Cloud Video Service Provider Takes Videoconferencing to the Next Level in China Videxio, a leading cloud video service provider, has reaffirmed its commitment to operations in China with the launch of an expanded Chinese service platform, simplified Chinese user interface and cooperation with Huawei to support a fully automated service for Huawei video systems. These enhancements make […]

Over the last few years, a revolution in teamwork and technical support has taken place in the installation portion of our industry. Once network ports began appearing on the equipment that we sold, remote administration, remote monitoring and remote support all became possible, but it really has taken a couple of years to convince clients […]

Middle Atlantic Products today announced the launch of Hub, an all-in-one furniture solution, integrated with AV, that’s designed to maximize equipment storage and cable management. Each Hub is comprised of a tabletop featuring a Wiremold InteGreat table box and a TechPed technology pedestal, featuring integrated Lever Lock plates for small device mounting and two Wiremold […]

Telemedicine and the World’s First Virtual Care Center At first glance, it looks like the inside of any office with cubicles and computer monitors – with one exception – many of the employees are dressed in hospital scrubs. These workers are actually nurses taking care of patients, though there are no hospital beds, no waiting rooms […]

In my second Convergent TechWeek, I included a recent story on teleheath and the utilization of a well-known industry company’s videoconferencing solution: Vidyo-enabled Healthcare Consultations Aim to Increase Efficiency, Improve Patient Outcomes HACKENSACK, N.J. AND AURORA, CO. – August, 2015 – Diabetes is a costly chronic health condition that places immense strain on patients, families, healthcare providers […]

Interestingly I listen to sales people in the AV (AV/IT, etc.) industry talk about trying to explain what they do to someone whether at an event, a party or even in an elevator, where of course you have about 20-30 seconds (thus the elevator pitch) to get that Aha moment from the listener. In my almost […]

Well, fall is upon us, and along with it comes the fall meeting season. For those of you in the rental and staging portion of the industry, this is a time of year when clients who have been away for the summer suddenly call in a panic to book a meeting for tomorrow (if you […]

In case you missed it at InfoComm, VDO360 debuted its new VPTZH-03 (aka The Beacon) — a USB 2.0 camera that’s part of their Compass series. And, now, they’re giving away a Plantronics Calisto Speakerphone with every Beacon they sell! The Beacon is the best USB 2.0 PTZ camera on the market with a focus range/depth […]

Chief is adding Da-Lite’s ViewShare technology to Fusion display mounts. The new ViewShare Fusion kits include all the video conferencing accessories needed to create a bring-your-own-device video conferencing room. ViewShare technology fills the gap between high-end video conferencing systems and personal smart devices. The solution helps meet the increased need for face-to-face meetings in today’s […]

(An earlier version of this post appeared in SMART’s Next Level Collaboration blog.) Remote work is on the rise, increasing 26 percent from 2013 to 2014 according to a recent Entrepreneur article. Many see it as the wave of the future, and others view it as something better suited for the self-employed than the corporate powerhouse. […]

Google Life Sciences to Focus on Diabetes Outcomes Through Data and Disease-Centric Approaches  Earlier in the week, it was reported in WIRED (and other publications) that the newly created Alphabet holding company’s Google Life Sciences has its first big mission — developing new ways to treat and manage diabetes. In a sign that the company is serious […]

By David Danto Director of Emerging Technology, IMCCA This week both of my boys head off to college, leaving my wife and I with the proverbial empty nest. While I know they’re as prepared as they can be to absorb all the higher education that they can access, I can easily recall the time when they […]

ScanSource today announced the execution of a letter of intent to purchase the assets of KBZ, a Cisco Authorized Distributor. Founded in 1987 and based in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, KBZ operates in the United States and has approximately 75 employees. The company’s sales for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2015 are estimated to total […]

Last week my fellow consultants and I were invited to an event at conferencing stalwart Polycom’s New York City experience center. It’s a pretty and shiny new spot at One Penn Plaza, with a nice river view outside and their technological toys inside. For me the more interesting part isn’t the specifics of a single […]

Extron’s new CCI Pro 700 is marketed as the industry’s first control system user interface optimized for conferencing, collaboration and AV control. Right off the bat, when you look at the CCI Pro 700, you see it’s different than any other control system on the market. In fact, it reminds us of a speakerphone — […]

Extron is launching into a completely new market category with their new MediaPort 200, an HDMI (and audio) to USB bridge for integrating pro AV sources or systems with software codec conferencing applications. The cool thing about this product is it will give integrators a way to make money integrating consumer videoconferencing products and apps […]

