… a rose by any other name
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Internet videoconferencing
IP-based videoconferencing (Internet Protocol)
Web-based videoconferencing
Desktop video conferencing
as opposed to (but still existing)
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System-based or room-based videoconferencing
VTC (video teleconferencing)
Telephony (POTS) videoconferencing
Traditional vs. Internet
 Use in dedicated room
 Ubiquity – use anywhere
 Use of ISDN or T1 lines
 Leverages internet usage
 High installation costs
 Low installation costs
 High usage costs
 No/Low usage costs
 Usage at plateau
 Growing acceptance
 Resource scheduling
 Impromptu, ad hoc nature
 Technical operator
 Self-sufficiency model
 Centralized control
 Decentralized control
 H.320 standard
 H.323 standard
What is it?
• two-way or more (multipoint) video & audio communication
• over a standard high speed internet connection
• with standard quality of 30 frame per second video quality
• using unique IP addresses for
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reliable high speed internet connection (450kbps)
… some agreed upon basics
Long existing opinions:
• Videoconferencing was a “next-year” technology
• Limited application but not mainstream
• Fine for Boardroom but not the classroom
• Technologies were
• too cumbersome or
• too expensive and
• loses the power of the face-to-face presence
Long existing proposal:
• 1964 Worlds Fair in New York
• AT&T unveils the "PicturePhone“ to the public
• AT&T vision:
• PicturePhone centers nationwide (New York, Chicago)
• Estimated rate of $30 for a three-minute call
• Installed only at AT&T centers
• Very worst of traditional VTC proposals
• By 1970’s AT&T had extremely limited deployment,
so they revamped for business taking and took video
out of the Picturephone.
The 1970’s
• Ericsson (Sweden) successfully demonstrates the
trans-Atlantic LME video telephone call
• 1973: Network Voice Protocol (NVP)
• released by the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) of USC (U. of
Southern California
• pioneered a computer network protocol for transporting human speech
over a packetized communication network.
• an early example of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology.
• 1976: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone establishes
videoconferencing bridge between Tokyo and Osaka
• Infrastructure, bandwidth, & acceptance all lacking
The Big Eighties
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Packet Video Protocol (PVP) in 1981
•extensions to NVP that standardize transmission protocol for video
• 1982: IBM Japan/US build 48,000 bps internal VTC links
• 1982 - Compression Labs introduces VTC product
• $250,000 per unit with dedicated line cost = $1,000 per hour
• system commonly trips simple 15 amp circuit breakers
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1986 - PictureTel introduces their VC offering
• $80,000 per unit with dedicated lines at $100 per hour
• beginning deployment in corporate environments
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AT&T continues (estimated R&D costs near $1 billion)
• Datapoint unveils the Multimedia Information Network
eXchange (MINX) system
early picture-in-picture VC solution
• source of extensive income from patent infringements rather than product sales
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Into the Nineties (pt. 1)
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Internet Protocol (IP) technical advances
Video compression technologies advance
Ubiquity of desktop PCs
Explosion in business & consumer use of internet in
1991: IBM introduced PicTel
• early PC-based vtc system
• black and white system
• low-resolution
• purchase costs of $20,000 per unit
• estimated operating costs of $30 per line an hour
Into the Nineties (pt. 2)
• 1991 - DARTnet connects a transcontinental IP network
• 12 research sites in the U.S. and the U.K.
• Use of T1 trunk lines (not true IPVC)• DARTnet, now known as the CAIRN system, still exists
• Late 1990’s: beginning IPVC
• Embedded within services & software offerings such as
NetMeeting (Win95)
• MSN Messenger (1999)
• Yahoo Messenger (1998)
• Common Traits:
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poor video quality
direct costs to consumers drove moderate adoption
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adjunct to unified communication and web conferencing
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Into the Nineties (pt. 3)
• CU-SeeMee (Cornell University)
• 1992: Apple Macintosh launches with CU-SeeMe (no audio)
• Part of 1993 Global Schoolhouse (an NSF funded education
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project)
1993: multipoint capability added
1994: Win-based CU-SeeMe
1995: CU-SeeMe released commercially
CU-SeeMe successes:
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first referenced “video chat” term
peer-to-peer connection methodology somewhat limited applications
early adoption into school rooms and training facilities
used in 1995 television broadcast of World News Now
Into the Nineties (pt. 4)
• 1992: AT&T returns with $1500 videophone (small success)
• 1992: MBone (multicast backbone) system
•. minimizes data requirements for multipoint audio/video-conferencing
• free virtual network uses mrouters that can support IP multicast
• enables access to real-time interactive multimedia on the Internet
• negates need for tunneling protocols with older router environments
• Novell IPX Networks introduced VocalChat
• Microsoft NetMeeting (from PictureTel's Liveshare Plus)
• 1996 Dec: Microsoft NetMeeting v2.0b2 with video arrives
Into the Nineties (pt. 5)
• Real momentum? The development and ratification of
compatibility standards by the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU)
• ITU Standards Unleash Videoconferencing
• ITU established the Standard H.263, which reduces bandwidth
transmission for low bit-rate communications.
• Other standards:
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H.323 for packet-based multimedia applications
MPEG-4 ver 2.0(by The Moving Picture Experts Group)
an ISO standard for multimedia content
Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP)
• Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) in 1999.
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SIP offered even further advantages beyond H.323
Gained wide acceptance among developers and supporters (Microsoft)
The New Millennium (pt. 1)
• SIP evolves as it entered version 1.30 in November of 2000. \
H.323 ver 4.0 release
• Explosive growth in cell/mobile phones.
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•Samsung released MPEG-4 streaming 3G video cell -- huge overseas
success
• Microsoft announces XP Messenger fully supports SIP.
• 9-11 Tragedy – outcomes
• Economic downturn forces cuts to corporate & institutional budgets
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Travel dramatically restricted & curtailed
VTC is no longer a luxury but becomes a necessity
Portable satellite videophones used for live battlefront broadcasts
The New Millennium (pt. 2)
• High-speed internet access available @ reasonable cost.
• Video capture/display technologies reduced in cost.
• Web cameras readily available (if not built-in)
• Cost of PCs at all time low
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Broadband internet access geographically available
Free/embedded functionality from leading web
conferencing, instant messaging, and unified
communication vendors
The New Millennium (pt. 3)
• IPVC in Higher Ed
• Distance learning programs are mainstays of Education degrees
• Students require/demand enhanced classes with more
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interactive classroom-like environments.
Streaming video quality has increased while disruptive delays
almost eliminate
Videoconferencing commonplace at work, home, and schools.
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• began providing various MPEG-4 video
systems to universities in the U.S