VIA3 BLOG

VIA3 is HIPPA Compliant!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:47:00 +0000

VIA3 is already at use at known healthcare institutions in the United States for adminstration, meetings, and remote medical doctor presence.

VIA3 and HIPAA Compliance

Protecting a patient's privacy has always been of paramount importance in the healthcare industry. The last few years, however, have brought about entirely new privacy and security requirements that require compliance from more than just a patient’s primary care physician or the emergency room staff. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, which stipulates that ALL methods available should be used to ensure a patient's privacy is maintained, affects nearly every organization that collects, stores, or transacts protected health information (PHI).

Health plans, healthcare providers, healthcare clearinghouses, information systems vendors, universities and even human resource personnel handling employee’s private health information at their employers are all required to meet compliance, and the penalties for non-compliance can be severe (i.e. up to $250K and/or imprisonment up to 10 years for knowing misuse of individually identifiable health information).

The HIPAA Security Rule required complete compliance by April 21, 2005. If you’re one of almost 40 percent of affected organizations (according to the American Hospital Association) still struggling to comply, then re-examining the key privacy and security requirements – and comparing them to how you communicate PHI now – should get you another step closer.

The Key Requirements of HIPAA

HIPAA strongly regulates how PHI may be used, and when and how it may be shared with business partners. HIPAA required the Department of Health and Human Services to establish new rules designed to ensure patient privacy, patient safety and quality of medical care. More specifically, these rules require the establishment of:

1. Standardization of electronic patient health, administrative and financial data (Basically, implementing a national standard – or one format – for PHI documents and codes within the documents, to simplify and improve transaction efficiency)

2. Unique health identifiers for individuals, employers, health plans and health care providers

3. Security standards protecting the confidentiality and integrity of "individually identifiable health information," past, present or future.

While the first two requirements appear fairly easy to understand and implement, the third requires more details. In fact, it’s been divided into two “steps” that give those affected myriad guidelines that build off each other.

1. The Privacy Rule, which required compliance for most organizations by April 14, 2003, requires affected organizations to guard against misuse of personally identifiable health information and limit the sharing of such information, whether or not the information has been in electronic form. The Privacy Rule also grants consumers significant rights regarding the use and disclosure of their health information, including letting them determine who can have access to their information. It also establishes business associate agreements that impact how business associates (such as information technology vendors) can access and disclose PHI.

2. The Security Rule, which required compliance by April 21, 2005, requires affected organizations to implement basic safeguards to protect electronic PHI from unauthorized access, alteration, deletion, and transmission. The security standards define the administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic PHI. Required safeguards include application of appropriate policies and procedures, safeguarding physical access to electronic PHI, and ensuring that technical security measures are in place to protect networks, computers and other electronic devices.

The administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic PHI include such significant requirements as:

• Assigning a unique name and/ or number for identifying and tracking user identity
• Implement a mechanism to encrypt and decrypt electronic protected health information
• Implementing hardware, software, and/or procedural mechanisms that record and examine activity in information systems that contain or use electronic PHI
• Implement policies and procedures to protect electronic PHI from improper alteration or destruction
• Ensuring authentication, access controls and access monitoring in part by requiring proper use of user IDs and passwords to make certain that any user claiming access to a system is who he/she claims to be.

One Step Towards Compliance: Collaborating on HIPAA-Compliant Online Meeting Software

So if you’re not already in full compliance with HIPAA, what can you do? Examine how you are currently communicating PHI and look for alternatives. One alternative that will get you closer to HIPAA compliance is to integrate online meeting technology from an enabling “business associate” such as VIA3 Corporation into your organization. For example, VIA3® Assured Collaboration Service from VIA3 will take care of many of the requirements set forth for managing electronic PHI in HIPAA’s strict security and privacy rules, as the service:

• Completely encrypts ALL data transmitted during an online meeting from sender to receiver—and back again—using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
• Enables full authentication, access controls and access monitoring to ensure that only appropriate individuals will have access to PHI.
• Enables you to store PHI in online workspaces where only those you permit to access them can do so
• Does not store passwords but lets you easily create unique user identities and change passwords as necessary
• Provides both audio and video components, enabling identification of meeting attendees by their voice and face. If a meeting is conducted without personal “identifiers,” hackers can sit in, uninterrupted, on confidential meetings.
• Log who was in an online meeting or alert you to changes in a document or file
• Only allows those with “owner” permissions to change or delete documents or files

VIA3 prides itself on adhering to leading industry standards and forging new ground to secure sensitive communications over the Internet. Built for professionals who require total confidentiality and complete privacy in all their communications, VIA3 Assured Collaboration Service can offer your healthcare-related organization the functionality, support and education you need to communicate PHI securely in a timely and efficient manner.

US Government Resource Planning Group Maximizes Productivity Using VIA3 for Secure Telework, Conferencing, and Collaboration

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 23:38:00 +0000

The US Government resource planning group “Fentress” has revolutionized their work processes using VIA3 secure Video Conferencing, Document Sharing, and Instant Communications.

Keith T. Fentress, President of Fentress Incorporated, knew that the telework revolution was coming to the US Government, and decided to get in front of the technology wave. He was one of the early adopters of secure web based communication long before President Obama signed law the Telework Enhancement Act, which requires federal agencies to develop more robust and secure telework plans. In doing so, he selected VIA3, a software based FIPS 140-2 Web and Video Conferencing solution. According to Fentress, this “remarkable” technology has revolutionized their work, transformed their company, and connected virtual employees spread out over 5 different states.

For starters, Fentress replaced all internal company calls with videoconferencing. This was a bit of a shock at the beginning, and the employees were concerned about the intrusion of videoconferencing into home offices. After using the product for two months, they quickly saw an increase in camaraderie and efficiency. When previously performing only conference calls, they did not have everyone's attention and found people would be on mute most of the time, distracted, or disconnected. Now with videoconferencing, the attention of team members is sustained, and there is a lot more interactivity.

Another heavy use for their daily Telework is document sharing. Fentress employees have described VIA3’s ease of document sharing as “remarkable”. Though they had this feature prior to using the VIA3, sharing is now much more intuitive and accessible. Once a document is open, you are only two mouse clicks away from sharing it with all participants.

Employees now stay connected constantly through secure Instant Messaging – a feature that normally can be compromised but is 100% safe with VIA3’s FIPS 140-2 AES level security. In addition to the new found confidence stemming from the deep security, they have found VIA3 instant messaging to be so quick and easy that it has become a routine part of their workday. The speed of instant messaging and the ability to transfer files – even large files – is a great benefit.

Efficiencies abound for Fentress in VIA3, including the use of presence awareness. Through the VIA3 “launch pad” Fentress can now tell when each other are in the office, in a meeting, or have stepped away from their workplace. This feature has helped them stay in touch better by seeing everyone’s status. They even take advantage of the ability to add comments, like “in client meeting” or “on vacation.”

Other consulting groups and government agencies wanting to fully comply with the Telework Enhancement Act need to turn to FIPS 140-2 secure conferencing solutions for secure video conferencing, online presentations, meetings of any size, document collaboration, and web-based communications. This means either a hardware intensive fixed point solution, or VIA3.

Government agencies or corporations wanting to try VIA3 can visit www.VIA3.com , or email TLockard@VIACK.com for more information.

Government agencies wanting expert resource planning and consultation can visit http://fentress.com/.

Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice Saving Time and Man-Hours With VIA3

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:21:00 +0000

The Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) has been using VIA3 to process after-hours intakes since the fall of 2009. VIA3 allows DJJ to complete intakes across the Commonwealth of Virginia with the ability to sign documents back and forth. The After-hours Video Intake program is based in the 9th District Court Service Unit and it currently processes delinquent intakes for 23 out of 35 Court Service Units, which covers 10493 localities weeknights, weekends and holidays.

