Vaddio introduced the RoboSHOT 12 HDMI Camera for Cisco TelePresence SX Codecs at InfoComm this week. The camera solution has been tested and certified by Cisco to work with Cisco codecs using VISCA over RS232 for control, providing the ability for the codec and camera to communicate and exchange PTZ settings, preset recalls and more. […]

Biamp says that its Tesira customers will have more AVB-capable switches to choose from when designing and installing AVB/TSN systems. The Cisco Catalyst family of switches includes the AVB-enabled 9300 and 9500 Series and the recently Avnu-certified 3650 and 3850 Series of switches. Avnu certification confirms interoperability for AVB systems using Catalyst switches. Cisco Catalyst […]

Oblong Industries invites visitors to InfoComm 2018 to experience next generation workflows with Mezzanine. By integrating Mezzanine with popular workstream collaboration products such as Cisco Webex Teams (formerly known as Spark), co-workers can move between the desktop workstream of a Webex Teams environment to a multi-user, multi-location, multi-stream Mezzanine meeting space with ease. Teams rely on enterprise collaboration platforms to […]

What’s it like preparing for a videoconference at your business? Is it a smooth, seamless process that automatically sets the technology at your service as soon you enter the room? Is the video quality stunningly realistic? Or do you have to start from scratch every time, locating plugs and remote controls, pushing a number of buttons and […]

TrueConf has added support for Cisco’s Open H.264 video codec. This implementation of H.264 provides wide compatibility of TrueConf solutions with third-party video conferencing endpoints and enhanced web conferencing experience. Cisco open-sourced it’s H.264 codec implementation as a license-free alternative solution to allow its use in WebRTC standard along with VP8 video codec. Open H.264 ensures compatibility between […]

Vaddio is now shipping its new OneLINK Codec Kits for Cisco and Polycom Codecs. OneLINK Codec Kits give room designers more camera flexibility by providing the ability to connect Cisco, Polycom or Vaddio cameras to codec rooms. Using Vaddio RoboSHOT PTZ cameras in rooms with Polycom and Cisco codecs provides a broader array of camera choices including 12x, 20x and […]

ZOOM just published, on their internal blog, a video-based shootout against WebEx. Rarely do you see public side-by-side comparisons where one company calls out their competitor, by name, as it’s considered, by many in marketing, to be a bad move. But, in this case, ZOOM doesn’t seem to care — and, of course, it’s probably well-known […]

Prysm, Inc announced today new functionality for its digital workplace platform. The new features include: Co-browsing – allows all Prysm participants accessing content via an approved mobile device to view and interact with web content. Prysm is the first to offer web application co-browsing among teams, enabling all users to make edits while empowering the content owner to monitor […]

Cisco has posted its videoconferencing collaboration products for use in all Revit programs created by Autodesk. These CAD program tools are used by architects, integrators and design consultants in building design and are required in the Smart Building Technologies (SBT) market.  Now Cisco video solutions can “drag and drop” in those designs.  The modules are found in the Bimobject.com online database. Products that […]

With the deluge of new collaboration boards that will hit the market over the next six months (this was the most popular launch product at ISE  in Amsterdam, last month), there’s no question that Microsoft will have to cut the price of their Surface Hub — or, no one who knows any better will buy it. They can’t keep ripping […]

With the deluge of new “Collaboration Boards” that will hit the market over the next six months (this was the most popular launch product at ISE this month), there’s no question that Microsoft will have to cut the price of their Surface Hub. They can’t keep ripping people off at $8,000 — $9,000 (55″) and $20,000 (84″) […]

Editor’s Note: Leonard Suskin has additional thoughts on Biamp’s TesiraFORTÉ DAN, which you can read here. ISE has never been quite as big to me as InfoComm, though not for any particular reason. Perhaps it’s that time-zone differential is even worse heading East across the ocean than West to Las Vegas [or due South to […]

I am in Amsterdam. Or, at least I believe I am at this point. As many of you know, I am in the middle of a very large project and was unable to travel to Amsterdam for ISE this year. This is a pilgrimage I’ve made every year for quite a long time, in fact […]

Cisco just launched two all-in-one, cloud-based products in Cisco Spark Board and Cisco Spark Meeting. Cisco says it invented Spark Board to clean up the conference-room chaos and connect physical rooms to virtual spaces. The Cisco Spark Board will be available in both 55” and 70” sizes. It’s basically a few products in one, including: A […]

