Cisco’s IP Videoconferencing Solution
This last section of the chapter will extend the IP/TV solution just presented in
the previous major section.The same principles exist for the QoS needs of the
network LAN and WAN sections, but this should not change once established in
the network design.What will change is that this two-way exchange of data now
potentially doubles the bandwidth requirements on the system.This section will
discuss these issues as they relate to a small site’s needs.
Conferencing is not new. It has been around for some years under the H.320
standard, and works across ISDN quite well at 128 Kbps bandwidth. Early
adopters of videoconferencing experienced latency and frame loss that was quite
unacceptable, but this improved with new encoding standards.The latest generation
of videoconferencing now uses the H.323 standard of call processing, which
includes VoIP solutions.Typical solutions for Cisco’s IP/VC solution include:
Distance learning This permits the two-way exchange of information
between instructors and students through the use of small desktop cameras
and microphones.
Medical consultations Doctors across the country and around the
world can now conference in experts and residents alike to find quicker
solutions to problems without incurring the expense of travel. More
importantly, medical diagnosis can be completed in minutes by sharing
X-ray information between sites as the emergencies occur, in some cases
very close to real time.
Financial institutions Imagine being able to work with your bank’s
customer service department to apply for a loan or reconcile an account
issue, all without leaving your home.This is already in service now with
several large banks.
Training These AVVID solutions are not the easiest to learn and
manage some times, so why not conduct personalized training of networking
systems as the need arises? IP/VC permits scheduled, ad-hoc,
and spur-of-the-moment conferencing to any IP/VC-enabled locations,
provided the bandwidth is available.
This section will talk about these topics and how you can leverage them in
your organization, especially with small sites in mind.