It's common knowledge that visual cues are important to communication and videoconferencing has long promised to provide those cues while reducing travel and other time and cost-prohibitive burdens. But until recently, these systems have been unwieldy and difficult to use, not to mention expensive. A new generation of products from companies like Cisco, HP and Polycom takes advantage of advances in video, audio and broadband technologies, creating much more life-like experiences. Advanced audio allows everyone to talk at once without canceling out any voices, while high-definition screens make everyone seem to be in closer proximity than they actually are. But let the buyer beware: these systems are expensive, running from $8,000 per room for a basic system to nearly $400,000 per room for more elaborate systems. Network management fees range from $6,000 to $18,000 per month.
Learn more about the newest generation of videoconferencing products:
- read the article [1] at BusinessWeek
Links:
[1] http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_09/b4023059.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech