Collaborative: Video Delivery Revolution Fueled by Ethernet, Voice over IP

Posted: 11/2002

Video Delivery Revolution Fueled by Ethernet, Voice over IP

By Gerry Kaufhold

AS THE REVOLUTION OF VOICE over IP (VoIP) solutions continues to set the stage for a wide variety of video-related applications to flourish on corporate LANs, Ethernet technologies are beginning to usurp applications in the professional video arena that had previously been the exclusive province of specialized, or proprietary, networks.

According to In-Stat/MDR, many users of video-conferencing equipment are in the process of converting their existing ISDN infrastructure over to IP infrastructure, resulting in an uptake of IP-based services, and a slowing in the use of legacy ISDN services through 2006. The firm projects that ISDN-oriented video-conferencing services revenue will show a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of only 6 percent while IP services will grow at about a 43.5 percent, topping $2.5 billion in 2006 (see chart below).

Once a corporate LAN is ready for VoIP, it will be a short step to make segments of that network capable of video over IP services. Corporate LANs all run on Ethernet, and Ethernet is poised to become available outside corporate confines, through industry initiatives such as Metro Ethernet Forum and Ethernet in the Final Mile Alliance.

Low entry-level cost points for Ethernet solutions for distributing video will impact existing manufacturers, who currently provide big-ticket video equipment. In addition, advances in middleware, coming from the video conferencing and satellite video markets, will create new business opportunities for large, global IP backbone providers, and local competitive telecom carriers. Three key areas to be affected are, the distribution of live broadcast quality video content over various specialized networks, corporate conferencing and collaboration services and interactive, on-demand streaming applications.

ISDN Video vs. IP Video Call Revenue

Source: In-Stat/MDR

Voice Over IP Sets The Stage For Video

Cisco System's Architecture For Video and Voice Integrated Data (AVVID) has been on the market for several years now. VoIP applications work well in the AVVID environment, because Cisco has built-in a prioritization technique that gives "multimedia" content a higher quality-of-service (QoS) than "data only" file transfers. Equipment for the AVVID program is certified by testing done at Forgent's Austin, Texas, labs. VoIP is becoming a fast-growing application that takes advantage of the fact that most corporate LANs already have the capabilities built in.

TANDBERG's Meeting Place also builds upon the growing installed base of VoIP applications. It interfaces to Cisco's VoIP Gateway and provides software hooks that permit video conferencing to be added as a straightforward upgrade to VoIP-enabled corporate networks.

TANDBERG's approach to video-over-IP embraces the large installed base of legacy systems, and integrates well with the software being rolled out right now for VoIP products. Products being announced under the TANDBERG Architecture for Collaborative Enterprises (ACE) banner are designed with forward-looking capabilities that lead to the TANDBERG Meeting Place Solution, which provides a consistent end-user experience for:

• Scheduling online, collaborative meetings;

• Connecting multiple sites;

• Providing a range of capabilities -- voice, video, computer data, Web pages, etc.; and

• Managing the meeting to derive the greatest benefits from each use.

TANDBERG is representative of the high-end video conferencing segment, but any company with a Fast Ethernet LAN and a T1 line can deploy low-cost desktop video conferencing using First Virtual Communications Inc.'s Click To Meet application. It operates 100 percent over either the public Internet, or a corporation's private, IP-based, intranet. Because First Virtual's products run out of a Web browser, on any personal computer, First Virtual is in a position to drive growth for the entire market for visual collaboration. They have about 250,000 installed user ports already up and running.

The application includes the Click To Meet Server, which controls the operation of all calls, and the Click To Meet Client, which is downloaded onto each desktop computer. The video on a Click to Meet call is Quarter CIF sized, which works fine on a desktop application. Any company that gets their feet wet with Click to Meet becomes a candidate for upgraded services, such as VoIP, video conferencing over IP, and other high-end services. However, the real power behind First Virtual's product is the user doesn't need the higher-end equipment to set up, initiate, manage and get benefits from an online, interactive video-collaboration call.

Gerry Kaufhold, a principal analyst at In-Stat/MDR, has been covering multimedia broadband since 1991. Reach him at gkaufhold

Seven Market Drivers

The world of business communications is evolving into a collaborative model, that brings in all elements of communication, including printed text, on-screen presentations, voice audio, music audio, computer screens, Web pages, white boards, "live" video, video on demand pulled from video servers, streaming media, mobile phone participants, and hybrid combinations of all of the preceding.

In order to implement future "collaborative" business communication services, seven key fundamental technology trends are gaining momentum and driving the market:

• Web-like portals become a preferred user interface;

• The Internet becomes a preferred control panel;

• Separate network infrastructures move the content;

• Encryption, security and conditional access keep it safe;

• Wireless and mobile people need service, too;

• Middleware permits applications to migrate up and down the continuum; and

• Automation systems "make it happen."

A Web portal is used specifically for video conferencing, so end-users can schedule a call from any computer, anywhere in the world. The Internet acts as a control panel, sending the end-user's requests back to the network infrastructure that will provide the connection for the requested call. Encryption, security and conditional access functions are built into the application, to keep all data from the call safe. Newer video-conferencing services are providing real-time transcoding features, to permit wireless and mobile participants to join a call while they are traveling. Middleware, such as Forgent's Video Network Platform (VNP) and VCON's Media Xchange Manager (MXM) expand the ease-of-use for companies who use video conferencing. Finally, automation systems that monitor and control the quality-of-service and reliability of video calls make modern video conferencing a robust application for businesses.

--Gerry Kaufhold