30 June 2009. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc and Tata Communications, a leading provider of the new world of communications,have announced a partnership agreement as part of an ambitious plan to roll out public Telepresence rooms worldwide.

The agreement will significantly increase Tata Communications' network of public Cisco TelePresence rooms with 10 new facilities opening in Starwood hotels by the end of 2009.

The first telepresence suites are planned for Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, Sheraton on the Park in Sydney, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, The Westin Hotel at Los Angeles Airport and W Chicago-City Center.

Looking ahead, Starwood anticipates expanding the offering to hotels in key international business markets like Brussels, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. Tata Communications Telepresence Service will provide Starwood and its guests an "in person" meeting experience with participants in rooms around the world.

John Landau, Senior Vice President Global Managed Services from Tata Communications, said: "We believe that public telepresence rooms are the key to increasing the accessibility of Telepresence beyond major company offices to their wider ecosystem of users - customers, suppliers, remote workers and business partners.”

“Using managed telepresence services is 'better than being there' and helps companies hold more productive meetings without incurring travel and time costs. More team members can participate in meetings and collaborate around the world.

"We intend to make telepresence available to as many users as possible with our global network of public telepresence rooms and our suite of managed telepresence networks services for businesses. Our partnership with Starwood is a major step towards making this vision a reality," added Landau.

Christie Hicks, Senior Vice President of Global Sales for Starwood added: "Starwood has made a name for itself as an innovator in the hotel industry, and it is crucial that we continue to evolve our meetings offerings to address the needs of today's consumers. The partnership with Tata Communications is yet another opportunity for us to bring innovative, cutting-edge technology to our properties, and add true value for our business and conference facilities' guests."

Tata Communications is aggressively investing and building a global network of 100 public Telepresence rooms.  Tata Communications has several operational public rooms in India (Mumbai, Bangalore (x2), Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Gurgaon), UK (London) and USA (Boston), and has recently announced an agreement to manage a public room in Manila for PLDT in the Philippines.

Cisco TelePresence provides life-like, high definition, conferencing facilities with superior audio, video and environmental qualities allowing participants to meet their colleagues, customers and business partners across a virtual table. The public facility offers users who do not have Telepresence rooms in their companies, access to this cutting-edge technology at an affordable per hour rental rate.

Later this year, Tata Communications plans to launch its Global Meeting Exchange service that will conveniently support business-to-business sessions between any Telepresence rooms (public or private) subscribed to the service, regardless of the network service provider. This pioneering global service framework pushes Telepresence from being a private intra-company experience to supporting the strong demand for open inter-company sessions.

European CEO Magazine named Tata Communications the Best Managed Telepresence Service Provider of the Year.

For further information on Tata Communications Telepresence Services and Starwood, visit:
 http://www.tatacommunications.com/telepresence
or http://www.starwoodhotels.com

30 June 2009. Marriott International has announced it will offer Telepresence technology in its hotels worldwide, using AT&T's fully-managed AT&T Telepresence Solution and Cisco TelePresence (tm) technology. This will enable Marriott to offer customers the widest array of meeting options, whether in-person, virtual or both.

Telepresence is a rapidly growing and increasingly popular technology that enables small groups of less than 20 people to meet and collaborate in multiple locations worldwide in real time. By combining High-Definition video, crisp, real time audio - no delays - and interior design for Ttelepresence suites, groups feel as if they are actually meeting together in the same room, even if they are thousands of miles apart.

 Arne Sorenson, president and COO, Marriott International said: "As the 24/7 world economy becomes more interconnected, the need to hold small global meetings that cross continents and oceans will only grow. We believe telepresence will create more business meetings because people can travel shorter distances and easily connect with colleagues and clients around the world. The addition of Telepresence meeting suites in our hotels will give Marriott a leg up on its competition."

Initially, Marriott plans to locate telepresence meeting suites in 25 global gateway cities, including New York, San Francisco, Washington, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Frankfurt and London, in its Marriott Hotels & Resorts(R), JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts(R) and Renaissance Hotels & Resorts(R) brands. The first Telepresence meeting suites are expected to go live at the end of October.

Marriott chose AT&T Telepresence Solution because it combines AT&T's global communications networking capabilities with the Cisco TelePresence technology. The Marriott telepresence suites will also be able to connect to existing private Cisco TelePresence locations throughout the world through the use of the AT&T Telepresence Solution intercompany capabilities.

"Marriott is leading the lodging industry in using advanced technology to help extend the reach of meetings for participants in disparate locations," said Ronald E. Spears, president and CEO of AT&T Business Solutions. "Working closely with Marriott, we are focused on delivering to Marriott hotels throughout the world the premier telepresence experience through the AT&T Telepresence Solution."

Since early 2008, AT&T and Cisco have collaborated to enable the growth and use of Cisco TelePresence technology and services among businesses and organizations throughout the world.

