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A View From The Road – Volume 1, Number 5
Observations on technology trends from the latest conferences
and seminars.
 In
This Edition:
• Being in two
places at once
• The Unified Reboot
as observed on a stopwatch
• Monty Python solves the
plumbing problem by buying a
new mansion
• Next-up Infocomm
In my mind I was
hearing the late James Doohan in his best Star
Trek Scotty accent saying “you can not change the laws of physics
captain.” However, with my career
choice based at least in part on the ability to electronically be in two
places at once I decided to give it my best shot. So last week I attended the Telepresence
World conference in San Diego, and I also
attended the annual Wainhouse Summit in San Francisco. (Really – ask the other attendees who
were there – I was at both.)
For the first day
of the Summit
the team at Wainhouse Research does a remarkable job of herding the throngs
of vendors onto and off the stage for a series of twelve minute, rapid fire
demos and technical presentations.
While (unfortunately) not shutting down the spin altogether this
method does an effective job of keeping it to a minimum. There were some interesting new products
and features discussed:
·
Layered Media showed their patented, standards based software transcoding solution which allows multiple resolution
streams to be generated simultaneously in real time.
·
Codian showed the new “Clear Vision” enhancement for
their MCU that allows incoming standard definition video to be upconverted
in real time to four times it’s initial resolution (i.e. QCIF to CIF, 480p
to 720p)
·
Radvision displayed a great new “SCOPIA Desktop” feature
for their SCOPIA MCUs that allows remote
employees inside or outside of the enterprise to view H.323 video conferences
(video and data) on their desktop PC.
·
Tandberg showed their new “FieldView”
handheld camera/codec - a device so remarkably simple it’s amazing nobody’s
thought of it till now. In the form
factor of an old SLR camera this unit allows you to bring the expert from
anywhere in the world right up to the problem that
needs resolution or the situation that needs a decision. Imagine not having to fly the specialized
mechanic all over to fix things, but rather sitting him in his office as
more junior mechanics move the FieldView around
the engine showing him the problem and getting his advice.
·
Cisco demonstrated their “Unified Meeting Place”, a very well
thought out solution for presence, video, voice and data as close to the
fabled “Unified Communications Desktop” as anyone has ever seen.
While all the
demonstrations and workshops were educational and thought provoking, one
has to take a step back and ask if we’re all really headed in the right
direction with “Unified Communications”.
In the “real world” of the summit a number of technical glitches got
in everybody’s way. There initially
was not enough power brought into the space the first day. Circuits were blowing and the demonstration
equipment was resetting and rebooting.
There were also other issues - a lot of systems vying for the
available bandwidth brought into the space, problems getting an IP address,
etc. Put all of this together (or
any other set of real world problems together) and any lay-person may have
perceived that the products shown were terrible. In fact, on the last day, one of the
attendees got up and said just that.
I accept the fact that my personal belief is in the minority but I
just can’t help feeling that the windows based PC is still the absolute
worst platform on which to base stable communication applications. My personal yardstick for enterprise
ready communication devices has not changed, and stretches from the least
expensive voice system to the most expensive Telepresence system – pull the
plug and look at a stopwatch. Don’t
spend a dime on ANY system that is not back up and running in less then a
minute, a minute thirty tops. That
is as long as anyone will wait to reconnect an urgent call without thinking
of firing the people that bought the system. Don’t let anyone talk you into the
reliability of their system mitigating a long reboot – as everyone knows,
something always happens (the politically correct version of what I wanted
to say.)
The last case study
of the Summit and then the ensuing panel made some very interesting points
about Telepresence that reminded me of an old Monty Python sketch about
flawed logic (“…all fish swim and a
trout is a fish therefore it will rain on Thursday…”.) The premise is that most people’s
experience with room based videoconference systems is bad, and that this
bad experience is due to a number of possible factors (unreliable ISDN,
poor networks, old gear, difficult user interface, etc.) so therefore we
must all buy telepresence systems at a quarter million dollars or so a pop
and solve the problems. Huh? Do these folks even believe it when
they’re saying it? Those present at
the summit said it was like comparing a beat up Volkswagen Beetle to a
Bentley. I have a better analogy
that also survives the Monty Python test.
Let’s say you own a house in the middle class part of town. You think it’s a nice house but you have
all sorts of annoying trouble with the plumbing and the electricity. You can go off and buy one of the
mansions on the hill and you won’t have the problems anymore, but it would
be a lot more intelligent and cost effective to hire plumbing and
electrical experts to fix the actual problems.
If you’re
considering the purchase of a telepresence system because you really want
the full size immersive experience then go for it – good decision. If however you’re considering buying one
because your experience with traditional video conferencing has been poor
then you don’t have the right people installing your systems or fixing your
issues. If you can’t find a local
expert you trust, email me at the address below. There are qualified VARs and consultants
dying for your business and I’ll be happy to recommend one. So will anyone at Wainhouse Research, the
IMCCA or any reputable manufacturer.
It will cost you some money to hire these experts and fix the
problems, but not nearly as much money as the mansion on the hill.
~~~~~~~
June is a busy
month for industry events. I’ll be
at Infocomm in Anaheim
in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned
……..
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A View From The Road is written by
David Danto and contains solely his own opinions. David has spent 30 years
in the audio visual and broadcasting industries. He has designed facilities
for firms such as AT&T, Bloomberg LP, FNN, Morgan Stanley and NYU. He
is currently the Director of Global Multimedia Engineering for Lehman
Brothers and the IMCCA’s Director of Emerging
Technology. Email David at David.Danto.IMCCA@Danto.com
About IMCCA
The Interactive
Multimedia & Collaborative Communications Alliance (IMCCA) is a
not-for-profit user application and industry focused association with
membership comprised of service and product providers, consultants, and
users. Members benefit from the understanding and the use of various
interactive and collaborative communications technologies in their
professional and everyday lives.
For further information please contact Carol Zelkin, IMCCA Executive
Director, at 516-818- 8184 or czelkin@imcca.org. Visit the IMCCA web site
at www.imcca.org
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