There
are three ways that multi-participant conferences can be handled,
but each requires that a multiparty conferencing bridge be involved
in the call, to join the various participants together and display
them in a layout suitable for the meeting concerned.
1. Software MCU functionality is often
available as an option in the endpoint but this means that a particular
endpoint must be involved in the call and bandwidth bottlenecks
will apply there.
2. Hardware MCU servers can be deployed
at the centre of your organisation. While these provide an ad-hoc
or internally-managed capability with a varying degree of functionality
and layouts, they require that the hosting site has a large amount
of bandwidth and cannot sometimes be justified where multi-way conferences
are only held periodically.
3. MCU bridging service from an operator
who has already invested in bandwidth, in service-level functionality,
maximum layout options and can provide a complete managed service
to meet the precise requirements of your important meeting. You
only pay when you use the service.
It is this third method that VideoCentric
has teamed up with Worldwide-ISDN to provide.
With highly competitive tariffs and a simple price structure we
enable you to have multi-site meetings at short notice. All you
need to know is the location of each participant and the speed of
connection they will be using. Our rates include all service charges
and call costs and no additional charges for advanced meeting options
such as….
- Continuous Presence – various
screen layouts
- Mixed Data Rates – systems
connected at different bandwidths in the same conference
Prior to the conference all sites are
called to ensure compatibility of equipment and to optimise connection
levels. This information is maintained to allow minimum set up times
for future conferences. There is no charge for registering sites.
To book your conference simply telephone
or email with the time, date and locations required. The operator
will handle the arrangements and confirm your booking. Cancellation
of a conference is free, providing it is received prior to any of
the calls being made in readiness for the meeting.
The total cost of a one hour multi-point
conference can be calculated using the table below, simply by adding
together the costs for each of the sites involved. In practice you
will be billed only for the number of minutes each site was actually
connected.
Tariff
Band |
Locations |
Cost
Per Hour |
| 128Kb/s |
256Kb/s |
384Kb/s |
0 |
United Kingdom |
£70.00 |
£70.00 |
£70.00 |
1 |
France, Germany, Eire and Sweden |
£110.00 |
£140.00 |
£165.00 |
2 |
Rest of Europe |
£130.00 |
£150.00 |
£190.00 |
3 |
USA, Canada and Netherlands |
£110.00 |
£145.00 |
£180.00 |
4 |
Australia, Barbados, Hong Kong, Russia,
Singapore, South Africa and UAE |
£165.00 |
£270.00 |
£360.00 |
5 |
Japan, Malaysia and Thailand |
£220.00 |
£350.00 |
£520.00 |
6 |
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, India,
South Korea, Pakistan, Peru and Taiwan |
£240.00 |
£430.00 |
£675.00 |
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Equipment hosting (rack-space)
Customers purchasing their own networking devices
such as MCU's and Gateways need space to house them. But often space
is not enough, consider the bandwidth required specifically to operate
that equipment, the environmental conditions (air conditioning,
dust-free, fire protected, high-security), power supply security
(battery & diesel generator back up). VideoCentric can supply
you with just 1U rack space, 5U, half a rack or a full rack through
our partnership with the Thames Valley Data Centre.
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here for pricing
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Bandwidth hosting (UK
backbone)
Putting equipment on to a network is one thing, but
minimising contention, congestion and actually having enough real
time bandwidth is another. VideoCentric’s bandwidth provider
at the Thames Valley Data Centre connects directly to the National
Backbone Network and can guarantee unrivalled levels of service
through its SLA.
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here for pricing>
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Education peering (Super JANET)
Thames Valley Data Centre is peered on to the UKERNA
Super JANET backbone network as used by most Universities and many
Colleges and Schools in the UK. It means that any organisation connected
with such establishments will enjoy less contention and therefore
greater performance than when attempting to access through traditional
internet routes.
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here for pricing
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Video-over-IP Theory Training
VideoCentric staff have trained end-customers, competitive
resellers, system integrators and even some of its own manufacturers
in the theory behind H.323 real time communications. As rich media
conferencing becomes more widespread through the availability of
IP bandwidth, other organisations, traditionally working in the
data or voice markets, are going to need to understand more about
H.323 gatekeeper theory and how it enables more than just IP videoconferencing.