AT&T Telepresence Solution leverages the power of Cisco TelePresence to create a unique, "in-person" experience with the simplicity of making a phone call as well as provides a "meet me" feature with a highly-secure PIN code that simplifies intercompany calling. AT&T Telepresence Solution also offers multipoint functionality and reliable intercompany capabilities enabling multiple locations to connect with one another.

29 June 2009. The first Regus public-room Telepresence Suite, equipped with Polycom's RealPresence (tm) Experience High Definition (RPX HD) immersive Telepresence system has opened at Regus’ prestigious Berkley Square location in Central London.

The London Telepresence suite is part of a Regus joint initiative with Polycom  and Cable&Wireless to build 50 Telepresence suites Worldwide announced in May 2009. The programme will cost more than £32 million over five years.

This Regus Telepresence site is the first in a global rollout that will include Polycom RPX telepresence suites in 14 cities. In the initial phase, Regus plans to open Regus Telepresence Suites in Paris, Singapore, New York and San Francisco this summer.

"We are redefining the world of work, offering business of all sizes flexible, innovative and inspiring locations in which to meet, work and collaborate," said Mark Dixon, Group CEO, Regus plc.”

“In response to rising demand from these organizations we are augmenting and expanding our existing business lounge network around the globe, as we look to better enable the workers of today and tomorrow. The telepresence solution will play a fundamental role in helping us achieve this."

Jim Marsh, Cable&Wireless CEO, Europe, Asia and US said, "This will be a new way of working for many businesses where cost savings and improved productivity are realized immediately. It will provide new customers with the ability to transform the way they work and give existing video users the opportunity to expand their footprint without the need for significant investment in new High-Definition video conferencing hardware."

Bob Hagerty, chairman & CEO at Polycom, commented: "Because Polycom systems are based on established standards for video communication, Regus customers can use tTlepresence to connect with other Regus facilities, their own offices or with their customers, vendors and partners anywhere in the world."

Regus currently offers the world's largest network of publicly accessible video conferencing rooms with more than 600 studios worldwide featuring Polycom standards-based video conferen

Posted 29 June 2009. “Cisco TelePresence Fundamentals” by Tim Szigeti, Kevin McMenamy, Roland Saville,and  Alan Glowacki was published on 28 May 2009 by Cisco Press is part of the Cisco Fundamentals series. ISBN-10: 1-58705-593-7; and ISBN-13: 978-1-58705-593-5. It has 624 pages, so we have a lot to read before making a review. Price is $60 or £45.
 
Cisco Telepresence Fundamentals is an indispensable resource for all technical professionals tasked with deploying Cisco Telepresence Systems (CTS), including netadmins, sysadmins, audio/video specialists, VoIP specialists, and operations staff. This is the only book that:

- Introduces every component of a complete CTS solution and shows how they work together
- Walks through connecting CTS in real-world environments
- Demonstrates how to secure virtual meetings using Cisco firewalls and security protocols
- Includes a full chapter on effective TelePresence room design
- Walks through every aspect of SIP call signaling design, including both single-cluster and intercluster examples for use in a TelePresence environment
- Provides prequalification, room, and network path assessment considerations to help you anticipate and avoid problems

 The authors cover every element of a working CTS solution: video, audio, signaling protocols and call processing, LAN and WAN design, multipoint, security, inter-company connectivity, and much more. They deliver start-to-finish coverage of CTS design for superior availability, QoS support, and security in converged networks.

They also present the first chapter-length design guide of it’s kind detailing the room requirements and recommendations for lighting, acoustics, and ambience within various types of TelePresence rooms.
 
Tim Szigeti, technical leader within the Cisco® Enterprise Systems Engineering team, is responsible for defining Cisco TelePresence network deployment best practices. He also coauthored the Cisco Press book “End-to-End QoS Network Design”.

Kevin McMenamy, senior manager of technical marketing in the Cisco TelePresence Systems Business Unit, has spent the past nine years at Cisco supporting IP videoconferencing, video telephony, and unified communications.

Roland Saville, technical leader for the Cisco Enterprise Systems Engineering team, tests and develops best-practice design guides for Cisco TelePresence enterprise deployments.

Alan Glowacki is a Cisco technical marketing engineer responsible for supporting Cisco TelePresence customers and sales teams.

This book is part of the Cisco Press® Fundamentals Series. Books in this series introduce networking professionals to new networking technologies, covering network topologies, sample deployment concepts, protocols, and management techniques.

12 June 2009 posted 29 June 2009. Polycom and the Global Nomads Group are supporting the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s first programme in the 11-16 year old education sector, called ‘Face to Faith’.

The Foundation is a charitable organisation founded by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and is dedicated to promoting respect and understanding about the world's major religions. Launched in May 2008, the Foundation’s goal is to promote respect and understanding between the major religions

Facilitated by video conferencing, students of different faiths can work together to investigate specific global issues, discuss a range of opinions, values and beliefs, and explore the reasons for similar and different views. The Face to Faith programme aims to enable learning about different social, cultural and religious perspectives, and ultimately let young people build their awareness of the role of faith in the today’s world.

