Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Cheap Video Conferencing for Small-to-Medium Sized Corps?

Posted by Cliff on from the your-picture-phone-is-ringing-Mr.-Spacely dept.

Jason W. asks: "I work for a medium sized company of about 75 employees. A while back I was asked by our CEO to look into a video conferencing solution. I didn't find much information about setting up a system in house except from Real Networks. The problem was, they wanted $10,000 just to start. We even had a sales visit from a consultant who laughed at us when we didn't want to spend $8-10,000. Like I said, we are a medium sized company, but did I mention we are privately owned? $10,000 is WAY to much for us to spend on what would be, new technology for us. I wanted to poll Slashdot readers, and see if they have any experience in this area. As for our needs, I know we would need to talk from Texas to Washington D.C, and to Virginia. Can we do it from our website? Do we have to have hardware 'stations' on each end? What are your thoughts?"

4 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. Polycom by altp · · Score: 4, Informative

    We use polycom camera's here. They are a bit pricey, but do the job. The one advantage they have over the solutions we've tried is that they are self contained. No computer required.

    The imaging quality on some of their lower end webcams are questionable though.

  2. Dlink by austad · · Score: 3, Insightful

    D-link makes a video conferencing device. No link now, but they reviewed it on Ars Technica awhile back. Go look, it's neat, and only $300 or so.

    Polycom units work great, but they are expensive. Make sure you use QoS in your routers or you're going to have problems.

    --
    Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
  3. Check out the Access Grid by Shewmaker · · Score: 3, Interesting
    You should check out the Access Grid. It is flexible, powerful, and based on open standards and software. A full installation would be too pricey for you, but I know people run PIGs (Personal Interface to the Grid) on laptops with $30 USB webcams and $30 headsets. So you can start with simple netmeeting-style video conferencing, and if you feel the need you can then move on to a full AG node with dedicated audio and video machines and multiple projectors.

    Note that the AG uses multicast, which your router or ISP may not support well. Also, there is a bit of a learning curve to put everything together. There are AG vendors if you want to buy a fully supported solution.

    -Andrew

    --
    "For the Snark was a Boojum, you see." -From the Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits, by Lewis Carroll
  4. Calling All Starving Artists by Strange+Ranger · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you can draw really really fast while on the phone please contact Jason W. above.

    --

    Operator, give me the number for 911!