After-hours Video Intake was created as a way to save probation officers from having to go out in the middle of the night to complete an intake after working their normal business hours. During the year 2009, After-hours Video Intake saved probation officers 27,124 roundtrip miles and 1,534.6 hours of processing and travel time to complete an intake. VIA3 provides Court Service Units, which covers multiple jurisdictions, the ability to provide intake coverage to their branch offices when needed. Parole officers are utilizing VIA3 to save travel time when visiting their clients at Juvenile Correctional Centers (JCC) and Halfway Houses. VIA3 also allows family members, who may have transportation difficulties, to continue to have contact with their child, who is committed to a JCC.

On September 7, 2010 The Honorable Bill Bolling, Lieutenant Governor, Commonwealth of Virginia, and Jim Duffey, Secretary of Technology, presented the award winning projects and business solutions of the 30 honorees of the 2010 Governor’s Technology Awards at a special ceremony which convened COVITS (www.covits.org). DJJ received Honorable Mention in the category, “IT as Efficiency Driver” for its Web-based After-hours Video Intake program using VIA3.

Obama Signs Telework Bill (Finally!)

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 23:22:00 +0000

A law signed by President Obama Thursday afternoon means many employees in the D.C. area will have more opportunities to work from home.

The Telework Enhancement Act was spearheaded by area congressmen Gerry Connolly (D-VA), John Sarbanes (D-MD) and Frank Wolf (R-VA). It requires federal agencies to develop more robust telework plans.

For example, every federal agency now must designate a telework managing officer to oversee its telework program.

Telework also now has to be part of an agency's contingency plan for emergency or weather situations. The practice reportedly saved the government millions of dollars during last winter's snowstorms.

Lawmakers also say this could be a way to get a lot of cars off D.C. area roadways, improving the commute for everyone.

Teleworkers wanting to try a FIPS 140-2 Certified Secure Web Conferencing Telework software, can download the free trial at http://www.via3.com/.

FIPS 140-2 Level 1 CERTIFIED Web-Based Video Conferencing Is Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:55:00 +0000

A FIPS 140-2, Level 1 CERTIFIED web-based video conferencing tool is available for use with a laptop or a desktop, with a simple webcam, and can be used anywhere in the world? Absolutely!

There are so many web-based conferencing vendors entering the field today, that it is becoming more and more difficult to determine what differentiates one from the rest of the pack.

Security should be at the very core of the selection of any video conferencing system. As with any installation that requires some level of security, you can easily begin your search by choosing from products that have met the strict standards set forth by NIST for FIPS 140-2, Level 1 Certification. If a vendor has not done so, they will talk a great deal about their Compliance to the FIPS standards and attempt to assure you that this is "good enough" for your organization.

Some of the assurances will revolve around security passwords and privileges based on the role(s) of a presenter and/or attendee(s). Others will revolve around the use of 128 Bit SSL encryption. In truth, this alone, does not provide true end-to-end encryption. SSL takes the user’s web browser and creates a secure line of communication to the web conference vendor’s web server, thus using SSL to verify the log-on credentials, only. Once the user has been verified, communication should then be accepted by the vendor’s own software to begin its own transmission of data at 1024 Bit AES Encryption.

The real question then becomes whether or not compliance, versus actual certification, meets the standards of your organization. Additionally, if compliance is acceptable today, are you prepared to switch out your web conferencing vendor, if your organization/client eventually requires a FIPS 140-2, Level 1 CERTIFIED web conferencing tool? Will you have the manpower and the budget to support that effort?

If a web-based conferencing tool is available that has met the FIPS stringent requirements for CERTIFICATION, is highly affordable with unlimited usage per month, feature rich, and is easily installed with a single download.....why not give that product your most serious consideration?

BTW, Some vendors provide end-to-end security only on certain products in their family of products, such as their “on premises” solution. Regardless of how long your current web based conferencing system has been in place, it pays to continue to probe your vendor about the security of the product you actually have installed in your organization!

(Reprinted from http://www.govloop.com/)

The Virtual CEO: New Productivity Paradigms In A Technology Driven World

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 19:25:00 +0000

Normally an imposing 6’4”, CEO Brian Hodges is only a mere three inches tall in the business world. This is because of his extensive use of “Web Conferencing”, an online collaboration and communication tool which is gaining popularity world-wide.

Web conferencing is used to conduct live meetings, presentations, or collaboration sessions via the Internet. In a web conference, each participant sits at their own computer and is connected to other attendees online. Typically we are used to conducting meetings face-to-face at a conference room table, where you can meet, present, and even brainstorm on the whiteboard. Actions like voting are as simple as casting a physical vote or raising your hand. File sharing was easy. You printed out copies and passed them around. The face of business has changed in the last decade, with businesses becoming more distributed, global, and mobile. The methods of conducting business had to change at the same time, which gave rise to the wide adoption of Web Conferencing. The same actions that you do around a conference room table can now be done online. This results in equal or improved productivity and efficiency, without the travel time and cost.

For CEO’s like Hodges, this means maximum productivity with maximum freedom. Being “virtually unleashed” changes the game, the locations, and general business strategies and practices.

Web Conferencing in the past was limited to phone calls and email. From there it graduated to VPN access to files. Now it is taking on a whole new life. Brian Hodges uses web conferencing to stay connected in real-time, as well as connected long term on collaboration projects, files, and communications. The specific application he uses is www.via3.com, which is taking hold among mobile CEO’s with frenzied work and travel schedules.

Hodges, for example, hops off of the corporate LAN, and onto local Wi-Fi clouds for “continuity of work”, a phrase popular among government agencies. He is able to appear virtually at any time for meetings, IM, Email, online presentations, desktop sharing, file sharing, and more. When he can’t find a reliable and fast Wi-Fi connection, he pops in his EVDO wireless USB stick and connects from anywhere. This means 100% productivity from anywhere at anytime. Trains, planes, and automobiles are all fair game for productivity, rather than just wasted hours. In the last 48 hours of work, Hodges has conducted multiple interviews from 3 different coffee shops. He presented at the company meeting from a patio table with his lush garden as a backdrop. He participated in a sales strategy session from an airplane seat. He worked through his lunch hour with finance on a budget spreadsheet - while barefoot at a local park. He brainstormed with development on a virtual whiteboard from a café – over dinner in a different state. The week before he gave two high-profile product demos from a hotel room with Wi-Fi. He is the ultimate definition of a Virtual CEO, yet hasn’t lost a step in productivity. If anything, his average work day is much more efficient than before.

Even just a couple of years ago, CEO’s were tethered to their office internet connection, and occasionally their home or office internet connection. What is causing this upturn in Virtual CEO’s and Virtual Workers? This has all changed, and changed fast for a number of reasons. There are many drivers right now causing a huge up-tick in the Web Conferencing industry. Pandemics are one example. The Swine flu was a perfect example of why teleworking is a great option versus face to face meetings where physical contact actually promotes physical risk. The economics and travel savings are another driver: Companies are recognizing that it is much more frugal to meet virtually than face-to-face, and the savings are enormous. Improved bandwidth is another driver. Fast pipes are needed for a great user experience when dealing with rich audio and video meetings, and over the last few years we have gone from dial-up as a standard, to having DSL and higher as a standard. Improved web conferencing technologies have definitely driven the industry as well. As the industry developed, so has compression, audio, and video technology. Nowadays we have a much deeper set of Web Conferencing features making the teleworking much more productive, connected, and realistic. Business adoption of Tele-Work is also exploding. Businesses are recognizing the vast need of utilizing teleworkers to provide flexibility in their workforce. Public adoption of Web Conferencing is on the rise. As web conferencing continues to take off, more and more of the general public is being exposed to web conferencing. As that rate of exposure increases, so does their willingness to try or adopt. Price drops for web conferencing services have come into play as well. This is causing a competitive price war in many ways, which is only good for the consumer. There has also been a price drop on needed hardware for web conferencing: More and more laptops come with built-in cameras and microphones. Users with computers that do not provide built in hardware are finding higher quality web cameras at steady or dropping prices.