Polycom has donated 100 video conference units to the foundation’s Face to Faith programme, which will be using them to bring together students from schools worldwide to talk about how their religion and culture shapes their lives and communities.

“The Face to Faith programme provides students with a unique opportunity to interact across continents, to talk about their own faith, and learn more about other religions and cultures,” said Tony Blair. “It is only by discussing different cultural and religious perspectives that young people can build their awareness of the role of faith in today’s world.”

After a six-month pilot with 10 schools and 1,000 students on three continents, the Face to Faith programme launches with schools from countries including Pakistan, India, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the U.K., U.S., and Canada.

Each school is offered professional development training specifically in video conferencing techniques. Teachers are invited to join dedicated video conference sessions where they are introduced to other teachers and have an opportunity to discuss the structure and content of the programme.

“Polycom is proud to support the Face to Faith programme and provide the technology to tearing down cultural, religious and country borders,” said Bob Hagerty, chairman and CEO of Polycom. “Polycom solutions enable distance learning and expand the opportunities for collaboration and learning beyond classroom walls across the globe.”

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation was founded by the Rt Honourable Tony Blair and launched in May 2008.  The Foundation’s goal is to promote respect and understanding between the major religions, to make the case for faith as a force for good and to show this in action by encouraging inter-faith initiatives to bring people together to tackle global poverty and conflict.

For further information please see www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org

Founded in 1998, the Global Nomads Group (GNG) is a non-profit organization dedicated to heightening children's understanding and appreciation for the world and its people. Using interactive technologies such as video conferencing, GNG brings young people together face-to-face to meet across cultural and national boundaries to discuss their differences and similarities, as well as the world issues that affect them.

Further information can be found here www.gng.org

17 June 2009. “The reasons for choosing videoconferencing proved to be pretty convincing,” says Andy Wright, IT Manager of Exchem plc, explaining the company’s decision to install videoconferencing across ten European sites.

With operations in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Poland, Romania and France, travel by the company’s senior management was frequently leading to considerable expenditure on fares and hotels, together with unproductive time spent sitting in airports, planes and trains.

Reductions in all these areas were the key criteria for adopting videoconferencing together with the ability to improve the management of the businesses in their widely-dispersed locations. “The added bonus,” according to Andy Wright, “is its beneficial impact on our carbon footprint.”

Exchem plc is a holding company with interests in industrial explosives and allied products for mines, quarries and civil engineering; chemical systems for the mining, tunnelling and construction industries; speciality chemicals and military stores; specialised products and components for the mining and quarrying industries; and transport transport services.

LifeSize systems have been installed at each of the seven sites through Questmark Limited, joining three similar systems already deployed in France. Currently they are primarily used for internal, intercompany conferencing although they have also been used for a couple of external calls. In the future Exchem expect usage to expand to include regular customer and supplier conferencing.

After a slow start usage has grown mainly for management, technical and health and safety meetings.  Andy Wright explains: “Initially, there was some wariness and scepticism about videoconferencing’s value, but once people had used it and experienced its benefits opinions changed to one of acceptance, the general view now being that it will become an important business tool. Through the undoubted cost-savings and greater productivity we expect the payback period on our investment to be between 9 and 18 months.”

Systems Integrator Questmark supported the company over the five-month period of the roll-out of the systems. Two key reasons for selecting them were the provision of a number of demonstrations in both the UK and France; and their ability to organise and manage the installations in countries such as Romania and Poland. In addition they were  able to provide Exchem with free multipoint conferencing facilities via Questmark’s infrastructure.

In Romania, for example, Questmark sent their own engineer to the Exchem site in Cluj to install and commission the system. “It was a challenge,” says Sam McMaster. “There is little experience of videoconferencing as a network service in the country and we had to ensure the right level of IP service was made available.” Questmark was on hand to guide them through call set-up and other procedures on their first calls.

“There is no doubt that we are seeing a new type of videoconferencing user,” says Sam McMaster, CEO of Questmark. “Exchem is an excellent example of this. Often smaller organisations are intent on getting the most out of the service by driving its usage and, therefore, ensuring they achieve the promised return-on-investment.”

29 June 2009. Video Guidance has launched “VG Transport,” a new portable video conferencing solution expressly created to help Minnesota disaster response teams meet face to face in an ad-hoc and secure fashion to share information and coordinate response efforts. Video Guidance is the leading visual communications providers in the Upper Midwest,

Swine flu, flooding, tornadoes. These are a few examples of disasters that demand the immediate attention from emergency response units. Designed with advice from Northeast Minnesota emergency managers, VG Transport is particularly critical when conducting emergency meetings during a pandemic without personal contact and contamination.

“VG Transport was designed to be a two-way, interactive video system used in the field, allowing a response team to bring their office functionality to the scene of an emergency,” said Dustin Artwohl, senior account manager for Video Guidance.

The VG Transport system -- scaled down to be mobile -- has a 15-inch LCD monitor that connects to a video codec. Access to a satellite connection or using a mobile broadband card enables the users to enjoy HD quality and security through AES video encryption. The system can also be connected to a large monitor or projector to accommodate a large-room presentation.

Video Guidance built the new system for the Northeast Region 2 of the Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers (AMEM).  Video Guidance will equip 14 emergency managers in 14 Northeast Minnesota counties with Video Suitcases. The system was funded through a $500,000 Homeland Security grant.

The area covered in this region of Minnesota is nearly 300 miles long and wide. A trip to the center of the region for a meeting takes hours one way. “A two-hour meeting can take a full day of time and lots of money in mileage expenses,” said Scott Camps, St. Louis County Emergency Manager.

“With video conferencing, I can attend from my office and have all of my resource materials at my fingertips without any extra expense. The project enhances the effectiveness of our work and will pay for itself by saving time and expense.”

The 14 HSEM regional units will connect 11 County Emergency Managers, the City of Duluth, and the Mille Lacs and Grand Portage Reservations to each other, to the State Emergency Operations Center and to contacts in Canada. These units will be used in everyday planning and meetings in a secure face-to-face environment.

Founded in 1999, privately held Video Guidance, Inc. (www.videoguidance.com) provides conferencing, telepresence and audio visual technologies and services that facilitate natural, visual communication. Strategic alliances include Conference Plus, TANDBERG, Polycom, LifeSize, On Stream Media Corporation, Radvision, VBrick, and Accordent.

In 2009, Video Guidance received the “Grant Services Partner of the Year” honor from TANDBERG for helping organizations create teleconferencing solutions in telemedicine and distance learning in underserved rural areas.

29 June 2009. A time intensive process and significant coordination between ophthalmologist and NICU staff is required for a patient to be properly diagnosed with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), the leading cause of childhood blindness in the United States and worldwide.

A recent study examining ROP diagnosis speed using indirect ophthalmoscopy versus telemedicine, remote medical consultation, is featured in the July issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology. (1)

The study was designed to compare the ophthalmologist's speed of ROP diagnosis using Telemedicine versus traditional bedside ophthalmoscopy. The findings reveal that: 1) ROP diagnosis by the ophthalmologist is significantly faster via Telemedicine, and 2) there are significant time requirements by ophthalmologists associated with ROP diagnosis at the NICU bedside beyond ophthalmoscopy. In particular, additional time is taken for travel and communication with families and hospital staff.

To counteract these time requirements the implementation of Telemedicine for ROP management has the ability to decrease the time commitment for examining ophthalmologists.

Previous studies have shown that telemedical ROP diagnosis is highly accurate and reliable compared with ophthalmoscopy, and future work is required to address workflow questions in more detail.

According to senior author Michael F. Chiang, MD, "Telemedicine has potential to improve the delivery and accessibility of care for infants with ROP by reducing geographical and logistical barriers. This study shows that it may also improve the efficiency of care for ophthalmologists."

Given the increased number of at-risk infants in the United States and worldwide, improved use of ophthalmology resources may help to prevent cases of avoidable childhood blindness.

(1) The article is "The Speed of Telemedicine vs Ophthalmoscopy for Retinopathy of Prematurity Diagnosis" by Grace M. Richter, Grace Sun, Thoms C. Lee, R.V. Chuan, John L. Flynn, Justin Starren, and Michael Chiang. It appears in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, Volume 148, Issue 1 (July 2009) published by Elsevier.

The American Journal of Ophthalmology has been published monthly since 1884. The full text of the AJO and supplementary material are posted on the Internet at www.AJO.com

29 June 2009. Reports indicate that The California Telehealth Network (CTN) could double the number of healthcare sites (initially 319 sites) it links to under a Federal program to help fund a broadband Telehealth network throughout the state.

CTN is one of 67 projects approved for funding under the Federal Communication Commission’s $417 million Rural Health Care Pilot Program for Telehealth networks.

CTN was awarded $22 million of the FCC funds in September 2007 and bids for implementing the project closed on 31 March 2009. On 3 June 2009, 130 additional sites were added to the 319 covered in the original RFP. More may be added. (See http://www.caltelehealth.org/)

Thomas Nesbitt, coordinator of the project, said planners started with a goal of connecting 319 sites, but the interest in being on this network was much bigger than we ever dreamed and they have now qualified nearly 860 sites.

CTN may actually be able to fund 500-600 sites, according to Nesbitt, who is a professor at the University of California Davis School of Medicine.

The California Telehealth Network (CTN) will differ from many earlier telemedicine networks in which outlying entities communicated with a central hub to create “captive audiences,” said Nesbitt.