InFocus Corporation says it has made it easier for people to connect and collaborate across platforms and the globe with a major expansion of its ConX Video Meeting (pronounced “Connects”) cloud-based group video conferencing service. The enhanced abilities include: the addition of full HD meeting rooms that can connect up to 25 participants, new Web […]

By Ira Weinstein Sr. Analyst, Consultant and Partner, Wainhouse Research Follow me on Twitter at @iweinstein. The Wainhouse Research (WR) video conferencing / AV team took InfoComm 2015 by storm.  For those of you keeping track, this is Ira’s 26th (yes — not a typo) InfoComm.  As always, InfoComm provides access to a wealth of […]

While I wasn’t one of the many who rushed to pre-order it on April 10, those that did led Apple to sell out of the most coveted device to hit the market in quite some time in a single day — the Apple Watch. In fact, it was reported that in that one day, Apple […]

After what I considered a highly successful trip to Enterprise Connect last month as media for rAVe, it’s time to turn focus to InfoComm and UCC in the audio visual space. When you consider the realm of Unified Communications and Collaboration, it is no doubt one of the (if not the) most visible sectors of […]

How is instant replay like a gooseneck microphone? As some of you might know, I’m a dedicated baseball fan – specifically of the New York Mets. In recent years, Major League Baseball has added an  instant replay system in which a dedicated team in a remote location are available to review close plays if a […]

Vaddio has added two new cameras to the RoboSHOT series, the RoboSHOT 12 HDMI and RoboSHOT 30 HDMI. Both feature HDMI out, Ethernet for IP control, a better image signal processor (ISP) and Vaddio’s Tri-Synchronous Motion. The RoboSHOT HDMI series is designed for simplicity in applications that only need HDMI video. Control functionality is accomplished […]

Enterprise Connect delivers a unique opportunity for enterprise end users to meet the industry’s thought and market-leaders and hear comprehensive analyses of the products, technologies and applications that are — or soon will be — in the market. Unified communications, WebRTC, video, wireless, contact centers, the cloud and more make up the focus of Enterprise […]

Most articles about “video conferencing best practices” are fluff pieces (yes, including several written by yours truly). There is one piece of advice, however, that is wrong. It’s bad for the user’s experience and for video conferencing in general. The most egregious error in these articles is to “look into the camera” and not at […]

This past week, I attended the Enterprise Connect show in Orlando Florida as an invited media representative for rAVe, my first experience of this kind. I have been to many AV, IT, mobile and cyber security trade shows as an attendee, however my perspective from the side of a media representative created a whole new […]

SnapAV has announced the launch of two new brands: Nearus, a line of user-friendly conferencing cameras; and Sense, a complete line of microphones for use in presentations, conferencing and commercial environments. Nearus cameras will provide “BYOD” — or bring your own device — service that makes it easy for users to stay connected. These smart […]

In 2014, the realm of unified communications and collaboration expanded in the AV industry like it never had before where industry stalwarts in videoconferencing hardware manufacturing truly began to give way to numerous newer market technologies in cloud computing and virtual machine (VM). Where hardware was once the only answer for companies like Cisco/Tandberg, over the last […]

Revolve Robotics today announced KUBI Video 2.0 — the latest version of its video collaboration app for its flagship KUBI telepresence platform. Japanese for neck, KUBI is a robotic cradle plus app for tablets that is basically a telepresence solution. KUBI leverages the consumer conferencing capabilities of tablets by introducing a robotic platform or cradle […]

If you look at the range of infrastructure solutions by major video conferencing system developers, you will see that the transfer from specialized hardware VC infrastructure towards software, cloud services and VM solutions is already a reality. It is time to move forward and understand how the acquisition cycle between the IT and AV industries […]

Barco and Vidyo jointly announced a partnership this week. In case you don’t know Vidyo, it’s a provider of cloud-based HD and UHD video conferencing solutions. The plan is to integrate Vidyo into Barco’s TransForm C enterprise collaboration solution to enable high-quality universal VTC communications. This will be demo’d at ISE next week in Amsterdam […]

After a brief period of dormancy, the unified communications (UC) industry took a healthy jump to life last year. What will this year bring for the industry? UC experts are predicting the biggest trends and what they mean for enterprises and institutions looking to expand and improve their collaboration experience in 2015. A recent article […]

The “Disruptors” Enter the Market In 2013, executives, engineers, salespeople and others who came from well-known industry videoconferencing manufacturers entered the market and continued to build upon a newly growing landscape of communications innovation through the implementation of advanced technologies – cloud computing and virtual machine (VM). Certain companies had already existed in this space […]