TeleSuite demo sweet

Last month I mentioned TeleSuite is rolling out a new Managed Video Array room system that features the new H.264 codec. Yesterday, I got a chance to see a TeleSuite system in action and I came away rather impressed. 3Com’s nearby Marlborough, Mass. office was nice enough to lend me its room so I could “chat” with the folks at TeleSuite and get a feel for the system. Though the 3Com room I was sitting in is an older TeleSuite model, I was nonetheless impressed. Video on the two big screens was good quality and the picture size made it feel like the TeleSuite folks were across the table from me. Audio was good, though there were a few hiccups if the two sides talked over each other. Overall, it sure beat an audio call and felt more natural than looking at a standard television.

3Com also has these rooms at its facilities in Santa Clara, Chicago and England and use them quite a bit for company meetings, according to my host, John Cooper. Each room is connected to the TeleSuite managed service by a T-1 line. TeleSuite uses the Level3 network for its backbone. Conferences are setup and participants added by calling a toll-free number that’s staffed by TeleSuite 24-hours a day. Cooper says its pretty much a hands off system for the users. In the case of an internal 3Com call, document sharing takes place over the corporate data network using Microsoft NetMeeting. TeleSuite does not touch the data network, it just handles the A/V workload. Because document/application sharing is independent of the TeleSuite service, any application or third-party can be used.