It will be designed as “any-to-any network,” he said. “It’s like what you do on the Internet, although this a virtual private network.       ....         “Any of these clinics can get to any of the academic health centers in California. ... They can talk to each other (and) create networks of networks for research projects within this network.”

The FCC provides start-up support but not ongoing operating funding. “And as you build out this network and have to communicate, the operating costs go way up,” Nesbitt said.

Source: Article by Kathryn Foxhall, a freelance writer at: http://govhealthit.com/

16 June 2009 posted 29 June 2009. Tullow Oil plc (Tullow), a leading independent oil and gas exploration and production group, has consolidated its conferencing services with the deployment of MeetingZone’s reservationless integrated audio and web conferencing solution. 

MeetingZone’s conferencing and collaboration services will enable Tullow to make cost savings, accurately monitor conferencing expenditure, and improve communication within the organisation and with external partners and suppliers. 

“Tullow is an established conferencing user, with interests in over 85 exploration and production licences across 22 countries and a focus on four core areas: Africa, Europe, South Asia and South America,” explained Sarah Dodd, the group’s Project Manager for Business Systems. 

The company has grown considerably over the last two years and realised that it needed to consolidate its audio and web conferencing tools. Following an evaluation of conferencing and collaboration service providers, including those already in place within Tullow Oil, MeetingZone was chosen as the preferred supplier. 

Several factors contributed to MeetingZone’s selection including its robust but easy to use solution and the transparency of its billing system. 

MeetingZone’s audio and web conferencing solution is used across Tullow for internal and external business meetings of all types. It is of particular benefit for collaboration between its exploration and development technical teams.  Both teams hold daily or weekly meetings to deliver drilling status updates. 

Tullow currently has a major development project in Ghana and the project members are spread across the world. MeetingZone’s service provides an ideal mechanism to enable the complete team to meet for updates on the project’s progress such as rig moves, development of operations facilities and engineering activities.

 All employees, including new ones, are entitled to be issued with a Tullow branded conferencing card which details the dial in number to access MeetingZone’s services and an individual access code to join conferences.

“The ability for our users to quickly and easily communicate and collaborate with who they need to, when they need to, without having to leave their desks has meant that we have had nothing but positive feedback on MeetingZone’s service,” concluded a company spokeperson.

29 June 2009. Telecom service provider NTT America was a Silver level sponsor of Telx CBX (Customer Business Exchange) -The colocation and interconnection networking event in New York last week.

 “Telx CBX is an ideal event for us as hundreds of C-level and other senior-level executives representing companies from around the world attend the event to explore new business opportunities to extend their networks and add new services,” said Jason Crummett, regional vice president of sales, NTT America.”

 “As a Telx facility customer, we have the opportunity to provide access to our Tier-1 ISP network, which is distinguished by peering relationships, a single ASN (2914) and support from Global NOCs (network operations centers), with other customers.”
 
NTT America’s Tier-1 Global IP Network (GIN) is available to Telx customers through two New York City facilities. At Telx’s flagship interconnection facility at 60 Hudson Street, more than 100 telecommunications companies can interchange Internet traffic through Telx’s meet-me-room individual fiber optic lines. The second location, at 111 Eighth Avenue, is home to more than 40 domestic and international carriers.
 
NTT America’s Global IP Network gives Telx customers bandwidth from 10mbps to 10Gbps over the current Internet protocol (IPv4) and the next-generation Internet protocol (IPv6). All of the company’s Global IP Network U.S. support calls are answered by a Dallas-based engineer.
 
In April, the network logged the fastest bandwidth available, 210 Gigabits per Second (Gbps), on the transpacific portion of the service, NTT said. The network also offers direct connection to major ISPs in Asia, the United States and Europe.
 
NTT America's parent company, NTT Communications is the largest telecommunications company in Asia and one of the largest in the world. NTT Communications' extensive infrastructure includes Arcstar' Global IP-VPN and Global e-VLAN, as well as a Tier-1 IP backbone reaching more than 150 countries in partnership with major Internet service providers, and secure data centers in Asia, North America and Europe.
 
NTT America has promoted its chief technology officer Kazuhiro Gomi to chief operating officer. In his new role, Gomi will lead the newly created Enterprise Solutions Business Unit (ESBU).

29 June 2009. The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of US$151 million to extend access to affordable communications services to Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

This is the third phase of the Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (RCIP) – a US$424 million regional program that will increase the availability of reliable communications services for citizens, businesses and governments in Eastern and Southern Africa. Under RCIP 3, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania will receive US$20 million, US$31 million and US$100 million respectively.

The first phase of RCIP was approved by the Board of the World Bank in March 2007, providing assistance to Burundi, Kenya, and Madagascar, with a combined IDA volume of around US$164.5 million. The second phase, a US$24 million IDA grant for Rwanda, was approved in September 2008.

RCIP 3 will help Malawi, Mozambique and other countries in the region to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of telecommunications infrastructure and services.

