We had so much fun last year…and so far, they are letting us come back.  We had fun doing a little promo for the trip…an excuse really…to let Jimmy Ray play dress up, let me work on my Alfred Molina impression and most of all…let Producer Steve Ewertz loose so he can shoot/edit/compose the way he likes!

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Tags: ciscolive, data center, mobility, Techwise, TechWiseTV

If you have attended Cisco Live, you know that Cisco technology powers many different features of the show.   Digital media signage, IP phones, VXI thin clients, hundreds of wireless APs, and of course the enterprise-grade Cisco network.

At Cisco Live 2011 in Las Vegas, we activated more Cisco technology, this time from the TelePresence family.    Each Cisco Live event has up to 500 breakout sessions for attendees to learn and interact with Cisco experts.  Recording those sessions for on-demand viewing has always been a priority for our team, and using Cisco technology is always a win for our attendees.    During this event, we put our Cisco TelePresence products to the test, bringing together codecs, HD video, automation, and transcoding systems together to create a unique experience for our virtual audience.

For this pilot capture project, we focused on four session rooms.   Each room was outfitted with a Cisco C-Series C40 or C90 codec, connected to the following:  laptop VGA feed, presenter audio feed, and our Cisco network.   Each codec comes with an HD camera, which was placed on a tripod and connected to the C40.   The camera sits unmanned, and can be controlled remotely.   Once the audio levels are set, the system in the room runs unmanned at this point.

In our control room, we ran a Cisco Video Communication server,  which registered the units onto our network, as well as handled call routing.   With over 40 sessions to record over three days, we looked to automate the system where possible, so we turned to the Cisco TelePresence Management Server.  This device allowed us to program in all session metadata as well as start/stop times.   This reduced the possibility of human error, and enabled the crew to focus on other duties.   To facilitate the recording the sessions, we used the Cisco TelePresence Content Server.  This device has two main functionalities- session recording and transcoding.   It can record multiple sessions at once, and can transcode to just about any format.

A few moments before the session began, the TCS connected to the corresponding room, and began recording both the video and the VGA feed.   At the end of the session, the TCS disconnects and begins to transcode the video capture.   Once the video is transformed into an editable format, a technician will edit the file and then place it back into the transcode queue for the final pass. The slides are captured in real time, allowing perfect sync with the presenter discussion.

The output you see here is the final version.

This pilot session capture project demonstrated the versatility of TelePresence to go beyond just video conferencing, to a system that creates, transforms and shares content.    Our team plans to increase the use of this system at future events across Cisco, enabling us to further bridge the gap between the physical and the virtual world.  You can watch these sessions, as well as over 1000 others at www.CiscoLiveVirtual.com.

If you have questions or comments on these Cisco TelePresence systems, please respond in the comments.

Tags: breakout, capture, Cisco, ciscolive, las vegas, network, streaming, TelePresence, video, virtual

It’s time for another edition of Partner Update, our video newscast covering the top Cisco partner news headlines in five minutes (or less). While this update is less than four minutes long, it’s jam-packed with news and announcements for partners.

The first item is so hot off the presses, so it didn’t make our newscast. Keith Goodwin just posted a blog today highlighting the next step in the evolution of Cisco’s Worldwide Partner Organization and how it affects partners. The changes fall into three main areas: Partner Led, Partner Marketing, and geographic alignment. Keith also provides information about the new executive team in his post.

For the rest of your breaking news, watch this week’s Partner Update video. This week’s top headlines include: a full recap of Cisco Live, how your customers can get twice the power per Ethernet port, tips to help service providers capitalize on the cloud, new apps that help you manage servers from anywhere, huge WebEx discounts for partners, and more.

Tune in and watch the latest partner news:

Read on for more details, time stamps so you can jump ahead to news items of interest, and links to what we covered in this week’s newscast.

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Tags: Cisco, ciscolive, CL11, cloud, ethernet, keith goodwin, las vegas, partner, partnerupdate, server, UCS, WebEX

Cisco Live’s first ever “Industrial Intelligence Day” focusing on manufacturing and industrial customer needs was judged a great success according to the feedback  given at the sessions in Las Vegas this week. In an action packed day attendees heard about trends in network convergence between business IT and Industrial plant networks, and how standard Ethernet IP protocols were becoming prevalent in industrial and control networks.

As Master of Ceremonies, I had the pleasure of introducing Alan Cohen, Vice President, Global Public Sector & Industry Solutions. Alan kicked off the day talking about the care-abouts of executives in Manufacturers and how Cisco is addressing them. He used real-life customer examples such as Coca-Cola, General Motors, GE, Continental Tire and Anglo Platinum. Alan expressed how Cisco was helping these customers address the challenges of  Growth, Market Transitions, Innovation, Risk and Goverance.  This set up a good interactive environment for Bryce Barnes and John Parello to introduce Energy and Sustainability for the manufacturing sector. Bryce pointed out that 35% of all energy usage in the world is consumed by manufacturing industry and we added that that figure goes over 50% if you include the transportation and distribution of those manufactured goods and materials.

After watching John Chamber’s Insightful Keynote, delegates returned to hear Paul Didier and Chris Haley (both Cisco) and Gregory Wilcox (Rockwell Automation) talk about the status and trends for wired LANs including resilience and security with a fascinating presentation on Motion from Gregory. That was followed by wireless strategies from David Wolf and Scott Friberg from Cisco talking about wireless innovations and real-world testing where wireless is now deemed appropriate for time critical applications. Then delegates went to the main tent for a thought-provoking session. Read More »

Tags: Anglo Platinum, automation, Borderless Networks, Cisco, cisco live, ciscolive, cloud, Coke Cola, collaboration, Common Industrial Protocol, Continental Tire, Energy Management, ge, industrial, Industrial Automation, Industrial Intelligence, industrial networking, industrial wireless, innovation, Manufacturing, mobility, Rockwell, security, video, virtualization, wireless

At Cisco Live today, we turned our attention away from the slot machines and Elvis impersonators, and sat in on the Healthcare Video Architectures session where we learned that 30% of the brain is visual and 60-90% of communication is non-verbal.

While human architecture hasn’t changed over thousands of years, computer architectures certainly have transformed in just a few years (the equivalent of thousands of years in technology time).

When it comes to healthcare--more so than in a lot of other industries--patients need to see doctors, and doctors need to see patients. And thanks to advances in technology, like Cisco HealthPresence, increases in networking speeds, and overall architectural improvements, doctors’ offices can be outfitted with all sorts of telemedicine apparatuses, allowing patients to be seen by the doctor without leaving home.

When outfitting a customer with a solution, there are four major areas for partners to think about: Quality, ease of use, bandwidth, and cost. While cost is usually the top consideration for a customer, in the session we learned that it shouldn’t drive the solution (that’s because a customer could end up buying something that doesn’t meet their clinical needs).

What’s driving the need for video in healthcare? Read More »

Tags: Cisco, cisco live, Cisco Live 2011, Cisco UCS, ciscolive, CL11, healthcare, healthpresence, partners, telehealth, TelePresence, video