
most systems will allow you to transmit over isdn or ip , but we found
performance over ip was dragged down by ip  , s overhead requirements . for
the complete product review , go to :
of course , there  , s more to videoconferencing than end points , so we
whipped up an implementation guide that lays out the network topology ,
bandwidth and quality - of - service issues .
based on our testing , the reviewmeister says now is the time to start
pilot - testing a videoconferencing system . your chief information
officer will love it when you tell him you can slash your company  , s
airline and hotel bills because you  , ve got people from all over the
company in virtual rather than face - to - face meetings .
next week : we loaded windows 2000 on a pc and a server and ran gigabit
ethernet to the desktop . guess where the bottleneck was ?
to contact neal weinberg :
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
neal weinberg is features editor at network world , in charge of product
reviews , buyer ' s guides , technology primers , how - tos , issue - oriented
feature stories and the technology insider series . you can reach him at
mailto : nweinber @ nww . com .
for related links - - click here for network world ' s home page :
http : / / www . nwfusion . com
videoconferencing picture clears up , network world , 03 / 13 / 00
but implementation is still fuzzy , network world , 03 / 13 / 00
how we did it , network world , 03 / 13 / 00
subscription services
to subscribe or unsubscribe to any network world e - mail newsletters ,
go to :
to change your email address , go to :
subscription questions ? contact customer service by replying to this
message .
other questions / comments
have editorial comments ? write jeff caruso , newsletter editor , at :
mailto : jcaruso @ nww . com
for advertising information , write jamie kalbach , account executive ,
at : mailto : jkalbach @ nww . com
network world fusion is part of idg . net , the idg online network .
it all starts here :
http : / / www . idg . com
copyright network world , inc . , 2000