RCIP is intended to make affordable Internet and voice communications services more widely available, and in turn create new opportunities for employment, regional trade, social participation, and government efficiency.

 In Malawi, RCIP will link Malawi to the world by fiber-optic cable, and reduce the cost of international connectivity - which will in turn reduce the cost of international telephony and broadband internet service.

In Mozambique, the project leverages the sector liberalization reforms implemented by the government and will further contribute to the competitiveness of the sector to improve affordability, access, and use of networks. The project will also set the basis for the development of eGovernment applications that will enable the provision of public services to citizens through electronic platforms.

In Tanzania, the project will strengthen the policy and regulatory environment and promote sector reform in order to maximize the benefits of access to international bandwidth.  RCIP will support the implementation of the Government's National ICT Infrastructure Development Program, which aspires to provide ICT connectivity to Tanzanians at all levels. In particular, RCIP Tanzania will support last mile initiatives for rural access, the Government Communications Network (GovNet), eGovernment, and capacity building.”

The World Bank Group and the African Development Bank have partnered tto mobilize funds to invest in infrastructure and applications, advising on the policy and regulation of the ICT sector across the continent, and helping with the design and implementation of national e-strategies.

“The recently launched submarine cable projects, together with such national backbone networks are already driving down substantially the costs of broadband connectivity in Africa,” said Mohsen Khalil, World Bank Group Director for Global Information and Communication Technologies.

RCIP complements regional undersea cable initiatives such as the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) developed by telecommunications operators with support from IFC and other development partners.

(1) Avistar Communications Corp. has announced that Citrix Systems demonstrated the Avistar C3 Media Engine in the Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop products during its Citrix iForum 2009 event last week in Edinburgh.
 
The latest component of the award-winning Avistar C3™ platform, Avistar C3 Media Engine is the only visual communications application designed to work effectively and efficiently on the Citrix platform.
 
“Until now, there was a tremendous pent up demand but no visual communications solutions for the terminal and thin client market. Avistar solves an important issue for Citrix users by providing a robust visual communications experience while leveraging all the benefits of the Citrix platform,” said Chris Lauwers, CTO, Avistar.

“This development is so important and there is so much interest for it among the Citrix users that Citrix itself demonstrated the solution at its iForum conference, ” he added.

(2) SPIRIT DSP, a leading provider of carrier-grade voice and video software engines, has debuted its TeamSpirit 4.0 Conferencing Engine solution with scalable architecture based on H.264 SVC video technology.

TeamSpirit 4.0 Scalable Conferencing Engine is based on the Transcoder Free Operations (TrFO) principle that allows transmitting compressed voice and video without unnecessary signal coding and decoding at the server (MCU) side. That prevents additional server load, significantly lowers the delay and entirely dispose quality degradation typically associated with it. By transmitting only compressed data, TrFO dramatically lowers overall infrastructure costs as channel capacity can be amplified by up to six times. SPIRIT’s technology allows achieving all those benefits without any increase in traffic volume.

Automatic Rate Selection (ARS) technology used in TeamSpirit 4.0 Scalable Conferencing Engine allows end-users to enjoy the maximum quality allowed by their channel capacity and terminal equipment design. Thanks to the proprietary solution with limited usage of the interframe correlation, TeamSpirit 4.0 Scalable Conferencing Engine boosts high packet loss robustness and error resiliency even in unmanaged or congested IP-networks, independent of limited client capabilities and provides the best available voice and video quality.

Adding H.264 SVC scalable video codec to TeamSpirit 4.0 Scalable Conferencing Engine allows for multi-layer capability which assures the best possible resolution, frame rate and quality of the picture regardless of the type of a terminal, whether it is a mobile phone, a PC or a wide-screen TV.”

(3) Global IP Solutions (Oslo: GIPS) , the leading provider of IP multimedia processing solutions,has announced support for a Scalable Video Coding (SVC) implementation of H.264. With H.264 SVC integrated inside GIPS video engines, video conferencing providers can offer incredible video quality using the minimal bandwidth by adapting to each user's available capacity.

Using GIPS VideoEngine products with H.264 SVC, multi-party video conferencing can now allow different users to take part according to their bandwidth without downgrading any other participant's experience. In addition peer-to-peer video calls have greatly improved error resilience.

GIPS VideoEngine(TM) and Video ConferenceEngine(TM) offer a complete solution of high-level APIs that enable the best video experience possible. GIPS' video engines automatically overcome the ubiquitous problems of IP communications, such as synchronized voice and video, jitter, packet-loss, lip synchronization along with device and bandwidth constraints. With GIPS, service providers, application developers, telco equipment and mobile device manufacturers are able to offer the finest video capabilities with a fast market entry.

(1) Aetha has formed Aethra Asia-Pacific and given the company exclusive distribution rights for Aethra products in the region for 10 years. Local ICT distributor, Xceed Solutions will own 75per cent and Aethra SpA 25 per cent of the new regional joint venture..