Hodges, for example, has an older Dell Latitude E6500 with built-in camera and microphone. It was literally just plug-and-play for him to launch into Web Conferencing, and initially he was up and running in under 5 minutes. After getting connected he never looked back to the traditional brick and mortar “stationary” form of business. Brian has even been known to startle people in meetings who notice that the scenery behind him is speeding by. This is thanks to his new habit of popping open his laptop and logging in while driving. He has found that hands-free meetings are a great way to maximize his drive times. “People have gone from worrying that I wouldn’t be connected enough, to now wondering if I am over connected. But this is the new world, and the new way of doing business.”

Brian Hodges can be reached at BHodges@Viack.com.

Tags: Web Conferencing, Web Conference, Video Conferencing, Video Conference, Telework, Telepresence, Remote Worker, Business Communications.

Government Telework Taking Off

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:09:00 +0000

The federal government is on the brink of shifting toward a culture of telework, according to agency heads, as documented by http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1010/100710l1.htm.

During a Thursday Telework Exchange Town Hall, federal officials said last winter’s Washington-area snowstorms, along with recent legislation, the potential for increased productivity and a more environmentally friendly workplace, have pushed agencies closer to adopting widespread telework options.

“It’s a tipping point for the business case,” General Services Administration chief Martha Johnson told reporters. “The business case is not just finances and it’s not just employee happiness — it’s also sustainability, and it’s security. Those four together really make a robust argument that it’s hard to back away from.”

Agencies soon could be required to implement formal telework programs. The Senate on Sept. 30 approved compromise legislation to expand telework opportunities across federal agencies. The bill, which requires agencies to develop formal policies, employee agreements and manager training programs, must pass the House before being sent to President Obama.

According to Johnson, the government’s commitment to reducing the number of buildings it occupies, along with the amount of money saved in commuting costs, creates a strong argument for telework and exemplifies good management. A recent Telework Exchange study found federal employees spend an average $138 per month on fuel, but working outside the office can save them $55.52 for that same period.

“That means money in the pocket for people and it means time available for sanity, for additional work,” Johnson said.

It also can mean more money in agencies’ pockets. Speaking Thursday on the campus of The George Washington University for the 2010 GreenGov Symposium, Danette Campbell, senior adviser for telework at the Patent and Trademark Office, said her agency’s telework program is estimated to have saved the cost of securing $11 million in real estate. PTO’s initiative began in 1997 with just 18 employees working from home. Today, more than 5,600 of the agency’s employees are teleworking from one to four days a week. Telework is a “big part of the culture” at PTO, Campbell said. “It is a business strategy.”

During his keynote address at the town hall event, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry said he will encourage agencies to take several steps in rolling out telework initiatives. They should begin with the presumption that all employees are eligible to telework and negotiate agreements to carefully define results workers must achieve, he said. Agency leaders also have to determine how to address underperformers and get past a “butts in seats” management culture. Finally, OPM must refine data collection processes to properly measure achievement, Berry said.

“Productivity gains are going to be essential,” Berry said. “To get the most from our employees, we need to invest in them with training and equipment so they can work wherever they need to and wherever they want to.”

Johnson and Berry agreed the objective is to significantly increase the number of employees working outside the office, which will boost productivity and wellness.

“Our long-term goal is to have the vast majority of our workforce telework on a regular basis,” Berry said.

One of the issues of teleworking is the security of data, voice, and video going over the internet. Almost all vendors now claim to have some form of security, but only one vendor (VIA3 is FIPS 140-2 certified). Literally every shred of data is protected in any meeting over the internet, from end to end.

Federal Telework Web Conferencing on NASA SEWP

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:01:00 +0000

Technology Solutions Provider Inc. (TSPi) has chosen VIA3 Secure Web Conferencing to be added to the Sword & Shield Enterprise Security, Inc. NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP IV) contract. With this addition, TSPi can immediately begin providing award winning web conferencing and collaboration solutions to Federal agencies throughout the United States.

VIA3 allows users to conduct online presentations, meetings, training, demos, desktop sharing, white-boarding, and file collaboration over the web. Due to VIA3’s industry leading security, all data, voice, and video is secured with 128-bit AES encryption, with FIPS140-2 Level 1 certification. VIA3 is available in Software as a Service (SaaS) model or as an on-premise deployment. Anything Federal employees can do in a physical conference room can now be done virtually.

VIA3 was chosen for it’s depth of flexible features and comprehensive approach to security, but the beauty of this product is in its simplicity. Unlike some complex Video Teleconferencing systems requiring significant hardware investments, users can be up and running securely in a matter of minutes on any reliable web connection. With just a webcam and a microphone, any connected knowledge worker can realize productivity from any location, a feature that is critical for governmental “Continuity of Operations” mandates. In addition, the included VOIP (Audio streamed over the internet) gives agencies a massive reduction in communication costs. One monthly price gives the user unlimited audio, video, meetings, presentations, and file sharing.

About TSPi

TSPi, an SBA certified 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business, has its core strengths in designing and implementing secure, enterprise-wide systems and networks – from hardware and software acquisition to application development and full integration. TSPi has taken these proven capabilities and successfully applied them to three core markets: Government, Healthcare, and Commercial industry. NASA SEWP IV is one of several vehicles this company can offer products and services directly to the federal government. TSPi is an authorized Sales Agent for Sword & Shield Enterprise Security, Inc.

About VIA3

VIA3 enables rich, secure, multipoint e-meetings over the Internet for numerous Federal, State, and Local government agencies. VIA3 combines quality audio, video and real-time information sharing at the desktop with the highest levels of security. This enables government and business professionals to interact with colleagues, clients, partners and vendors as if they were physically in the same room. More information on VIA3 can be found at http://www.via3.com/

Mile High Productivity Club: Virtual Meetings at 30,000 Feet With Web Conferencing

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 10 May 2010 23:30:00 +0000

For most professionals, a regular airline flight means disruption, disconnection and limited offline email catch-up. When Sales Director Teresa Lockard steps on a plane, her productivity barely misses a beat. Teresa is one of the progressive information workers who takes advantage of airline Wi-Fi and Web Conferencing to deliver presentations and conduct sales meetings. "My days are usually 100 MPH, and I don't have the luxury of down-time" said Lockard, addressing a Georgia area sales professional group. "With the amount we travel, you would be remiss to lose your travel time to disconnection from your customers, staff, and co-workers."

Teresa takes advantage of VIA3's web conferencing and collaboration technology for rich, secure, video and audio meetings, as well as presentations, 'whiteboarding', voting and desktop sharing. She can also collaborate with others on VIA3 document workspaces, and instant message her co-workers using VIA3 secure corporate IM. "The only disadvantage to collaborating a mile high is the background, which startles some people. They suddenly realize they are seeing the roof of an airline cabin behind me, and it distracts them for a few minutes. Other than that, if you can do it around a physical conference room table, you can do it with VIA3."

Brian Hodges, VIA3 CEO, discussed the nuances of mile-high web conferencing. "One inherent danger to using most web conferencing software with open airplane Wi-Fi is the huge lack of security. For proprietary information, documentation, and discussions, fliers wanting to conference should use only VIA3, which is 128-bit AES level secure from the ground up, and easily the most secure web conferencing tool on the market today."

To find the airline best suited for your meeting and collaboration needs, Gizmodo rates the speeds of various Wi-Fi enabled carriers in this article: http://gizmodo.com/5462997/mile+high-wi+fi-showdown-which-airlines-the-fastest. (Normal Wi-Fi prices on airlines is in the $10 per hour range).

To download VIA3 for usage anywhere on earth AND the friendly skies, visit www.VIA3.com. (The cost of VIA3 conferencing is under 30$ a month for unlimited usage).

Streamlining Everyday Business Meetings

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:28:00 +0000

Everyday Business Meetings:

A software development team comes together to discuss how to solve interoperability issues. The staff of a public relations agency meets to discuss the status of various client campaigns. A new product roll-out plan is presented to the sales force of a paper products company. A manager quickly forms a committee to address the issue of salaries. What do all of these scenarios have in common? They’re all meetings.

