JANET Videoconferencing Service Upgrades to TANDBERG for Next-Generation Capabilities
High Definition video features allows JANET to offer the education and research sectors the very best in visual communications
23/9/08: Oxford and Staines, UK - September 23, 2008: JANET Videoconferencing Service (JVCS) has selected TANDBERG, a leading global provider of telepresence, high-definition videoconferencing and mobile video solutions, to significantly enhance and increase its hosting capacity with the deployment of two new multipoint control units (MCUs); the latest high definition (HD) multipoint technology in TANDBERG's product portfolio.
JVCS installed two TANDBERG MSE8000 voice and videoconferencing media services engines at their sites in Edinburgh and Bracknell. The sites, which go live this month, will effectively double JVCS' videoconferencing capacity while supporting a far greater number of high bandwidth multipoint HD conferences simultaneously.
JVCS decided to use TANDBERG's technology following the massive growth and increased demand that the organisation has witnessed by videoconferencing users in the education and research sectors.
With HD videoconferencing equipment becoming widely available in primary and secondary schools, further education colleges, universities and scientific research organisations, the new JVCS capability will ensure the very highest picture quality for all end users with HD enabled equipment. Picture quality on existing Standard Definition (SD) systems will also be improved significantly as each TANDBERG multipoint control unit will run Clearvision software.
London Grid for Learning (LGFL) is currently trialling HD equipment with a view to future requirements for the schools in their area.
"The user experience is vastly superior on HD compared to standard definition," says Roger Bloxham independent consultant working for Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea CLC.
"Apart from the improved definition there are numerous other advantages: When conducting videoconferences with multiple attendees, there is less need to move and zoom the camera to individuals as the picture is so much sharper already. You can also show much greater detail when using HD - this is great when showing things like museum artefacts, demonstrations or PC-based material such as spreadsheets. The picture is so sharp you can even pick up the hallmark on a coin!" says Roger.
"HD videoconferencing can also significantly improve problems with uneven lighting, which is something standard definition equipment finds challenging."
"We have been impressed by the trials we have done so far on HD," comments Roger. "We will be adopting the policy of moving to HD in cases where the use of videoconferencing would be greatly enhanced by its use. We have seen a significant use of HD in new academies and schools throughout the region and particularly in the 14-19 year age group where collaboration between schools has been key. The cost of the new equipment must surely outweigh the cost of travel previously required for such collaboration, particularly in remote regions."
Commenting on the new installation, Paul Bonnett, video services manager at JANET said: "JVCS is committed to remaining at the forefront of videoconferencing technology in order to assure our diverse user base, and content providers, the very best quality service. Apart from picture quality, more capacity has become essential in order to keep pace with the huge increase in demand for our hosted videoconferencing services. In just the last twelve months we have seen the number of conference sessions doubling from ten to twenty thousand. We fully expect this to grow considerably over the next few years."
Other benefits that users can experience from the newly enhanced JVCS solution include improved interoperability between equipment by different manufacturers; customisable views to allow users to choose who is visible in a meeting; a recording and retrieval facility, and the ability to stream conferences via web addresses, which allows telephone-only participants to use their PC to view other attendees.
Simon Egan, president, Western Europe, TANDBERG said: "We are delighted to be helping JVCS deliver its new state-of-the-art videoconferencing service. TANDBERG's MSE 8000 is a high capacity voice and videoconferencing media services engine built to meet the large scale and demanding communication needs of organisations such as JVCS that require an easily available, high performance, scalable solution."
JVCS is also planning two further TANDBERG installations at other JANET core locations, in support of the largest national educational videoconference system in the world.