Video Teleconferencing – Has the time come for this technology?
By Joe Scotti, AUDITEL
This is part one of a three-part article, which
will discuss video teleconferencing (VTC) technologies.
I have been involved in video teleconferencing
technologies (VTC) since 1985 when I created a pilot program for one of our
healthcare clients. This
pilot’s objective was to successfully demonstrate the transmission of
audio/video and images, including x-rays and CAT scan films between the
hospital and a physician’s office.
Think about this: In 1985 a
VTC system carried a price tag of around $85,000 per site. Needless to say, because of high cost
of the equipment and the many issues surrounding patient record
confidentiality, the pilot program (albeit technically successful) never became
a reality. I guess we were light
years ahead of our time.
When you consider the videoconferencing technology
of today, things have dramatically changed. But believe it or not, there still is a perception out there
that the equipment and the telephone network required to transmit the
audio/video and data signals are still cost prohibitive. Nothing could be further from the case.
There is little doubt that videoconferencing
technology is about to make its second debut. The Internet and IP
videoconferencing will propel videoconferencing into a multi-billion dollar
industry over the next five years primarily driven by applications. There are applications being conceived
by savvy users who have an appetite for huge amounts of bandwidth and
“digital TV” quality video and audio.
Let’s take a step back for a moment and begin
to discuss the various forms of videoconferencing, applications and some costs
considerations. Of course one-way
videoconferencing (or broadcast) started with that wireless appliance in your
home many years ago, the television.
It was clear back then, wireless audio broadcasting (the radio) was such
a big hit, that many entrepreneurs thought by putting a picture(s) behind the
words would revolutionize the media industry. And of course they were correct Believe it or not the television can take most of the blame
(or credit) for enhancing the way people receive their communication from the
outside world.
In the early 1980’s, a few high-tech companies
(PictureTel, Vtel and Intel) began to explore “two-way” television
broadcasting, aka video teleconferencing or videoconferencing. The thinking behind this invention was
to reduce travel and provide some efficiency for meetings and training for
businesses with multiple locations.
Thus the first videoconferencing system was born.
Of course, at that time no standards had been
developed. So in order to
“make a video call” you needed to have a similar system at the far
end and a dedicated network between both locations. A few years later, a digital telephone network service
started to surface from the local telephone companies that could connect these
devices together and allow them to make an audio/video call over the PSTN
(Public Switched Telephone Network). This service was called ISDN. Shortly after this service was deployed
in the US, it became tainted as a phone service that did not work and took
months to install and configure.
ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network) became known as, “ I
Still Don’t Know.”
Finally the Bell Operating Companies got their act
together and began working with the hardware manufacturers and the industry and
developed a standard: H.320. With
an H.320 compatible videoconferencing system, any user utilizing ISDN can call
anyone, anywhere that has a similar device and an ISDN line.
As the years went by, the video quality, know as
frames per second (FPS), began to improve and 15 FPS was not uncommon. Keeping in mind that VCRs or TVs
transmit at around 30 FPS. In
addition, the audio hardware within the system was designed with echo
cancellation, amplifiers and audio mixers. But the equipment remained costly and the usage associated
with the ISDN network was expensive.
As new players like Tandberg and Polycom began to
enter the market in the late 90’s, prices finally began to fall and the
systems became technologically superior.
What is the make-up of VTC system?
A typical H.320 videoconferencing system comes with
the codec (coder/decoder), which is the brains (CPU) of the system, a pan, tilt
and zoom camera, at least one microphone and a television monitor (usually 30
inches or large) with built-in speakers. A full compliment of peripherals can be purchased with
the system, like document cameras, electronic white boards, projection systems,
video streaming servers. A system
configured like this sold for $50,000-$100,000 as recently as two or three
years ago. Now they can be
purchased for less than $10,000. In addition, line and usage costs for ISDN
have dropped dramatically.
In our next article, I will discuss H.323 video
teleconferencing or IP Video. Stay
tuned!