Most professionals, regardless of their occupation or industry, participate in one meeting each day. In fact, according to the “Meetings in America” series from MCI, thirty-seven percent of employee time is spent in meetings, and approximately eleven million meetings occur in the U.S. each day. Research also indicates more than fifty percent of this meeting time is wasted. The meetings may be conducted with a client or colleague in your office, in the office of your boss or co-worker or across town, the country or even the globe. While meetings have traditionally been conducted by telephone or in person—either around a table or around an individual’s desk—the increase in remote offices and the emergence of real-time, Internet-related technologies such as secure online-collaboration services have changed the very nature of meetings by bringing many online.

There are several things that remain constant, however:

· Meetings in the workplace typically boil down into one of five meeting types: staff meetings, project meetings, presentations, spur of the moment or impromptu meetings, and collaborative meetings.

· With the exception of presentations, which are mainly one sided, the most effective meetings are those with active participation and a lot of give and take (as long the agenda is followed).

Many of these meetings can be conducted online, which decreases travel time and costs while increasing meeting productivity through a streamlined work process.

Meeting Types:

Let’s define the five meetings conducted in the workplace and highlight how they can be conducted online more efficiently by being able to see, hear and share information inside one desktop application.

Staff Meetings:

Staff meetings are designed to transmit or clarify ideas, problems or decisions within an organization. These meetings get participation in problem solving, and they motivate staff to behave as a cohesive group. Take the following example: A government agency holds a weekly staff meeting to discuss the status of various ongoing projects. Traditionally, the organizer of the meeting would solicit items for the meeting agenda a few days before, asking everyone to e-mail what they wanted to discuss. This organizer would then bring copies of the agenda to the meeting or e-mail them to remote attendees. During the meeting, someone would be required to take notes and action items and then distribute this information to attendees afterwards. In lieu of this approach, in an online meeting environment such as that made possible with VIA3, the agenda can be completed online and stored in a secure workspace, with team members able to add their own items to the list. During the meeting, notes can be taken in a visible text-chat window, and these notes can be saved are to the same workspace, along with meeting data such as meeting participants, associated files, start and end times. And not one person has to leave his/her own desk or office in order to attend this meeting.

Project Meetings:

Project meetings are designed to bring together team members responsible for different components of a particular task so that they can discuss progress and decide upon next actions. In other words, every meeting attendee is working on the same goal, but each has different responsibilities to achieve that goal. A marketing department could come together to plan a new product release. In a face-to-face meeting, the team members would bring status reports to pass out at the meeting. Any notes, suggestions or edits would be taken by hand or on a whiteboard, and these notes would have to be typed up and sent out to the entire team. With VIA3, the individual members of the marketing department can save their status reports and any other pertinent project information, regardless of file type, into a workspace that can be viewed, discussed and edited in real time during the online meeting. And not one person has to leave his/her own desk or office in order to attend this meeting.

Presentation Meetings:

A presentation is generally conducted for an audience, such as a new product roll-out plan presented to a sales force, a sales person providing information on a product to a potential customer or a CEO briefing an editor or investor on a new acquisition, partnership or product. While presentations are generally one-sided and offer limited audience interaction, attendees are sometimes given the opportunity to ask questions. In addition, there is typically something to show, such as a PowerPoint presentation. In an in-person presentation, such as a sales demo, attendees or the presenter are usually invited—and required—to travel from dispersed locations to see the presentation on a screen; or they might call into an audio conference to discuss a presentation they’ve received beforehand. Using VIA3, presentations can be given to attendees at their desktop in real time with no travel required. And attendees can either ask questions directly of the presenter with the live audio feature or use the chat features to type questions.

Impromptu meetings:

Often referred to as “water cooler” meetings, impromptu meetings are typically improvised gatherings formed for a specific purpose or situation of immediate interest. A Vice President interviews a candidate and wants his regional manager to meet the person. Or a support services team member has been asked a question he/she is unable to answer, and a colleague is brought into the discussion to provide needed information. VIA3’s instant messaging capabilities make impromptu meetings over the Internet extremely easy. Directly from an instant messaging session, participants can begin a meeting and then use all of the additional VIA3 capabilities such as audio, video, application viewing and sharing.

Collaborative Meetings:

This type of meeting is defined as one in which the outcome is usually a goal. Working together on a contract, marketing plan, presentation or financial report would comprise a collaborative meeting. The individuals in attendance contribute specifically to the result. Another example of a collaborative meeting would be to draft a response to a RFP. Typically, this involves multiple people, often geographically dispersed, each contributing to various sections of the document. An online meeting would be an appropriate starting point to determine who had responsibilities for each area of the response. During the time leading up to the final submission, documents would be created and saved to a secure workspace with access granted to only those team members on the proposal team. Documents would be edited in real-time during these collaborative VIA3 meetings. Throughout the time leading to the final document, instant messaging could be used for answers to quick questions. And the result would be a dramatically reduced time from the initial proposal arriving from a client to final submission.

In Closing:

By taking meetings online, you can reduce travel, accelerate work processes and bring teams together to make your meetings more productive than ever before. Shouldn’t you try VIA3 free for fifteen days? Your competition certainly will. www.VIA3.com

American Telemedicine Association: Guidelines Approved for Delivery of Remote Mental Health Services

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:35:00 +0000

VIA3 is a proud player in the healthcare industry, and will continue to grow in that arena. In general news, The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) announced the availability of formal practice guidelines for the use of videoconferencing for the delivery of mental health services. These guidelines are designed to form the standard of care for such services and will be the basis for the development and practice of uniform, effective, safe and sustainable telemental health practices. They will serve as both an operational reference and an educational tool to aid in providing appropriate care for patients.

The use of telemental health has been in existence for over 40 years. It has been used successfully as a tool for treatment in diverse areas such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), providing counseling services in rural areas and offering health medication management for institutionalized patients. A number of payers and health services are starting to offer telemental health service benefits and may soon adopt these guidelines as their basis for coverage.

The guidelines focus on the use of two-way, interactive videoconferencing in the delivery of telemental health services, which now has an abundance of significant research documenting its effectiveness as well as a comparison of outcomes between various approaches used in its delivery. Other modalities such as the use of telephones and email are not addressed in this document.

An evidence-based compendium of empirical research was first established and used as the basis for the guidelines. Both the evidence-based document and practice guidelines were developed by panels composed of experts from the field, representatives from relevant medical societies and other strategic stakeholders. The guidelines and standards generated by ATA have undergone a thorough consensus, a period of public comment and rigorous review, with final approval by the ATA Board of Directors.

The guidelines as well as the evidence-based document are available at no charge on the ATA website at www.americantelemed.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=3311 : .

The American Telemedicine Association is the leading resource and advocate promoting access to medical care for consumers and health professionals via telecommunications technology. ATA brings together diverse groups from traditional medicine, academic medical centers, technology and telecommunications companies, medical societies, government and others to overcome barriers to the advancement of telemedicine. ATA was established in 1993 as a non-profit organization and headquartered in Washington, DC. www.americantelemed.org

One of the reasons that healthcare organizations choose VIA3 is the low cost of purchase and ownership, the high security (HIPAA compliant), and the depth of features that nobody else provides. Corporate IM is included, as are secure document workspaces for file sharing and collaboration.

A free trial of VIA3 is available at www.VIA3.com

ACALLTOMEN Set to Announce New Strategic Technology Alliance at November Fund Raising Event

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:39:00 +0000

A CALL TO MEN (www.acalltomen.org) is a leading national men's organization addressing violence against women and the eradication of sexism. Their mission is to galvanize a national movement of men committed to ending violence against women.

Through seminars, workshops and other educational vehicles, A CALL TO MEN challenges men to reconsider their long held beliefs about women, in an effort to create a more just society. We achieve this by encouraging change in the behaviors of men through a re-education and training process that challenges sexism.