Interfacing with Cisco Skinny Protocol (SCCP), 3G networks and other
H.324 mobile solutions as well as the Plain Old Telephony System
(POTS) we have known for the last 100 years, will become critical
to ongoing business strategy. Companies who have already taken such
theory training very seriously include Nortel, Siemens, Cisco, Avaya,
Microsoft, Mitel, Ericsson and Alcatel, and now it is the turn of
voice and data integration companies to look at how video will impact
them as real time multimedia communications takes hold at the desktop,
in the conference room and on the hand-held mobile device.
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here to discuss with a technical representative
Video-Network Design Consultancy (including voice
and 3G)
There are four approaches to designing a real-time
video-enabled network:-
1) The ad-hoc, piecemeal approach,
where the network evolves without real thought or planning. This
approach is ok when connecting just two or three offices over a
public broadband network, but what about adding in web-cam users
at home, what about the implications of firewall's, bandwidth management
and priority of traffic, to avoid impact on data and voice communication
?
2) The “data-first” approach
where adding a couple of video-enabled systems to an existing data
network might seem to be quick and inexpensive and indeed for trailing
a system it is. But consider the longer term impact. Real time communication
is bandwidth intensive and bi-directional and unlike data traffic,
needs priority on a per-packet basis. A two-way conference may still
be simple and manageable where an organisation has say, a 2Mbps
link, but what happens when you want to invite another remote employee
into your conference or involve an important customer for a brief
discussion ? This is the point at which your multiparty conference
unit (MCU bridge) needs to join the call creating a bandwidth bottleneck
in need of careful management. Having this bridge in the right location,
or sharing one on the IP-Vision public network, is a decision that
needs to be made at the outset as this will shape the topology of
your video network for the future and ultimately the efficiency
of your overall company’s communication as the boundary between
data, voice and video starts to blur. Sometimes it is better to
leave the non-real-time network alone and create an overlay video
network which can link to the data network, in other cases it is
prudent to integrate them from the start.
3) The “voice-first” approach
where an organisation’s aging telephony system is about to
be replaced. Voice-over-IP is now commonplace for those looking
for “free” telephony between their sites and employees,
but the implementation of such a solution is usually carefully considered,
well planned, and regarded as “mission critical”. Cutting
over from an old telephone system to a new one must happen seamlessly
otherwise the communication of an entire company can be put at risk
with all the undesirable consequences. However, most voice-over-IP
companies have come from the world of circuit-switched telecommunications
and are not necessarily best qualified to advice on how to provision
for rich media (video, data, voice and control) and how to ensure
that the new network will interface seamlessly with existing ISDN
video, POTS telephony and new 3G, SIP and Cisco SCCP networks. VideoCentric
has partnered with experts in this field to ensure that “voice
first” can also mean “video next”.
4) The “video first” approach.
Few organisations would consider video above data or voice communication
upon which they already depend. But those designing a “green-field”
network from scratch do have the opportunity to consider everything.
By considering video first, you provision
(a) for adequate bandwidth,
(b) for an efficient topology,
(c) for maximising the business benefits of real-time IP communication,
(d) for interfacing with legacy systems,
(e) for interoperability with evolving networks,
(f) for accessing all your remote staff, suppliers and customers
in the future, and
(g) for a budget that not only looks at the initial implementation
cost, but at ongoing maintenance and well planned evolution
(h) for reducing travel and accommodation budgets
(i) for improving business efficiency
Think about which approach your organisation
is likely to take if you do nothing. Then think about which approach
you would ideally like them to take to get things right and be more
competitive in the future. We strongly suggest that you don’t
just leave it to “chance”. Instead, invest in some expert
technical design consultancy to take a look at how rich media integration
should be deployed in your organisation over the next 1-5 years.
Initial consultation costs nothing and from it we can obtain a full
understanding of your likely needs, which may lead on to the preparation
of a detailed bespoke report for your management team’s consideration,
and probably lead to change in the way you do business and the way
you communicate with remote sites for ever. It’s worth getting
right !
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