Video conferencing and online meeting provider FuzeBox announced a new product Wednesday, Fuze Telepresence Connect, which hopes to overcome these interoperability problems by enabling its Fuze Meeting product to act as a gateway between Tandberg, Polycom and LifeSize telepresence systems. It can also extend telepresence across iPads, Android tablets, PCs and Macs, making it available to an entire workforce.

Telepresence Connect offers:

• Scalable multiparty HD video conferencing. High resolution and high frame rate encode and decode at multiple frame rates and resolutions.
• Standards-based encoding technology. H.264/AVC/SVC based.
• Error resilience and localization. Maintains continuous high-quality video without broken pictures or other artifacts in environments with high packet loss, while individual client network errors do not affect other conference participants
• Resolution and rate matching. Supports sending video to multiple endpoints with different bandwidths and resolution capabilities, without transcoding.
• Dynamic rate control. Automatically and continuously senses the current network condition and adjusts bit rates accordingly
• Firewall/NAT traversal. Embedded functionality that provides a safe and secure connection through any firewall with no feature loss and no additional equipment required.

I’ve seen a demo of Telepresence Connect in Fuze Meeting, and it was impressive, enabling connection to and switching between several telepresence rooms, as well as simultaneous desktop HD video conferencing with several participants. It also provides access to Fuze Meeting’s built-in collaboration tools, such as file viewing, annotation and screen sharing. The seamless connection to various telepresence rooms was particularly pleasing, as typically setting up a telepresence meeting session is not straightforward. I also liked the intuitive Fuze Meeting interface, which enables users to determine the layout of the conferencing screen, choosing which video feeds to highlight or bring to the front — something that’s not usually possible in MCU-based telepresence conferences.

FuzeBox’s new product is not the only cloud-based gateway that can connect telepresence systems. Vidtel, used by the MondoPad device I wrote about last week, also claims to offer “any-to-any” HD video conferencing, for example. However, Fuze Meeting with Telepresence Connect is the only product that works across H.323, SIP and H.264 and can also connect to tablet devices as well as PCs and Macs, and is also the only product to have built-in, easy-to-use conferencing and collaboration tools. Installation of Fuze Telepresence Connect starts at $18,000, with 20 percent annual maintenance fees. That may sound expensive, but it is pretty small compared to the investment required for a typical telepresence setup.

A potential issue for FuzeBox’s new product is the effort vendors are now making to improve interoperability themselves, with most new gear now adhering to either the TIP or H.323 standards, while Cisco, for example, announced an update to its TC and  CTS software Tuesday that will be available later this year and extends interoperability with all standards-based endpoints. So has FuzeBox’s product come too late to market? I don’t think so; the telepresence vendors have been sluggish in their attempts to improve interoperability and there are plenty of existing, legacy telepresence installations out there that companies would like to squeeze more usage and life out of.

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Telecom giant Alcatel Lucent’s research and development arm Bell Labs is hoping to replicate the feeling of in-person interaction with a fascinating concept it calls Immersive Communications. It differs from existing video products by using “mixed reality,” using cloud-based processing to insert the video feeds of real people into customizable artificial environments, and may offer some insight into what video communications may look like in the near future, as this promotional video shows:

Immersive Communications uses cloud-based video processing to take the video feeds from each user’s camera and remove the backgrounds — using facial tracking and other technologies to obviate the green screen background normally required in traditional chroma key applications — and then inserts that processed video into a virtual world.

This mixed reality environment means that, for example, instead of having a series of separate windows for multiparty video calls, all of the participants can be naturally brought together into a virtual space — perhaps seated around an artificial boardroom table. It also means that documents and other digital elements (whiteboards, for example) can be brought into the virtual space for collaboration, and even manipulated using gestural control.  Immersive Communications is perhaps similar to using virtual environments such as Second Life for conducting meetings, but, crucially, instead of making use of unrealistic avatars, the system uses video to give users an impression of natural “face-to-face” communications.

While the promotional video certainly looks exciting, with its Minority Report-style gesture control, Bell Labs thinks that the Immersive Communications concept has practical application, and addresses several shortcomings with the current crop of video chat offerings:

• Better user experience. Most current video chat applications take too many steps to get up and running and initiate a call. Immersive communications encourages spontaneous, intuitive connections from any device.
• Minimal client hardware requirements. Unlike expensive telepresence systems, Immersive Communications doesn’t have elaborate hardware or infrastructure requirements; all the video processing is done in the cloud. It will use thin clients (Flash-based browser apps, native apps for devices that don’t support Flash, and likely HTML5 web apps in the future), which means that it can be easily used by remote workers, and can also be accessed on mobile devices.
• Natural communication. Traditional multiparty video chat applications generally present each person in a separate window. This is unnatural, and can become confusing, especially as the number of participants increases. Placing the participants into an artificial environment allows for much more natural communication.
• Privacy protection. Automatic background extraction protects the privacy of participants.