By strategizing with colleges, corporations, government agencies, non-profit and grassroots organizations across the United States, we help to organize communities in order to raise awareness and get men involved in ending men's violence against women. Our vision is to shift social norms that define manhood in our culture, and produce a national movement of men committed to ending violence against women.

In order to improve efficiency, reach, and general communication, ACALLTOMEN has entered into a strategic technology alliance with VIA3 from VIACK, which will provide widespread web conferencing benefits to its global network of 20,000. By teaming up with key corporate and individual sponsorship, ACALLTOMEN will be able to recognize impactful growth and organizational development in ways not previously available. Instead of relying on email, phone calls, snail mail, and faxes, ACALLTOMEN can now be fully connected, communicative, and collaborative with online meetings, presentations, and collaboration. Membership growth, organizational effectiveness, outreach, counseling, and connecting disparate groups will all become instantly possible.

This strategic alliance will be announced at the November 19th ACALLTOMEN meeting in New York City. Tony Porter and Ted Bunch, Co-founders of A CALL TO MEN, will be attending, as well as many known philanthropists, entertainment figures, and business leaders.

As part of the strategic technology alliance coming to fruition with the sponsors, all current and future individuals in the ACALLTOMEN network will be granted a free professional VIA3 license. In addition, all businesses associated with ACALLTOMEN will receive an exclusive price for private deployment of VIA3.

For more information on ACALLTOMEN, please visit their website at www.acalltomen.org, or email info@acalltomen. For more information on the technology or the strategic technology alliance, please email BHodges@Viack.com.

Webinars Made Easy!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:15:00 +0000

Want to put on a webinar but don't know where to start? The most important thing is content... as in, WHAT are you going to put up for all the world to see?

The second most important thing is the software and hardware. If you have a web cam with a built in microphone, you are on easy street. All you need is VIA3 software. With VIA3 you can schedule a webinar, invite anyone you want (or post the URL), and conduct the meeting with all the web conferencing features you could ever want. And, if you like what you are presenting (and who doesn't), you can record it with the VIA3 IntelliRecord single click feature.

Try it free, today at www.via3.com.

Top Ten Reasons To Use Conferencing Services

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:23:00 +0000

1. It eliminates geographic separation

This can apply to anybody doing business anywhere. You can instantly meet with people in your organization, partners, clients, or prospective customers. With products like Reservationless 800 Conferencing, you can e-mail, text or IM a number and access code from your Blackberry or other PDA and participants can join immediately. The proximity to a geographically separated client base becomes instantaneous.

2. It improves productivity in collaborative research and development

This applies to persons heading R&D in IT, biotech, physical science, product development, marketing, or any other area. The widespread introduction of conferencing and collaboration tools over the past few years has helped organizations better improve research and development among team members. For instance, web conferencing software has allowed company employees in separate locations to collaborate on projects in real-time, greatly boosting operational efficiency. Countless organizations have benefited from this technology and seen time-to-market improve, resulting in competitive advantages not enjoyed before, reduced R&D costs, and quicker ROI.

3. It improves investor relations (IR)

This applies to any and all CFO’s and CIO’s. All public companies are scrutinized in their quarterly conference call and earnings report. When the call does not go seamlessly, it makes a negative impression on the operational aptitude of the company giving the presentation. Investors think, “What type of company has an error-prone conference call?”

The unfortunate reality is that some companies do botch the investor call, whether having not enough seats/bridges open or a complete lack of moderation/order. Often, they utilize products not geared for such large audiences and/or products that don’t support the unique needs of such an important call. The top conferencing providers have solutions geared toward investor and enterprise-level calls, and a wide variety of solutions exist to accommodate such needs and eliminate highly-visible public disasters.

4. It boosts sales - every single time.

This applies to any sales VP’s, Regional Directors, or Area Managers. Any company with multiple offices needs to have management tools in place to meet with the branch subordinates on a regular basis. As a former sales manager, I learned the mantra “inspect what you expect” very early in my career. Having regularly scheduled calls with subordinates will help prepare the organization better and teach a culture of being prepared and organized. It will also keep senior management informed on the sales activities as they are happening, instead of hearing about things in retrospect. This allows the senior sales executive the chance to act on accounts before they are possibly lost, like stepping in and offering better pricing, terms, or service level guarantees. The best organization leaders I have ever worked for personally made it a point to keep in regular contact with the field sales organization, and it showed in the results.

5. It improves corporate communication

This applies and directly affects everybody in an organization. Have you ever worked in an organization where you felt like the corporate office was a world away? Perhaps you do now, as I did at one time. The biggest difference between companies that grow successfully and those that do not is not being like-minded in goals and spirit across the organization. The most successful companies (like Google) convey a sense of togetherness and corporate culture that is inspired from a set of values, such as “thought leadership”, “customer-centric”, “caring”, etc….. The organizations that keep their main cultural values at the forefront do so by regularly communicating with their remote and regional offices. Audio conferencing and web conferencing are two of the simple ways to accomplish this high priority.

6. It speeds training and education

This applies to any C-Level who has a training requirement in their company. Organizations spend a lot of money getting new employees trained on company and industry information, internal procedures policies and methodologies. Many industries, such as education, legal, real estate, technology, manufacturing, and accounting, have initiatives that require constant training in order to maintain current standards in the respective industry. Audio and web conferencing are the dominant training tools to accomplish any organization’s e-learning initiative. Companies that utilize this technology save thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, in hard-dollars savings from travel, accommodations, meals and gratuities, and air-fare. The often-overlooked aspect of savings in using conferencing products for e-learning is that it is a definite boost in productivity. Instead of losing several hours (at best) with flight time, your employee is able to return to work instantly.

The company that utilizes these communications tools effectively trains their workforce more efficiently, save money, and boost productivity at the same time.

7. It improves your internal marketing initiative

This applies to Chief Marketing Officers and VP’s of Sales. Companies that can roll out new products in unison to a geographically disparate workforce have a greater chance of success. The ability to introduce new offerings in a clear, concise manner and in a positive fashion can boost sales’ attitudes about the new product or direction. In addition, the marketing message is the most important differentiator in our highly competitive society. The roll-out is the marketing organization’s best time to convey those vitally important differentiators to the internal sales team as most buyers want to know “what is in it for me”. Differentiators bridge that gap to the prospect and help the sales team close deals.

8. It improves the external marketing initiative

This applies to the direct and indirect field sales force and client retention specialists/account managers. Similar to the internal benefits listed above, the same benefits apply to external customers. When you roll out new products or services, it is easier to demonstrate it in a clear and concise manner. Audio and web conferencing solutions let a sales force introduce new offerings easily without geographic limitation. Retention and service personnel within a company can use the same conferencing and collaboration tools to introduce new products, conduct account reviews, and keep connected with vital decision-makers in an organization. Since sales is all about relationships, keeping those relationships active is vital to protect your customer base and maintaining contact with the most important positions is the key.

And for companies relying on an indirect channel, frequent communication is of paramount importance when driving productivity. Effective presentation done in an entertaining way is the best method to get your channel partners pushing your product and not your competitors.

9. It offers mobile proximity

This applies to anybody with a PDA or cell phone. While it is true that cell phones often can cause a lot of static when they participate in audio conferences, sometimes the urgency of the call overtakes the immediate need for everything to be 100%. Most conferencing providers today offer mobile solutions that allow web features to be accessed from PDA’s, so that you don’t miss any aspect of the call that is taking place at that moment.

10. It will save your company money, boost productivity and is fantastic for the environment

This principle benefits everybody. Whether you measure by hard dollar savings in travel, meals, accommodations, entertainment, or soft dollar savings in areas like boosted productivity, increased sales, and better messaging, your organization will save money.
Further, it will help to lessen the carbon footprint that is of such great concern these days. Instead of consuming more fuel, conferencing adopters are making a socially-responsible decision that lessens the impact on the environment.

Less travel = less fuel = GREEN business = better for the environment.

