Address key technology challenges associated with the implementation of video conferencing and telepresence

Featured resources

10 tips for getting top returns on video
Learn best practices

Collaborate with video, Part I: Manage the culture shift
6 essential lessons from VideoZone – a case study

Collaborate with video, Part II: Deploy the right technology
Avoid 3 critical issues with this case study

Prepare for a successful video deployment
Best practices for set-up, provisioning and creating awareness

Reduce costs and increase productivity with videoconferencing
Get started with this article

Video solutions: Overcoming video management challenges
View the webinar

Organizations are constantly seeking better ways to increase productivity and reduce costs through more effective communication and collaboration. In addition, many organizations have a specific objective of significantly reducing their travel costs. One very effective way of achieving these objectives is through the implementation of video conferencing and telepresence solutions.

Deploying video technology places large demands on the corporate network, and an ill-equipped network could result in video tools and applications not working the way they should. Additionally, technology hiccups and malfunctions adversely affect employee adoption rates, leading to a diminishing return on investment (ROI) and an overall longer adoption period.

Here are four steps your organization should take to prepare your network for video conferencing and telepresence solutions:

Develop a solid plan – The importance of a smooth and successful video technology rollout cannot be overstated in ensuring a high-quality experience for users, and adoption in your organization. Without a high rate of adoption, the ROI for your video implementation will be drastically affected.

Bell has put in place the largest internal video deployment in Canada and has video and network experts that can help you throughout the planning and implementation process.

Manage bandwidth effectively – Video can be a bandwidth-intensive application, with end-points that could consume 2 Megabits-per-second (Mbps), 4 Mbps or even as much as 16 Mbps to deliver full high-definition quality. Ensuring your organization has enough bandwidth allocated for proper implementation and use of video technologies will go a long way towards ensuring a smooth transition period and driving organization-wide adoption.

Implement centralized management for efficient use – Managing the entire video environment from one central point is essential to a video technology deployment initiative. The reason for this is that it will be necessary from time to time to update end-point devices' firmware with new features or to fix bugs. Anything less than a centralized batch process would prove to be resource and cost intensive.

By managing your entire video environment from one central point, each unit can be upgraded in a straightforward, automated manner via the network – regardless of how large your network grows.

Secure your network – Deploying video technology must be done in a safe and effective manner to ensure your network and vital data files remain secure. Any video connection made to an external endpoint exposes your network to security risks from the public Internet.

To mitigate this risk, an Interner Gateway can be implemented to limit exposure to one piece of infrastructure that is shielded from the rest of the internal network. Additionally, ensuring each video call is encrypted will enhance the security of your network and prevent eavesdropping.

Talk to Bell

If you would like to learn more about how Bell can help your organization deploy the right video solution for you, contact us to have a conversation. You can also read a case study on overcoming the technology challenges learned from Bell's deployment.