Xceed CEO, Keith Ondarchie, said the Aethra’s’s biggest hurdle was gaining brand recognition in the growing video conferencing market. He said: “I have country managers in each country and they have staff that work closely with the resellers and this is all about reseller development. We will not formalise the program for at least 18 months because this is all about getting the brand out there.”

“H continued: “Within two years we’ll have a very strong brand out there. Currently, the market share is about 6 per cent of the total market whereas in Europe it’s 15 per cent. It’s all about localisation and branding.”

Ondarchie was keen to emphasise Aethra’s commitment to partners, and claimed the entity would never sell direct. Apart from the telco companies, he may reduce the number of resellers. For telcos he observed that if he could get them just to sell Aethra product it would be good.

Source: ARN Australian Reseller News on 29 June 2009.

(2) Atlas Merger SDN.BHD is to be the exclusive agent of InPlace Medical Solutions (tm), the world's first video-telemedicine offshore medical service, for Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Atlas Merger. Atlas Merger, Inc., based in Terengganu, Malaysia, is a wholly owned Bumiputra company that provides innovative products and services to the oil and gas industry in Southeast Asia.

Atlas Merger CEO Mohd Aminuddin Husain said: "To obtain the best people to work in such remote locations as the South China Sea - where medical services and facilities can be many hours away - employers need the best health and medical services available."

InPlace Medical combines specially trained remote duty paramedics, enhanced medical inventory and advanced video telemedicine technology to bring expanded physician care directly to the offshore oil and gas rig. This better manages rig workforce health and lowers transportation risks and costs. Offshore oil operators and drilling contractors benefit from reduced operating expenses and higher workforce productivity.

InPlace Medical Solutions offers day-rate packages ranging from complete turn-key solutions for all offshore medical needs, to tailored programs that work with a company's own medical staffing.

(3) A new Australian systems integrator company was formed this week to provide Australian public and private sector organisations with Unified Communications (UC) services and solutions. iVision has been formed from the integration of two companies: Integrated Vision which provided leading visual communications solutions, and Unify, which offered networking and IP telephony solutions.  Headquartered in Melbourne, the two companies have more than 25 years of experience in video conferencing, core networking, IP telephony, and audio-visual integration.

iVision partners with some of the leading UC vendors in the industry and employs more than 100 staff in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.  The company supports every Unified Communications solution with a review of the customer’s business and network with the objective of optimising business process and network for both current and future requirements.
 
iVision offers five key service areas essential to supporting the customer in their UC lifecycle: Consultation, Integration and Implementation, Managed Services, Network and Conferencing Hosted Services, and Usage and Adoption Services.
 
“The iVision offering in Unified Communications is more than just providing product, it is about providing the essential services to deliver on a UC solution and t

 (1) Media Network Services (MNS) of Oslo,Norway has announced the launch of a new global video conferencing network forTelepresence and HD video conferencing. MNS  offers an affordable guaranteed-capacity network to meet any demand required to maximize the video conferencing experience.

MNS offers the following two services:  (1) Large Enterprises: Telepresence and HD Video Conferencing Network;and (2) Small & Medium Enterprises: High-Quality Video Conferencing. MNS' standard network offerings range from 768kbps to 6Mbps guaranteed-capacity video conference bandwidth while the premium offering can meet the demand for any network capacity.

“Media Network Services can now enable any business to experience a maximized video conferencing experience while leveraging their existing video conferencing equipment”, says Haakon Bryhni, CEO at MNS.

For morer information, contact: Hans Fredrik Johansen, VP Sales & Marketing, MNS at e-mail: johansen@medianetworkservices.com

(2) Glowpoint  provided video conferencing managed services to enable live, interactive broadcasts of team picks on national television for the 2009 NBA basketball draft on 25 June 2009 and will featured live interviews, carried via the Glowpoint video network, from 15 team locations throughout the country. The coverage will also include live video feeds from 3 team “war rooms” in order to provide an insider’s look at the selection process.

Glowpoint’s services for the draft included high-quality IP network connectivity and live event production services. Draft broadcasters leveraged Glowpoint’s cost-effective services by conducting live interviews between program hosts in the Madison Square Garden Theater, leading sports analysts, and team officials located at 15 team headquarters nationwide. The networks  frequently showed a split-screen format, demonstrating Glowpoint’s ability to provide zero-latency, quality of service (QoS) connectivity in a live-to-air use of video conferencing.

(3) Virtela, the global network solutions company, has won an American Business Award for Best New Product or Service. The award recognizes Virtela's Secure Video Extranet Service, an innovative solution for delivering superior videoconferencing performance and security across different carrier networks.

Virtela CEO Steve King said: "Virtela's Secure Video Extranet Service exemplifies our tradition of innovation in service delivery by meeting this critical business need." Virtela's Secure Video Extranet Service overcomes the network quality and security concerns associated with use of videoconferencing and Telepresence applications across disparate provider networks. Virtela accomplishes this by serving as a neutral third party to create private and secure interconnection points between carrier networks, bypassing public connections and their inherent performance degradation.

