Early in the industry there were many unsuccessful deployments mostly because the equipment was complicated to operate. Today, video conferencing is simple to operate and easy to install and deploy. In spite of all the technical challenges and high cost of video conferencing technology in the early days of the industry there are successful deployments with a healthy return on investment.
First there are four cornerstones for a successful videoconferencing deployment. 1) A properly configured network with enough bandwidth. 2) A well defined application on the use of video conferencing in the enterprise and how this application will generate a measurable return on investment. 3) Picking the right equipment or service for the specific application. 4) A formal training program designed and supported by the chosen vendor.
One of our clients is not-for-profit organization with a limited budget. They needed to connect to three of their locations within their state simultaneously. Also, one of the more remote locations needed to video conference with clients at regional prisons throughout the state. They did not have the first cornerstone, a properly configured network. We were able to work around this easily by supplying dedicated circuits for each video conferencing CODEC. The second cornerstone was already in place — a well defined application with a measurable return on investment. The counselor in remote location saves more than 20 hours per week in travel time with video conferencing. The third cornerstone was a challenge because of the limited budget, however we were able to acquire used and end of life equipment at a fraction of the normal costs. This equipment is reliable and still working great after 3 years of rigorous use. The fourth cornerstone is formal training and support. As staff changes occur our training specialist goes on-site or via video at no extra cost for half day training seminars maximizing their investment. Our training program is unlimited to any client who purchases equipment from our firm.
One of our newer and larger clients purchased more than 30 endpoints with a MCU, (video conferencing bridge), from a large competing phone company. Initially was an unsuccessful deployment because there was no support from the vendor and poor installation and integration within their network. Our specialists first fixed all the technical problems and then helped the internal IT staff support the 30 plus international locations. We subsequently converted a poor deployment into a successful deployment with the existing equipment and network. The good news is there are more successful video conferencing deployments today because of easy installation and ease of use.
J.W. Hornyak Videoconferencing & Telecommunications
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