In addition to the obvious uses for Immersive Communications in the enterprise, Bell Labs also sees many other potential applications for the concept, such as in remote learning, gaming and social media.

Immersive Communications has no definitive launch date yet. One stumbling block to commercial release could be the server requirements. Having the heavy lifting of the video processing done in the cloud is necessary if the concept is to work on multiple platforms, including mobile devices, but even though Bell Labs says it has developed a highly efficient virtualized GPU, real-time background extraction and processing video on a commercial scale would require considerable server resource, particularly if Bell Labs’ vision of a product that could be used as part of social networking tools were to be realized. (If you’re interested in the cloud computing and infrastructure technologies that support projects like Immersive Communications, you should really check out our Structure conference later this month).

According to Alcatel Lucent’s Marketing Director Thomas Kallstenius, early feedback on the concept has been good, however, and the company is currently undergoing usability trials to see what aspects of it should be brought to market. So while the first Immersive Communications product may not end up exactly as depicted in the promo video (gesture control is intriguing, but may not be all that usable, useful or relevant in many applications, for example), it’s likely that we will see a commercial product based on this concept soon.

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But the move also looks like the first indications of cracks in the high-end video conferencing space, as companies weigh the costs versus the benefits of deploying high-end, expensive telepresence when they could offer good-enough solutions via Skype, Polycom or others. Plus, with its LifeSize division, Polycom’s no slouch at providing decent-quality video conferencing. And those are far cheaper, which means workers can actually telecommute from home offices using them as opposed to driving into a satellite office to use the fancy Halo or teleprescence gear. Using a cheaper desktop videoconferencing or even an application on a mobile device makes sense for the way the future of work and communications is heading.

But back to this deal, which was rumored to be worth a paltry $89 million, a real come down for the Halo business. With the acquisition, the two companies have also agreed to enter into a broad strategic alliance in which Polycom will serve as an exclusive partner to HP for telepresence and certain video UC solutions for both resale and internal HP deployments. Additionally, Polycom’s video applications will be made available for HP’s WebOS platform. This could be the beginning of an application as opposed to a high-end video conferencing system.

HP had only just launched a new line of HD videoconferencing products last November, but Polycom is a leader in the unified communications market with a much broader range of UC products that work on Polycom hardware as well as eventually working on other devices. This begs the question of how long Cisco might push telepresence?

The deal will give Polycom access to HP’s technology while extending its reach to HP’s installed base of visual collaboration products, while HP will be able to resell Polycom’s broad range of UC equipment, infrastructure and software. The deal is due to close in the third quarter of this year.

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The new HP products include:

• HP Visual Collaboration Desktop. A client that can be installed on users’ own laptops and desktops. The software offers flexible bandwidth management with scalable video coding.
• HP Visual Collaboration Executive Desktop. A bundled touchscreen product. It features an HP TouchSmart 600Qm All-in-One pre-loaded with the HP Visual Collaboration software, and includes a camera and headset accessories.
• HP Visual Collaboration Room 100 and Room 220 provide high-quality video in conference rooms. As it’s portable, it can be moved from room to room if required.
• HP Visual Collaboration Studio. A top-of-the-range offering that offers three-screen immersive solutions and features broadcast-quality cameras and lenses.

Because the server infrastructure is software-based, HP says that it should reduce total cost of ownership and eliminate the need for a multipoint control unit (MCU). This infrastructure can be on-premise, hosted or offered in the cloud by service providers. The Visual Collaboration Gateway can interface with both H.323 and SIP protocols, so it will offer a migration path for companies wanting to continue to use their legacy videoconferencing equipment. HP’s existing Halo products, which run on a dedicated network, will continue to be offered as an option for customers looking for a fully managed solution.

HP’s Visual Collaboration line will be sold by HP and selected partners. It’s available now; full details of the product line can be found here.

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Here’s a rundown of the system’s key features:

• Low bandwidth: EspressoHD delivers 1080 high definition over a T1, and is optimized to run on basic office broadband (less than a T1).
• Easy to set up and run: EspessoHD works through Espresso VCS, a cloud-based video conferencing service with a monthly subscription fee. This does away with the need for an IT department to set up and run the system.
• Low power consumption: EspressoHD draws just 25W; significantly less power than other comparable telepresence solutions. This makes it possible to make the unit portable. For example, health care organizations can use EspressoHD as a portable telepresence solution that can move into a patient’s room on a portable cart, running on a battery.
• Interoperability: XVD plans to make the product interoperable with other telepresence systems. It should be the first solution to work with existing enterprise and consumer telepresence solutions.

EspressoHD has a list price of $5,000, less than competing commercial telepresence products. More detail can be found at the product’s website.