Virtela is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with redundant Network Operations Centers in Mumbai, India and Manila, Philippines. Virtela's network reach spans more than 190 countries. Virtela's unique Global Service Fabric(SM) offers the foundation for delivering critical applications via the company's acclaimed service methodology, with a services suite that includes MPLS- and IP-based virtual private networks (VPNs), security services, remote monitoring and management of WAN/LAN infrastructure, and converged services (data, video, voice).

(4) ClubCorp, the owner of 150 Private Clubs in the USA, has joined the Affinity VideoNet affiliate network. The new agreement will offer Affinity VideoNet customers and ClubCorp members access to ClubCorp’s more than 50 HD videoconference suites located in major markets in the USA., and the ability to connect with thousands of Affinity VideoNet rooms in more than 60 countries around the world.Affinity VideoNet will exclusively promote and manage the reservations of ClubCorp video conferencing locations.

ClubCorp, and its affiliates own or operate more than 150 golf courses, country clubs, private business and sports clubs, and resorts. Among the company's nationally recognized golf properties are Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio and Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.

Affinity VideoNet has been a leader in remote meeting services and video conference suites for more than 18 years. With thousands of video conference suites in 60 countries around the world, Affinity VideoNet offers a cost effective meeting alternative to travel.hen supporting the customer through their entire lifecycle,” said Graham Williams, Managing Director, iVision.
 

(1) Wainhouse Research has released a new Report:  “Collaboration Services: Asia Pacific Forecast & Provider Review – 2009”. This indicates that region’s growth is not taking the hit US service providers are experiencing. In fact, research points to accelerated growth among CSPs as demand for services increases due to greater awareness of the benefits of real time communication and on-line collaboration.Thanks to the strength of audio and web conferencing, the Asia Pacific CSP marketsgrew by 25% in 2008.

The report is largely quantitative with current and future data on volume and revenue of services in the AP market. It provides 1) Local country analysis on 6 markets, current year sizing and 5-Year forecast, and provider rankings by service, 2) Summary review of over 40 providers. For more information on this and other CSP-related reports, please see www.wainhouse.com/csp or contact Sara Fargo at sfargo@wainhouse.com.

(2) There is also a new 5-Year Videoconferencing systems sales Forecast from Wainhouse Research. In another recent study, Wainhouse  says the worldwide videoconferencing equipment segment will decline in 2009 but should recover in 2010 and grow steadily thereafter. The number of Enterprise Group System Units sold globally will drop to about 225,000 units in 2009 but then climb to 350,000 in 2014.

(1) Vaddio reports there was a lot of excitement surrounding all their new products at InfoComm 2009 .... the new PTZ cameras (the ClearVIEW HD-18 and Canon BU-series cameras), as well as their new switchers (ControlVIEW XHD and ProductionVIEW HD-SDI). Other products debuted at InfoComm included the new Canon BU-series of PTZ cameras, the ProductionVIEW Precision Camera Controller, as well as a variety of camera mounting brackets.

The President of Vaddio, Rob Sheeley. “We couldn’t have asked for a better venue to showcase the new product lines. If you were at the show you saw for yourself - the Vaddio booth had absolutely no down time.”

ControlVIEW XHD received lots of praise at InfoComm 2009. This new Vaddio presenter-controlled 6 x 1 seamless switcher/scaler can be used on its own, or to control up to six PTZ cameras (or other video sources) and assign up to 72 total camera preset positions. ControlVIEW XHD accepts analog SD, HD and RGBHV signals on all inputs, and up/downscales these signals to dual program outputs at either an SD, HD or RGBHV resolution.

Q2  2009

27 June - 2 July 2009 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California, USA 
Join thousands of loyal Cisco customers for the 20th Anniversary of the Cisco Networkers program at Cisco Live 2009.
-  More information at: www.cisco-live.com

Q3 2009

7 and 8 July 2009  8:30am - 10:00am at mvsion HQ at 132 – 140 Goswell Road, London EC1V 7DY
The Ultimate Meeting Experience: Breakfast demo of TANDBERG T3 Telepresence suite
Speakers:   Allan Bjornstad, VP Technology for TANDBERG and Lucy Bertenshaw of WWF UK will be discussing why the UK's biggest companies are seeking alternatives to flying
Register at: http://www.mvision.co.uk/about-us/events/
(Note: mvision was formerly Margolis - Editor)

1-3 September 2009 at Los Angeles Convention Center,Los Angeles, California, USA
INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West
ITEXPO teaches resellers, enterprises, SMBs, and Government Agencies how to select IP-based voice, video, fax, and Unified Communications to purchase or resell.
More at: http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/

11-14 October 2009 at Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, California, USA
Polycom User Group (PUG) Annual Conference 2009 - Map the Future
More at: www.pug.com