Video Conferencing Freedom

Leveraging New Video Conferencing Software In The World of Higher Education

Zach Phillips – Western Carolina University

BackdropWCU has

6 Hardware Codecs

4 Locations

A lot of faculty who want to talk to people outside of the state and away from higher education institutions

What we were saying

“I’m sorry but there’s not really a way for us to do what you want”

“We don’t support Skype”

The World of Video Conferencing

Video conferencing technologies are mainstream

Consumers are very familiar with:

Skype

Facetime

Google Hangouts

In Q4 2013 Alone Apple Sold…

33.8 Million iPhones

14.1 Million iPads

Fortuitous TimingWCU had purchased 2 Phoenix Audio MT-301 Units for client checkout

WCU had just signed an agreement with GoToMeeting for faculty/staff/student conferencing

Communication between clients need to be:

Intuitive

Clear

Comfortable

What makes a video conference successful?

The ability to communicate without difficulty

Enhancing Software Conference with Quality

Hardware

Audio Hardware Options for Software Conferencing

Personal - Headsets

Personal/Small Group - Conference Microphones

Medium Sized Group – Chainable Conference Microphones

Large Group – Traditional Microphones with Digital to Analog Conversion

We will have the most success if we can include hardware echo cancellation in each category!

Brands to KnowPolycom

Phoenix Audio

ClearOne

Revolabs

Video Hardware AvailableLimited Options

Traditional Small PC Webcams

Large Webcams

Traditional cameras through capture card

Brands to KnowLogitech

Microsoft

Vaddio

“OK, my Skype calls look good and sound good, but I still can’t

connect to anyone outside of Skype.”

What was the point of all this?

Options for Adding Interoperability

Hardware Gateways

Vendor Specific Integrations or Plugins

Life Size and Skype

Polycom and Microsoft Lync

Service Based

Why?No Hardware purchases needed

Works with multiple brands of existing conferencing technology

Portable!

Connects us to a wide suite of free, consumer supported technologies

Since Buying into BlueJeansWe currently use it for around half of all conferences coming into and out of WCU.

Drastic increase in the number of event types that we are able to support

Adds a level of control to desktop conferencing that we rarely get natively

Beginning to solve problems that have plagued traditional codec systems for years

Transformation of the ServiceWe’re doing more business

Previously the service revolved around forcing the customer into complying with technical requirements

Now the service revolves around applying the technology to the client’s needs

BlueJeans has emerged as our stepping stone, but the technology consideration is highly dependent on the environment

Lessons LearnedClients are already using this technology in their personal life.

By meeting them halfway we can open the door to new business and exciting new opportunities.

Having multiple paths to accomplish conferencing goals creates new functionality that’s hard to replicate with a single product

Questions?

Thanks for attending!