Flatcapdriver

I've been tasked with looking into this area to see if the business can justify the outlay and potentially save costs. Typically, this would involve home workers who can hook up online, without the need to attend meetings thus saving time and money.

However, I haven't a clue and whilst Google will no doubt be useful I'd be interested in any first hand experience or even if anyone is involved in this industry.

Any takers?

Brendan Hughes

Am told my colleague's family does it with Skype and webcams, but I guess you want something a bit more slick?

Flatcapdriver

I've used webcams about five years ago and it wasn't that impressive, although I don't know to what extent the technology has moved on.

Typically, the users will be salesmen and middle management working from home using ADSL lines with the occasional ISDN if that makes any difference.

TopBanana

Right at the other end of the scale, but have you seen Cisco TelePresence working? Astounding.

FlightMan

Its a quite different way of meeting, and takes some getting used to. Among the many difficulties of VC is many people trying to speak at once, then you get the " after you" moment, and then no-one speaks. It can be frustrating, and meetings invariably take longer.

HTH

davyboy

I use Polycom a fair bit at work, the PVX solution should do you.

PVX - PVX, ViaVideo, PC video: Polycom Worldwide

bruce

iTrader: (5)

Flatcap if you need any advise give us a call All New Video is the one stop for all 3G video, 3G conferencing and meetings

GOLDMAN 555

In general a WebCam solution gives the best bang for the buck howeverif you want to have long meetings you need to invest in a slightly higher system.

I have been working from home using videoconferencing for a few years. And it sure beats the hell out of travelling into the office every day.

wainhouse research is a good website Wainhouse Research - Information and Analysis on Real-Time Unified Communications for white papers and things.

Flatcapdriver

That's a valid point, however, my boss talks for England so we usually just let him get on with it. My beef is the amount of travelling I have to do which I'd like to reduce this year, hence the brief.

Guys, there's some good stuff here and thanks for the PMs but IT isn't my strong point so it will take time to digest.

Cheers.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

unless you have the capital outlay, i would suggest shelving the idea of video conferencing and look at something like this

https://www.gotomeeting.com/t/gg_int...3nopasslp.tmpl

from the people who brought you Gotomypc.

low cost remote workers access solution and very easy to implement (non it wise)

Sonic'

we are a polycom video conferincing partner if thats any use to you

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Depends how many users you're looking at serving and what quality you need. Try Codian Video Conferencing

Sosbanite

Do you have to video conference or do you just need to collaborate as a group?

Traditional stand alone VC endpoints are probably going to be too expensive an investment initially in this instance particularly if they are ISDN based.

PC/IP based conferencing (as in the Polycom PVX solution) will probably be the most cost effective VC entry point but even then you have logistical issues to deal with in order to get up and running - could even be as simple as ensuring all participants have and ADSL connection and sufficient bandwidth available! (how many participants are we talking here?)

Why not start off by audio conferencing? Everyone has a phone and you can experiment with teleworking without having to invest in hardware or services and then upgrade to VC if appropriate.

This sort of solution is very popular in the blue chips/city for collaborating.

WebEx UK: Web Conferencing, Online Meetings, and Video Conferencing


Looks like you will not be short of support on this one