AVB (Audio Video Bridging) is the common name for the set of technical standards developed by the IEEE Audio Video Bridging Task Group of the IEEE 802.1 standards committee. This task group was renamed the Time-Sensitive Networking Task Group in November 2012 to reflect the expanded scope of its work. IEEE 802.1 defines a set […]

How do we define the proper way to do business in this era of rapid technological advancement? Where business was once all about the cold-call dials and networking events, with marketing materials present in his or her briefcase as one went out on the sales call, the new age of technology and media has added […]

To refresh the memories, when entering the UCC Pavilion at InfoComm 2016 this is what you were witness to: Videoconferencing and telepresence systems Remote worker / teleworker technologies Cloud services Unified communications and collaboration technologies Networked interactive whiteboards Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) providers Videoconferencing as a service (VCaaS) providers Managed services providers Collaboration […]

Cisco’s Marketing Manager, Kim Nguyen joined me for an awesome overview about their entire product line at InfoComm 2016. Cisco is squarely focused on supporting the AV integrator community and their newest products like PresenterTrack, Spark and their SX and MX room systems prove that. I hope you’ll watch this video interview with Kim:

Collaboration Squared, a global collaboration and video conferencing service provider and winner of the 2015 InfoComm and Enterprise Connect Innovation showcases, today announced the launch of its Cisco Spark offering, including a deep integration to their cloud Acano service Ubiety. Cisco Spark is the next generation cloud collaboration platform that unifies messaging, meeting and calling; […]

Nearly six years ago to the day, Cisco closed on its $3.3 billion acquisition of Tandberg. Although it was announced six months earlier, the path acquisition was impeded by investor challenges and regulatory hurdles. During that time, I was part of the Polycom PR machine that highlighted the fact that with Logitech’s recent acquisition of […]

Well, Day Two has gone really well, although like last year I am certain that my brand-new running shoes will be completely trashed by the end of the show. Seriously, folks, with 1,200+ exhibits in a dozen buildings, the last two years I have bought new sneakers to wear at the show, and thrown them […]

In addition to focusing on the simple user-experience Cisco has created with their line in recent years, Cisco’s focus at ISE 2016 is demo’ing their Speaker Track and Spark. Cisco Director of Collaboration Solutions Marketing Angie Mistretta explained Cisco’s presence at ISE and what visitors to their booth can expect.

As stated in my previous blog, “Baffling” Backdoor Cyber-Talks, numerous people in the industry through discussion as well as writing got right out and on top of a major story in the industry. Again, my hats off to them and this now leads to my next discussion on the matter of security. With the AMX […]

While this could be considered last week’s news, I did say there would be a followup to the final story from my previous This Week blog. Here’s what it looks like when your startup passes a make-or-break test (12/4) The future is looking very bright now for videoconferencing company Blue Jeans Network after “Big Papi” […]

Today, Cisco announced its intent to acquire Acano Limited, a privately held company based in London that provides collaboration infrastructure and conferencing software. Acano’s hardware and software includes gateways, and video and audio bridging technology that allows customers to connect video systems from multiple vendors across both cloud and hybrid environments. This acquisition will help […]

A new series – I’ll be looking at news and developments in both AV and IT within the industry during the week. Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire Acano (11/20) Today, Cisco announced its intent to acquire Acano Limited, a privately held company based in London that provides collaboration infrastructure and conferencing software. Acano’s hardware and […]

This past week, many industry professionals and end users attended InfoComm Connections in New York’s Jacob Javits Center where certain industry manufacturers exhibited. Co-located with NAB CCW (now NAB Show New York), the statement put out by the industry organization was as follows:  We realize that not everyone has the time or budget to attend […]

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 […]

Day two of the Enterprise Connect show provided more excellent experiences with companies specializing in providing unified communications and collaboration solutions. Here are the booth videos from the second day. AGT AGT has improved the way organizations communicate and collaborate for over 20 years. Our passion for technical innovation, visual communication and customer service – […]

When you look at certain individuals who have been influential in the audio visual industry, there are those who have contributed in numerous high level ways. Gary Hall is certainly one of those individuals who has made major contributions and continues to be held in high regard by many in the industry. Along with being […]

As you may know, Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) is Europe’s — and the world’s — largest AV show. Combining both residential and commercial AV technology in one giant trade show venue at the Amsterdam RAI, the show is nicely spread out in 12 easy-to-navigate halls that you can walk without back-tracking as it’s laid-out in […]

Last week I published a blog on the Internet of Things and convergence, basically highlighting two companies — Cisco and Google as those leading the way in IoT and IT. However I felt the need to clarify that while I mentioned the cloud collaboration environment that Cisco has built through acquisitions as strategic to an overall […]