To try conferencing for yourself, sign up for a free 15 day trial at www.VIA3.com today!

Leading Document and Training Solutions Company Uses Web Conferencing for Strategic Advantage

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:34:00 +0000

Michaels and Associates, a high impact custom training and documentation solution company, is thriving during a time when the industry as a whole is retrenching. As an organization, they are raising the bar for quality, while maintaining industry leading turn-around times and pricing. This level of service and deep customer focus is both appreciated and sought after by their US and International clients.

President Sherry Michaels says the firm’s success lies in making each and every customer successful, even in the toughest of environments. “We put in 100 hours of research before we even meet with a client, to know their business better than anyone. That intense business focus continues throughout our client relationship lifecycle, so we are always experts on the various topics, and delivering extremely effective, synchronized and seamless solutions.”

A client once asked Michaels what the “secret sauce” was, after being impressed by the best solution delivery they had ever seen - even though the project was hampered by extremely tough deadlines. Michaels attributes the company “secret sauce” to three main business pillars; hire the very best, fully empower each and every one of them, and make sure they produce the best solutions in the industry.

One of the main tools that empower Michaels and Associates to produce the best solutions in the industry is a feature rich web conferencing solution. Michaels and Associates use VIA3 from VIACK for their corporate communication and collaboration needs to gain a competitive advantage.

VIA3 is one of the few web conferencing solutions which include a secure corporate IM tool, which Michaels uses to connect her dispersed virtual teams. “I’m a big believer in management by walking around, which normally would be hard in an organization that has any level of virtual members. With VIA3 I can touch base on an informal basis, say hello, and have that human interaction.”

The company also enjoys rich audio and video meetings on both an ad-hoc and scheduled basis. The Media Team, for example, collaborates on VIA3 at least six hours a day, and would be “hamstrung” without it. They meet and present using the VIA3 presentation mode, where both the presentation and presenter video can be seen. They share their desktops live with the VIA3 “Shared Desktop” feature. They also brainstorm conceptual ideas together on the virtual whiteboard, as if they were all in the same physical conference room.

VIA3 also expedites the process of creating and finalizing SOW’s, or “Statements of Work”. The SOW process is complex, cuts across several service offerings, must be delivered in perfect form, and must be delivered quickly. The entire executive team is able to come together and “virtually” collaborate in real-time to write and deliver these complex SOW’s in a timeframe that would otherwise be difficult.

Because VIA3 meetings can scale to at least 2,000 attendees, Michaels and Associates will be using it for company meetings, where anyone can present or attend without having to travel. They will also be using VIA3 to meet, present, and collaborate with clients on individual projects as needed.

Michaels likens her company to an Olympic champion swimmer in an event. “In a swim match, everyone swims. What we do is get the gold medals.”

Web Conferencing Quick Start Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:35:00 +0000

The best quick start guide for Web Conferencing that the http://www.webconferencingcouncil.com/ has ever recommended same titled “Quick Start Guide for Web Conferencing”, available on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Web-Conferencing-Quick-Start-Guide/dp/1448649781/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250795732&sr=8-1

As a test, they had a non-technical relative of one of our testers equipped with a a Dell E6400 with Windows XP, complete with built-in camera & microphone. This relative was able to start a multi-point meeting in 17 minutes, was able to share her desktop and present an online presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint) in under 25 minutes, and even started using the voting and whiteboarding features within 30 minutes - all of it witnessed but uncoached.

Video conferencing prompting all companies to cut travel

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:45:00 +0000

In these difficult economic times you have to consider realistic measures to cut costs and the cost effectiveness of Travel offers just such consideration.

Business culture has traditionally involved travel; whether to meetings, seminars, exhibitions or training sessions....... but there is a way to moderate that culture dramatically. There will always be the need for face to face meetings but Web Conferencing offers a credible alternative for many of these meetings that will bring major savings in cost efficiency..... and if you don't look seriously at this developing technology your competitors probably will.

Consider a situation where people gather together in a meeting room but where some from more remote locations who should be there aren't, unable to commit to travelling there, but whose input to the meeting is valued and needed. By running a web conference these remote users can be brought into the meeting and allowed to fully participate thereby achieving a much more valued experience all round. They have saved on the cost & time involved had they indeed travelled and they are able to concentrate on other important issues right up until the meeting starts and able to resume again straight after.

Then there is the situation where people need to meet up from geographically dispersed locations and where the overall cost of travel and possible accomodation is considerable, maybe even prohibitive. Again, by running the alternative web conference a very cost effective meeting can be arranged. Audio & video capability assures complete communication by users able to pick up on the normality of facial expression needed to ensure a quality experience. And of course users will have the ability to share desktop resources, applications & browsers with each other to achieve full collaboration capability.

So not only does the online web conference offer a quality and cost effective alternative to the traditional meeting but a measurable saving of your carbon footprint is achieved to ably promote your green credentials.

Bear in mind too that Web Conferencing can help bring a valuable stability to costs control when compared against the ever consistent instabilities of traditional fuel based economies.

To try a conferencing solution risk free, download VIA3 from http://www.via3.com/ and get started conferencing in just a few minutes.

Saving Money with Web Conferencing (Be green, less travel!)

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Results of the ACTE 2009 Business Travel Spend survey show that 71 percent of respondents plan to spend less on travel in 2009, with 21 percent reporting they will spend the same, leaving only eight percent saying they will spend more.

That's a dramatic change from the similar September 2008 survey, which found 33 percent of travel managers planned to spend less on business travel in 2009, 31 percent expected to spend the same and 36 percent planning to spend more.

Results of the ACTE 2009 Business Travel Spend survey show that the hardest-hit area of business travel is internal meetings that can constitute up to 40 percent of overall travel budgets. As a fairly direct result, the survey showed that interest in electronic travel alternatives jumped from 32 percent in 2008 to 50 percent in 2009, making it the number one ranked priority for this year.

That should result in growth for Web conferencing services, collaboration tools and some incremental growth for place-based videoconferencing systems as well. High-end telepresence systems should also get more attention, though tight capital budgets will be a counter-balancing factor.

Time is an increasingly scarce asset. The economy and competitive nature of business have forced us to seek new ways to improve revenue and client satisfaction by expanding business, managing heavier work loads and providing current clients with more personal attention—all at a lower cost. This has resulted in intense pressure to make every hour count by streamlining current business processes that are tedious, repetitious, or inefficient, and by putting people and information closer together.

In a typical scenario, a professional needs to gather input from multiple colleagues, clients, or outside experts all over the country in order to arrive at a final legal document. Traditionally, the business professional would use a variety of communication methods, such as express mail, regular mail, fax, or e-mail to send copies of this sensitive document to these individuals.

The business professional must then idly await their comments and revisions. Within several days, the business professional receives back multiple copies of the contract with everyone’s comments and revisions in separate documents. Next is the arduous and time-consuming process of trying to merge the documents and choose between conflicting revisions and multiple drafts.

If you're a company with global connections (and who isn't these days?) you don't need a calculator to figure out that if you increase virtual conferencing, you'll really take the bite out of your annual travel budget.

Web Meetings, Presentations, and Collaboration offer us both time and money savings. Many of us spend a considerable amount of time traveling either across town or across the country. In some instances, face-to face meetings are the best—or only—way to handle certain types of meetings. But not every meeting requires in-person contact, and the increasing expense and inconvenience of travel is becoming harder to justify. And that does not include the demand from clients to reduce costs.

Web collaboration with VIA3 will drastically reduce travel budgets while simultaneously improving productivity and communications between stationary employees, roaming workers, customers, partners, and suppliers.

If you want to save money TODAY, download http://www.via3.com/ and start recognizing the benefits of web conferencing!

“Travel by long distance and stay a while…”

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:57:00 +0000

Shermakaye Bass has some great insight into the benefits of web conferencing. That catchy slogan from a few decades ago touted the power of long-distance telephone calls to keep you and your close contacts closer. Now, with dozens of online-conference companies hitting the market, long-distance relations and communications have really arrived at the next frontier.

