|
|
Enron Mail |
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=20 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=01,s enterprise storage capacity. WQuinn's StorageCeNTral lets you: Monitor, track and control user disk consumption; identify & remove old files that clutter your drives; and control what types of files your users can write to your servers. Get a grip on your NT/2000 storage space -- FREE eval: http://www3.nwfusion.com/click;1022753;0;0;2;0;?http://nww1.com/go/1022753.= htm 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=01,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=01,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 384K 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=01,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=01,s MC800 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=01,re conferencing with in one corner of the screen, with the rest of the space available for data collaboration. If you=01,re in the market for a system, be sure to get one with a Sony EVI D30/31 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=01,s system. Most systems will allow you to transmit over ISDN or IP, but we found performance over IP was dragged down by IP=01,s overhead requirements. For the complete product review, go to: http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2000/0313rev.html Of course, there=01,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. http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2000/0313rev2.html 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=01,s airline and hotel bills because you=01,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 http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2000/0313rev.html But implementation is still fuzzy, Network World, 03/13/00 http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2000/0313rev2.html How we did it, Network World, 03/13/00 http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2000/0313how.html ********************************************************* Subscription Services To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World e-mail newsletters, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/notprinteditnews.asp To change your email address, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/changeemail.asp 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
|