In the coming weeks, Cisco will begin shipping the latest releases for the Cisco TelePresence endpoints, which has important implications for those customers looking to roll out a medianet-enabled infrastructure. With the new release, the Media Services Interface (MSI) will ship by default, enabling both the Media Monitoring and Media Awareness solutions for these endpoints. For network administrators, utilizing Media Monitoring in networks managed by Cisco Prime Collaboration Manager and other certified 3rd party management tools, it will now be possible to proactively monitor the network contribution to the end-user’s quality of experience. Being able to monitor key performance metrics (such as packet loss, jitter and delay) will enable network administrators to quickly identify if network service is adversely impacting experience and—in conjunction with Mediatrace—provide them with the ability to dynamically gather the end-to-end diagnostics needed for rapid problem resolution. Quite often, one of the biggest operational challenges with rich media conferencing is detecting and troubleshooting intermittent network quality issues. Often the end user has to complain to the IT department, the video administrator then tries to locate the problem, and by the time they engage the network administrator, the problem has disappeared. This leads to the two operations groups wasting hours trying to be at the right place at the right time to pick up their issues. With Performance Monitor now on both the network and on the endpoints, the operations team can proactively identify the issues and dynamically gather the necessary diagnostics as the problem occurs, rather than attempting to manually gather them after the problem has disappeared. With support in these high value applications, administrators can expect to reduce operational costs and maintain high levels of customer service. Read More »

Tags: desktop video, Media Awareness, media monitoring, medianet, mediatrace, Metadata, MSI, performance monitor, TelePresence, video soft client

As President Barack Obama preps for his second term in office, we’re look out for what technology trends will matter most for government agencies and video technology has made the list.

Over the next four years we expect to see collaborative technologies, like Cisco TelePresence, transform the federal workplace. As businesses continue to adopt video technology and social platforms as a way to encourage efficiency and collaboration, the public sector will follow suit.

For more federal IT trends that we think will matter most during Obama’s second term, take a look at our very own Kerry Best’s post “With Second Term Ahead – What Tech Initiatives Matter Most for Government Agencies in 2013”.

Tags: c21gov, collaboration, edtech, government, govtech, TelePresence

We’ve noted it before: in-person matters for business relationships and market success. People build trust, respect and rapport by engaging with each other on a face-to-face level, allowing for nuance, body language and tone to bring conversations to life. It’s these conversations that drive business growth and raise profits.

These important in-person ties extend from colleague-to-colleague interactions to all points of contact between businesses and their customers, partners and clients. When discussing substantive content—the use of a product, qualifications for a service, the benefits of doing things a certain way—people want immediate, accessible, convenient, understandable expertise, and they want the delivery of this knowledge to feel personal.

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Tags: Cisco, in-person, remote expert, retail, TelePresence

I am excited to share that Cisco has received this year’s Frost & Sullivan Global Videoconferencing Infrastructure Market Share Leadership Award. According to Frost & Sullivan, the infrastructure market is growing at a blistering pace and is being reshaped by new opportunities and advancing technology. “Cisco has risen to the occasion to claim an undisputed ranking as the global videoconferencing infrastructure market-share leader.”

Why were we successful in the 2011 global videoconferencing infrastructure market? Among the key factors is Cisco’s ability to prove the value of:

• A true end-to-end collaboration portfolio
• Our leadership in all videoconferencing infrastructure segments of the market
• Our ability to successfully expand the role of video in the enterprise
• The continuous evolution of our videoconferencing solutions portfolio

Our introduction of new products including Cisco TelePresence Conductor and the Cisco TelePresence MCU 5300 is yet another step in defining our leadership role in videoconferencing offerings. Read More »

Tags: Frost & Sullivan, infrastructure, Jacob Nordan, Market Share Leadership Award, MCU 5300, TelePresence, telepresence conductor, videoconferencing

It’s the day after Halloween and people across the country are hanging up their costumes, sorting through their candy and recovering from sugar highs. At Cisco, we’ve once again been reminded of the power of telepresence—especially during the holidays.

In some cultures Halloween is seen as a time where the door between the physical world and the metaphysical is opened, creating a connection between the two. For me, Cisco TelePresence opened up doors to communication I otherwise wouldn’t have experienced.

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Tags: Cisco, collaboration, Costome contest, Halloween, holiday, TelePresence