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It should be noted that Umi is a fairly capable offering, though. It includes the kind of high-end features that have previously only been found in expensive enterprise  systems (like those from Tandberg and Polycom, for example): full HD video, a video camera with motorized aiming controls and optical zoom, and a dedicated service to handle the calls, which should mean guaranteed call quality. It will be able to provide the kind of immersive “feel like you’re in the same room” high quality call experience that you just can’t get with cheaper web conferencing products.

While it remains to be seen whether there will be many consumers who are ready to shell out for a super-high-quality telepresence system like Umi in their homes, it wouldn’t surprise me to find Umi actually winding up in the hands of SMBs (and perhaps even some freelance web workers) who’ve always entertained the thought of having a telepresence system but haven’t been able to justify the tens of thousands of dollars they generally cost; in comparison with enterprise systems, Umi sounds cheap. It seems strange that Cisco hasn’t pitched this product at the SMB market, but perhaps the company didn’t want to undercut its existing (and lucrative) enterprise offerings.

Umi is available for pre-order now from umi.cisco.com, and beginning Oct. 18 from bestbuy.com. It will become generally available on Nov. 14 from the Cisco Umi  and Best Buy websites, and Best Buy and Magnolia Home Theater stores.

What do you think? Would a high def telepresence system like Umi help you as a web worker? Do you think it will end up in the SMB market, rather than home?

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One of the main things to be aware of is that working styles differ across cultures. For example, I’m so used to working with people from the UK and the U.S. that I forget that I can’t be as upfront and straightforward with some of my Filipino colleagues. For us Filipinos, the first few minutes of a business meeting or phone call is usually devoted to idle chit-chat. Also, I can’t give them negative feedback without sandwiching it between positive statements. While I love working with people from different backgrounds, this kind of variety requires some adjustments on my part. As I work with a greater variety of people, I often have to increase the adjustments I have to make.

But doing this has its benefits. When you’re used to your own working culture, you overlook its flaws and weaknesses. By working with people who have a different working style from yours, you’ll be able to see your own flaws more clearly. The first time I worked with local colleagues, it made me see a more personal side to business interaction. This was something I needed at that time, since my communications with international clients were too matter-of-fact. The personal touch I added later allowed me to differentiate myself.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that two work cultures will create conflict, or even clash. The best way to avoid this is by managing expectations from the start. Here’s what fellow WWD blogger Pamela Poole had to say about this:

“If you find yourself working with people from other cultures, my advice is to be very explicit about your expectations and make sure you know theirs from the very start of your negotiations to avoid any misunderstandings down the line.”

Another effect of web working with an international team is that geography becomes a less important factor in business. We can increasingly focus on other factors such as quality of work, experience, and cost. This shift should allow for more equal opportunities for people to compete professionally, where they aren’t judged on nationality.

Also, working with an international team requires you to consider a new factor that you probably rarely thought of before: timezones. This is usually less of a problem for one-on-one meetings, but what if you have to organize a group conference call with members in three different timezones? At least one person on the team will have to make a major schedule change just to accommodate the majority.

To prevent such group sessions from being unfair, it’s important to conduct them only when necessary. No one wants to stay up three hours later than usual just to do collaboration that can be done using a wiki. The good news is that if your team is picky when scheduling conference calls, you’re less likely to waste everybody’s time.

Working with international colleagues may be a challenge, but this has its own rewards. As technology improves and as the global community gets more comfortable to international web work, these challenges will hopefully become non-existent.

Do you work with an international team? If so, what effect does this have on your process and working style? Share your tips in the comments.

Image by Miguel Ugalde from sxc.hu

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Now, working for Microsoft does give Hanselman a leg up that many web workers won’t have – he can assume, for example, that all of his coworkers are available via Microsoft Live Meeting. But reading through his account, I was struck by how much difference comparatively low-tech solutions are apparently making to his ability to work remotely (he’s in Portland and the rest of his team is in Seattle).

For example, for conference room meetings, he likes the Microsoft Roundtable system – and from his description, it’s a great advance over the “speaker phone on the conference table” system that many of us have had to put up with. The RoundTable system runs around $3000 – not pocket change, but certainly not excessive for some web workers with one big steady client.

But the RoundTable system is far from his only way to be at least partially “at” the main office. He’s using a variety of other tools, from Oovoo to screen sharing, to provide more information bandwidth than a simple phone call. For the future, he’s also been brainstorming with another Microsoft remote worker about the possibility of using telepresence robots.

Many web workers will identify with Hanselman’s key takeaways:

The things that’s been taking me the most time is:

• Equipment: Setting up people who don’t have these tools (software, webcams)
• Patience: Convincing people that setting these things up are the ONLY way I can effectively do my job.

I am absolutely convinced that video conferencing builds relationships almost as much as showing up in person.

How about you? Are you convinced of the benefits of videoconferencing and telepresence for remote work? Are prices dropping and capabilities rising fast enough to make it work out well for you?

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