Chapter 4: ISDN Puts Video To Work

Video Collaborations

ISDN connections can also bring people in different offices and different locations into virtual work groups. Using dialed BRI lines, they can work together on documents, files or spreadsheets, annotate a shared "whiteboard," interconnect to LANs or other networks as needed, and in general interact with one another in much the same way as if they shared an office.

A video meeting, of course, can also be as simple as a face-to-face conversation between two people in different locations exchanging ideas and information:

The State University of New York in Buffalo uses Intel desktop video equipment to let graduating students be interviewed by corporations around the country. According to Gene Martell, director of career planning and placement, the school is part of InterviewNet, in which students from forty-plus colleges and universities can be interviewed by any corporation with access to compatible equipment.

"Video cuts screening costs for potential employers," says Martell, "while opening up hundreds of opportunities for our graduating students." Martell expects that within a few years video will be as common as the fax is today.

In Boston City Hall, chief information officer Michael Hernon, uses Intel ProShare video systems as one of his tools to contact cabinet members and department heads throughout the city. "We cut meetings to quick, meaningful conferences," says Hernon. "We get the job done, and save time and money in the process."

Other Sections Of This Chapter:

Beginning Of Chapter 4
Better, Less Costly Meetings
Video Equipment: An Overview
Putting Video To Work
Video Collaborations
Video Banking
Distance Learning
Video Security
A Video Revolution