Call it web-conferencing, virtual meeting, webinar’ing or call it what you like, but chances are before long your company already is — or will soon be — conducting business meetings over long distances using online technology that links individuals from around the world, in a virtual conference room accessed in real-time from your desk.

It’s revolutionizing business travel, and trimming companies’ transportation and accommodation expenses. According to recent statistics from industry sources, many businesses are cutting their travel costs by one-third to 70 percent.

The byproduct of all this tele presence, as the techies call it, is that companies large and small also are reducing their carbon footprints. In fact, virtual meeting technology is at the juncture where technology and sustainability meet, creating not just immediate benefits in saved carbon emissions, but indicating a much larger trend in which a corporate “bottom line” dovetails with an environmental bottom line.

If you are interested in trying online conferencing, visit www.VIA3.com today to try it free!

Conference and Collaboration Technology Market Strong

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:53:00 +0000

Conferencing and collaboration solutions that reduce the need to travel and help businesses remain efficient are increasing in popularity today as businesses become more global.

Research firm Frost & Sullivan has released new analysis, “North American CSP (News - Alert)-based Videoconferencing Services Market,” that shows revenues of $265.4 million in 2008, an 11 percent growth over 2007’s earnings.

Through conferencing solutions, and particularly video conferencing, businesses can support a virtual workplace environment while also keeping costs in control.

Frost & Sullivan’s (News - Alert) research uncovered that the current economic slump has put pressure on IT departments to seek technologies that help business cut costs and increase workplace efficiencies.According to Frost & Sullivan Principal Analyst Roopam Jain, now is the time to adopt large-scale videoconferencing technology. "Several market forces are merging to create a market that is ripe for change," Jain said.The research also uncovered that the videoconferencing CSP-based managed services market which was at $151.3 million in 2008, is expected to reach $375.5 million by 2014.The strongest push for conferencing technologies is that they offer cost savings and ROI and as businesses push through the economic slump, they will turn to the technology as a way to reduce costs as well as improve business performance.

In addition, a growing awareness for UC technologies and support for a dispersed workforce that includes increasingly mobile workers, has increased the market potential.
Eagle Teleconferencing provides conferencing solutions that help businesses to maximize their communications and save on costs. The company’s conference call solutions are especially useful in the current climate, as they can be set up last-minute and are available around-the-clock.

To get onto the Web Conferencing bandwagon, try the product that the Web Conferencing Council (http://www.webconferencingcouncil.com/) called the "Best of breed" for 2009. Free trial, no credit card required, no risk, at http://www.via3.com/.

Web Conferencing Comes to the 2009 US Senior Open Golf Tournament with Kris Baxter

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:29:00 +0000

Kris Baxter, one of the underdogs that experts predict could surprise the field at the US Senior Open, will be wearing VIA3 web conferencing logos on his hat and shirt. San Jose, CA July 16, 2009 — Kris Baxter, one of the underdogs that experts predict could surprise the field at the US Senior Open, will be wearing VIA3 web conferencing logos on his hat and shirt. Corporate sponsors like VIA3 are starting to take a heavy interest in backing the rising star due to his unique ability to hit the pressure shots on the biggest of fields.

In 2008, for example, Baxter opened the Christmas Tournament at Pacific Grove in 2008 by nailing a hole in one on his very first tee shot. Because of his solid play at all aspects of the game, many of his fellow players are going to be tracking his progress. As for the rest of the world, they will have to track him online and on television. VIA3 was hoping to have his golf bag set-up with a satellite card, a small laptop, and a webcam for global users to watch him up close and personal as he played. (This type of set-up is not allowed under current golf rules).

A native of Northern California and golfer from age 7, Baxter’s game developed organically and without much of the structure and regimen of today’s players. He received his undergraduate degree at Pacific in 1980 while playing varsity golf for 4 years under the watchful eye of Dr. Albaugh. Albaugh is a well known sports psychologist who councils dozens of professional golfers and many more amateurs. His book, “Winning the Battle Within,” deals with the mental aspects of golf. The book emphasizes staying in the present while playing and eliminating negative influences. It also deals with drills and specific pre-shot and post-shot routines. Its mantra is “the perfect swing is the one you can trust.”

“You want to have a tension-free, confident strike every time,” Baxter said. “I really practice this stuff. I work on positive self-talk.” Baxter found himself shooting golf rounds better than he did when he was much younger, which is why he decided to give the Champions Tour a shot. He tried qualifying two or three previous times and finally broke through with a fantastic qualifying game. “I’m going to follow John Daly’s Cinderella story,” said Baxter, referencing Daly’s surprise win at Crooked Stick for the 1991 PGA championship. Baxter is also a successful executive with Blagency, which is a full service logo merchandise and promotion agency specializing in applying tangible media for branding, tradeshow and incentive promotions. VIA3 is available for free trial at http://www.via3.com/.

VIA3 CEO Challenges Microsoft Live Meeting to Web Conferencing “Taste Test”

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:17:00 +0000

Google isn’t the only software company ready to take Microsoft products head on.

Buoyed by a July 9th usability lab test which showed VIA3 heavily favored over Microsoft Live Meeting 9 to 1, VIA3 CEO Brian Hodges has formally challenged Microsoft to a “Taste Test” between the two rival products. Similar to the famous “Pepsi Challenge” which pitted the lesser known soda against the powerful Coke brand, Hodges hopes to showcase his product’s industry leading features.

In a letter addressed to Steve Ballmer at 1 Microsoft Way, Hodges asked for a product face off at a mutually agreed upon independent usability lab complete with full media and public access. “We are looking forward to going head-to-head with Microsoft Live Meeting on a national stage. We are extremely confident that VIA3’s rich web conferencing features will continue to be preferred over Microsoft Live Meeting by independent users who try them both side by side as a standalone product. The richer, deeper set of features inside of VIA3 will quickly be evident, considering that Microsoft Live Meeting requires at least two other products be added on to match our included features.”

An industry analyst present at the usability lab predicted that Microsoft would realize quickly that this is a contest they should avoid. Microsoft Live Meeting has the same problem that WebEx and GoToMeeting have; they cannot match VIA3’s depth of features. WebEx has already turned down a contest with VIA3, issued to them on June 10th of this year.

The July 9th usability lab test focused on a blend of 20 “Business Decision Makers”, “Productivity Application Power Users”, and “Productivity Application Novices”. The subjects were asked to weigh a number of factors, including Audio and Video quality, Presentation and Sharing Mode(s), Ease of Use, General Features, and more. 18 of the 20 subjects (90%) “preferred” or “strongly preferred” VIA3 over Microsoft LiveMeeting. 2 of the 20 subjects (10%) preferred or strongly preferred Microsoft Live Meeting over VIA3. None of the subjects (0%) was undecided.

One usability lab participant described using Microsoft Live Meeting as “suffocating when compared to VIA3” due to the difference of features that VIA3 offers as compared to Live Meeting. Hodges later likened that comment to Plato’s philosophical ‘Allegory of the Cave’. “Users accustomed to web conferencing only being a temporary online presentation are quickly realizing how much more they can accomplish with VIA3’s additional communication and collaboration tools. Once you upgrade to VIA3 from the limited solutions like Live Meeting, WebEx, or GoToMeeting, you don’t look back.”

As of time of printing, Microsoft has not accepted, nor commented on the VIA3 challenge.

Want to decide for yourself in advance of the “taste test”? VIA3 from VIACK can be downloaded free for 30 days from http://www.via3.com/. Live Meeting can be downloaded for from http://www.microsoft.com/.

