The use of video conferencing systems (VCS) for meetings that transcend geographical dispersion in the workplace has increased significantlu in recent years. But, where do video conferencing systems fit in relation to traditional communication media used in the workplace? Research suggests that VCS is somewhere between the telephone and face-to-face meetings in terms of media richness. Guidelines on how to use this technology more efficiently and effectively focus on the type of meeting, the emotional content of the situation, the number of sites and individuals included and preparation for the meeting itself. Appropriate use of VCS promises to provide great benefits in productivity.
History
The concept of videotelephony was first conceived in the late 1870s both in the United States and in Europe, although the basic sciences to permit its very earliest trials would take nearly a half century to be discovered.This was first embodied in the device which came to be known as the video telephone, or videophone, and it evolved from intensive research and experimentation in several telecommunication fields, notably electrical telegraphy, telephony, radio, and television.
Simple analog videophone communication could be established as early as the invention of the television. Such an antecedent usually consisted of two closed-circuit television systems connected via coax cable or radio. An example of that was the German Reich Postzentralamt (post office) video telephone network serving Berlin and several German cities via coaxial cables between 1936 and 1940.
The development of video conferencing as a subscription service started in the latter half of the 1920s in the United Kingdom and the United States, spurred notably by John Logie Baird and ATT's Bell Labs. This occurred in part, at least with ATT, to serve as an adjunct supplementing the use of the telephone. A number of organizations believed that videotelephony would be superior to plain voice communications. Attempts at using normal telephony networks to transmit slow-scan video, such as the first systems developed by ATT Corporation, first researched in the 1950s, failed mostly due to the poor picture quality and the lack of efficient video compression techniques.
The first manned space flights, NASA used two radio-frequency (UHF or VHF) video links, one in each direction. TV channels routinely use this type of videotelephony when reporting from distant locations. The news media were to become regular users of mobile links to satellitesusing specially equipped trucks, and much later via special satellite videophones in a briefcase. This technique was very expensive, though, and could not be used for applications such as telemedicine, distance education, and business meetings.
Decades of research and development culminated in the 1970 commercial launch of ATT's Picturephone service, available in select cities. However, the system was a commercial failure, chiefly due to consumer apathy, high subscription costs, and lack of network effect—with only a few hundred Picturephones in the world, users had extremely few contacts they could actually call, and inetroperability with other videophone systems would not exist for decades.
Digital
Practical digital videotelephony was made possible only with advances in video compression, due to the impractically high bandwidth requirements of uncompressed video. To achieve Video Graphics Array (VGA) quality video (480p resolution and 256 colors) with raw uncompressed video, it would require a bandwidth of over 92 Mbps.
In the 1990s, Internet Protocol-based videoconferencing became possible, and more efficient video compression technologies were developed, permitting desktop, or personal computer (PC)-based videoconferencing. In 1992 CU-SeeMe was developed at Cornell by Tim Dorcey et al. In 1995 the first public videoconference between North America and Africa took place, linking a technofair in San Francisco with a techno-rave and cyberdeli in Cape Town. At the 1998 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Nagano, Japan, Seiji Ozawa conducted the Ode to Joy from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony simultaneously across five continents in near-real time.
Kyocera conducted a two-year development campaign from 1997 to 1999 that resulted in the release of the VP-210 Visual Phone, the first mobile colour videophone that also doubled as a camera phone for still photos. The camera phone was the same size as similar contemporary mobile phones, but sported a large camera lens and a 5 cm (2 inch) colour TFT display capable of displaying 65,000 colors, and was able to process two video frames per second.
Videotelephony was popularized in the 2000s, via free Internet services such as Skype and iChat, web plugins supporting H.26x video standards, and on-line telecommunication programs that promoted low cost, albeit lower quality, videoconferencing to virtually every location with an Internet connection.
The Kyocera VP-210 Visual Phone was the first commercial mobile videophone (1999).
Webcams are popular, relatively low cost devices which can provide live video and audio streams via personal computers, and can be used with many software clients for both video calls and videoconferencing.
Each of the systems has its own advantages and disadvantages, including video quality, capital cost, degrees of sophistication, transmission capacity requirements, and cost of use.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev attending the Singapore APEC summit, holding a videoconference with Rashid Nurgaliyev via a Tactical MXP, after an arms depot explosion in Russia (2009)Technology
Components and types
The core technology used in a videotelephony system is digital compression of audio and video streams in real time. The hardware or software that performs compression is called a codec (coder/decoder). Compression rates of up to 1:500 can be achieved. The resulting digital stream of 1s and 0s is subdivided into labeled packets, which are then transmitted through a digital network of some kind (usually ISDN or IP).
The other components required for a videoconferencing system include:
- Video input: (PTZ / 360° / Fisheye) video camera, or webcam
- Video output: computer monitor, television, or projector
- Audio input: microphones, CD/DVD player, cassette player, or any other source of PreAmp audio outlet.
- Audio output: usually loudspeakers associated with the display device or telephone
- Data transfer: analog or digital telephone network, LAN, or Internet
- Computer: a data processing unit that ties together the other components, does the compressing and decompressing, and initiates and maintains the data linkage via the network.
There are basically two kinds of videoconferencing and videophone systems:
- Dedicated systems have all required components packaged into a single piece of equipment, usually a console with a high quality remote controlled video camera. These cameras can be controlled at a distance to pan left and right, tilt up and down, and zoom. They became known as PTZ cameras. The console contains all electrical interfaces, the control computer, and the software or hardware-based codec. Omnidirectional microphones are connected to the console, as well as a TV monitor with loudspeakers and/or a video projector. There are several types of dedicated videoconferencing devices:
- Large group videoconferencing are built-in, large, expensive devices used for large rooms such as conference rooms and auditoriums.
- Small group videoconferencing are either non-portable or portable, smaller, less expensive devices used for small meeting rooms.
- Individual videoconferencing are usually portable devices, meant for single users, and have fixed cameras, microphones, and loudspeakers integrated into the console.
- Desktop systems are add-ons (hardware boards or software codec) to normal PCs and laptops, transforming them into videoconferencing devices. A range of different cameras and microphones can be used with the codec, which contains the necessary codec and transmission interfaces. Most of the desktops systems work with the H.323 standard.
- WebRTC Platforms are video conferencing solutions that are not resident by using a software application but is available through the standard web browser. Solutions such as Adobe Connect and Cisco WebEX can be accessed by going to a URL sent by the meeting organizer and various degrees of security can be attached to the virtual "room". Often the user will be required to download a piece of software, called an "Add In" to enable the browser to access the local camera, microphone and establish a connection to the meeting. WebRTC technology doesn't require any software or Add On installation, instead a WebRTC compliant internet browser itself acts as a client to facilitate 1-to-1 and 1-to-many videoconferencing calls. Several enhanced flavours of WebRTC technology are being provided by Third Party vendors.
A Tandberg T3 high-resolution telepresence room in use (2008)
Education
Videoconferencing provides students with the opportunity to learn by participating in two-way communication forums. Furthermore, teachers and lecturers worldwide can be brought to remote or otherwise isolated educational facilities. Students from diverse communities and backgrounds can come together to learn about one another through practices known as telecollaboration(in foreign language education) and virtual exchange, although language barriers will continue to be present. Such students are able to explore, communicate, analyze, and share information and ideas with one another. Through videoconferencing, students can visit other parts of the world to speak with their peers, as well as visit museums and other cultural and educational facilities. Such virtual field trips can provide enriched learning opportunities to students, especially those in geographically isolated locations, and to the economically disadvantaged. Small schools can use these technologies to pool resources and provide courses, such as in foreign languages, which could not otherwise be offered.
A few examples of benefits that videoconferencing can provide in campus environments include:
- faculty members keeping in touch with classes while attending conferences;
- faculty members attending conferences 'virtually'
- guest lecturers brought in classes from other institutions;
- researchers collaborating with colleagues at other institutions on a regular basis without loss of time due to travel;
- schools with multiple campuses collaborating and sharing professors;
- schools from two separate nations engaging in cross-cultural exchanges;
- faculty members participating in thesis defenses at other institutions;
- administrators on tight schedules collaborating on budget preparation from different parts of campus;
- faculty committee auditioning scholarship candidates;
- researchers answering questions about grant proposals from agencies or review committees;
- student interviews with employers in other cities, and
- teleseminars.
Medicine and health
Videoconferencing is a highly useful technology for real time telemedicine and telenursing applications, such as diagnosis, consulting, transmission of medical images, etc. With videoconferencing, patients may contact nurses and physicians in emergency or routine situations; physicians and other paramedical professionals can discuss cases across large distances. Rural areas can use this technology for diagnostic purposes, thus saving lives and making more efficient use of health care money. For example, a rural medical center in Ohio used videoconferencing to successfully cut the number of transfers of sick infants to a hospital 70 miles (110 km) away. This had previously cost nearly $10,000 per transfer.
Special peripherals such as microscopes fitted with digital cameras, videoendoscopes, medical ultrasound imaging devices, otoscopes, etc., can be used in conjunction with videoconferencing equipment to transmit data about a patient. Recent developments in mobile collaboration on hand-held mobile devices have also extended video-conferencing capabilities to locations previously unreachable, such as a remote community, long-term care facility, or a patient's home.
New telecommunication equipment for nurses and doctors at Health Sciences North/Horizon Santé-Nord (HSN) in Ontario, Canada.
Recently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested remote work could mitigate the risk of contracting COVID-19, also known as coronavirus. These employees would, in theory, have to rely on a video conferencing system to connect them to others.
Video conferencing has always been a key ingredient in the recipe to success for enterprises hoping to connect with customers, remote workers, etc. And now, VCaaS technology finally gets its time to shine, circumstances withstanding. Months after coronavirus emerged as a threat, many video conferencing companies have enacted new work-from-home policies to keep employees safe.
Summary
The rise in remote work has made video conferencing systems a necessary tool for many businesses. The best systems have a quick learning curve, are affordably priced and include all of the necessary tools to hold productive meetings.
“We are hard-wired to engage with those we trust, and this hard-wiring has led to a constant push for greater interaction and connection on the Web.”