VIA3 Releases Intelligent Recording (IntelliRecord) Feature for VIA3 Web Conferencing

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:13:00 +0000

VIA3 announced the immediate availability of their new industry leading intelligent recording (IntelliRecord) feature for VIA3 web conferencing. This feature allows users to record individual training sessions, webinars, meetings, demonstrations, presentations, desktop sharing, and more. During the recording, VIA3 intelligently “switches” between the most relevant and recent displays, such as presentations, desktop live views, and presenter video(s). This IntelliRecord feature uses a unique next-generation intuitive algorithm for relevant predictive media selection, and gives all subsequent reviewers the most accurate view possible of the crucial conference components. VIA3 IntelliRecord is enacted by simply clicking the “Start Recording” button inside of VIA3. After this feature has been started, all of the intelligent recording is handled automatically, with absolutely no manual switching required. Users are also able to choose an audio only version of the recording, for added flexibility.

In addition to general training, sales, product demos, webinars, meetings, and desktop sharing, IntelliRecord will be greatly appreciated by our customers in the legal field, financial services, business services, and physician services. An indispensable tool for their trade, VIA3 continues to allow all the same great Presentation, Meeting and Collaboration features, with the added ability to record their meetings for documented playback. VIACK continues to see increasing opportunities to unseat existing WebEx, GoToMeeting, and LiveMeeting customers with VIA3’s superior recording capabilities, affordability, and general depth of features. For example, with VIA3 you do not need a custom player installed on your machine as WebEx does. Instead, users simply download the file to share with as many people as desired. The IntelliRecord Workspace storage option allows customers to make their videos private to only a select few or public to the world where a link can be shared with anyone.

VIA3 is available for free for one month from http://www.via3.com/. The free trial version does not require a credit card, and includes ALL features of the full VIA3 product, including the newly released “IntelliRecord”.

VIA3 was awarded the “2009 Best of Class” award for Web Conferencing solutions from the Web Conferencing Council, and with the addition of more and more features, appears to be a strong candidate to repeat next year as well. One of the leading attributes that helped VIA3 win the top award was its affordability, security, and depth of features. VIA3 offers more product features for less money over rivals such as WebEx and GoToMeeting.

Viack Corporation Receives 2009 Best of Scottsdale Award for Software Development

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:48:00 +0000

U.S. Commerce Association’s Award Plaque Honors the Achievement

WASHINGTON D.C., June 8, 2009 -- Viack Corporation has been selected for the 2009 Best of Scottsdale Award in the Computer Software Development category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA).

The USCA "Best of Local Business" Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USCA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2009 USCA Award Program focused on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USCA and data provided by third parties.

About U.S. Commerce Association (USCA):

U.S. Commerce Association (USCA) is a Washington D.C. based organization funded by local businesses operating in towns, large and small, across America. The purpose of USCA is to promote local business through public relations, marketing and advertising.

The USCA was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, chambers of commerce and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to be an advocate for small and medium size businesses and business entrepreneurs across America.

SOURCE: U.S. Commerce Association

Polycom

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:25:00 +0000

Polycom was co-founded in 1990 by Brian Hinman and Jeffrey Rodman, who were colleagues at PictureTel when they decided to form Polycom.

The first SoundStation conference phone shipped in 1992. The original SoundStation was followed by versions offering extended performance (SoundStation Premier, Premier Satellite, SoundStation EX). The SoundStation first shipped internationally (to the UK) in 1993, followed by other products and an expanding list of countries.

The SoundStation was superseded by the SoundStation 2 in 2004 when AT&T discontinued its DSP16A processor on which the SoundStation was based. Due to technological advancements during the nearly 10-year period, the SoundStation 2 exhibited more features, and more robust performance and sound transparency, although still limited to 3 kHz audio bandwidth due to its conventional analog POTS connection. At this time, it was also supplemented by the SoundStation 2W wireless speakerphone, which was a DECT system (WDCT in North America), and by the SoundStation VTX1000 wired speakerphone, the first such speakerphone capable of 7 kHz audio operation over conventional POTS telephone lines.

In December 2001, Polycom acquired ASPI networks, a company specializing in installed voice systems. Polycom worked with a large number of audio visual integrators offering its Vortex product. In 2007, Polycom introduced the Vortex successor, the Polycom SoundStructure Series.

In 1998, Polycom entered the circuit-switched desktop phone business by introducing a line of its SoundPoint phones. In the third quarter of 2001, Polycom entered the IP desktop phone business by launching the SoundPoint IP 500. Because it does not manufacture its own call server, Polycom has phones use Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to connect to more than 25 different call control platforms. Today, Polycom offers a full line of desktop IP phones from the entry level (SoundPoint IP 320) to a color display, full-featured, HD Voice (first introduced to the SoundPoint line in 2006), applications-enabled phone targeted at executives (SoundPoint IP 670). The company continues to expand its line of desktop and conferencing solutions.

In the first quarter of 2001, Polycom introduced its first Voice over IP conference phone, the SoundStation IP 4000. In 2008, the SoundStation IP 6000 and SoundStation IP 7000 models were introduced, both of which offer Polycom’s HD Voice and Acoustic Clarity Technology. In 2003, Polycom introduced its first HD Voice product, the SoundStation VTX 1000 conference phone. Polycom HD Voice is wideband audio (audio bandwidth extension to 7, 14, 20, and 22 kHz) offering more than twice the clarity of narrowband voice (3 kHz). In 2006, Polycom introduced its Communicator, the C100S, which was the industry’s first wideband speakerphone for a PC.

In 2007, Polycom acquired SpectraLink Corporation in Boulder, Colorado. SpectraLink’s product lines were comprised of Wi-Fi and proprietary wireless telephone systems as well as the KIRK digital enhanced cordless telephony (DECT) product line.

In 2008, Polycom also added applications enablement to its SoundStation and SoundPoint IP phones. The first product to market was the company’s Productivity Suite, which the company currently offers an open API for third-party developers.

In 2009, Polycom Voice Communications introduced two video-enabled products. The VVX 1500 business media phone, which is the first device to combine a personal video conferencing system with a fully featured voice over IP (VoIP) telephone with Polycom HD Voice and an open application programming interface (API) and microbrowser for real-time delivery of personalized Web content as well as integration with business applications. It also launched the CX5000 unified conferencing station by licensing the distribution rights for Microsoft Roundtable.

In most cases, Polycom is considered to be a stand-alone solution that is mutually exclusive to Web Conferencing. Adding secure, flexible collaboration to your VTC infrastructure that ties together conference rooms and remote workers has been extraordinarily difficult, depending on what solution you try. It is a VERY desired, and often requested feature, however, because of the flexibility it brings. Normally you are locked into a fixed point hardware intensive solution (Polycom, Tandberg, Sony, etc.) or a roaming point software solution (Web Conferencing Solutions)

During the course of us testing this, we had a very limited number of good experiences with a few solutions, including VIA3, which ended up winning Best of Class. VIA3 integrates easily and included everything we wanted—live video, telephone-quality audio, application viewing, joint document editing, instant messaging, and information sharing—while leveraging the existing H.323 teleconferencing equipment already in-place.

How VIA3 does it:

This solution is easy to implement, because most commercial VTC units have the ability to switch audio and video “sources.” Instead of dedicating the VTC room’s camera and microphones to a VTC “call” it can initiate or receive a “call” and utilize a VIA3 meeting on the PC as the source for audio and video. Once it does that, the VIA3 PC’s desktop with video can be shown, while the audio can also be heard in a standard VTC call. More importantly any remote users equipped with VIA3 and an internet connection can easily join the VTC meeting that the VIA3 PC is hosting! This feature allows you to quickly and effectively tie in partners, suppliers, customers, traveling sales teams, home workers, etc.

The physical act of connecting VIA3 to a VTC node is an easy one. The VIA3 PC is connected to the VTC Hardware as an “alternate source” for both audio and video. (Most VTC units have alternate source inputs and output available as AUX-IN and AUX-OUT for both Audio and Video.)

When connecting video, the VTC unit can select the PC as a video source and display the contents of the computer screen in a H.323 session with another VTC room in another location. You can also choose for VIA3 to use the VTC room’s camera as the “webcam” for a VIA3 meeting, if you wish.

To try VIA3 free for 30 days, visit http://www.via3.com/