1. The Wainhouse Research Bulletin
ONLINE NEWS AND VIEWS ON VISUAL COLLABORATION AND RICH MEDIA
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Andrew W. Davis, andrewwd@wainhouse.com
but I can assure you that my office is littered with
TANDBERG Goes Wireless
miles of cables, and the concept of wireless is
TANDBERG has introduced a new version of its growing on me daily.
sexy videoconferencing system, the all-in-one
Wireless videoconferencing will dominate several
TANDBERG 1000, this time putting even more
main application areas – primarily the small room,
“all” in the “all in one.” The new TANDBERG
executive office, shared office environments, and
1000, which replaces the 9-month-old TANDBERG
enterprises where portability is valued.
1000, has a PCMCIA slot (also known as PC card)
built in to the top of the rear bezel. The slot takes !kb@tandberg.no (Kristin Blix)
any one of several wireless Ethernet (802.11b for
you techies) cards available. In addition, ACT Acquires PictureTel’s 1414c
TANDBERG has ensured secure network Videoconferencing Service Delivery Business
connection with advanced encryption support
(standard with 802.11b). ACT Teleconferencing, a full-service global
provider of audio, video, data and Internet
Here’s What I Think conferencing products and services, has acquired
PictureTel’s videoconferencing bridging business,
This is the marriage of two which has operated recently under the 1414c brand
great concepts – wireless name. Note: the release did not say that ACT
networking, and a portable, acquired 1414c, which for legal reasons it did not.
sleek, videoconferencing The deal is sized at around $9 million comprising
system. The TANDBERG 769,731 unregistered ACT common shares, $1
1000 is a completely million in cash, and $2.5 million in a two-year
integrated system with an unsecured note bearing interest at 10% per year.
LCD screen and multiple Total ACT shares outstanding after the transaction
network interfaces including will be approximately 7.8 million, representing a
IP, ISDN and now also 10% increase in the Company's issued share base.
wireless LAN. The compact
size of the TANDBERG Included in the acquisition are three primary video-
1000 makes it highly conferencing service delivery centers in
portable and therefore Massachusetts, the UK, and Singapore, as well as a
uniquely suited for use on a network of service delivery points in Australia,
wireless LAN. With Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Mexico and
802.11b, the only cable Japan. These centers control a network of 27
running out of the conferencing system is a power bridges and three streaming video service facilities
cord, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see the and software that support video conferencing
Norwegians conquer that problem either (although meetings and live, on-demand streaming events
solar power doesn’t work too well in Norway for at across the globe.
least half the year). I don’t know about all of you,
The Wainhouse Research Bulletin Page-1 Vol. 2 #40,October 10, 2001
2. In the press release, ACT claimed that the acquired rights. Meanwhile the declining fortunes of
business had an estimated 2002 revenue run rate of PictureTel were taking a toll on the video bridging
$8 million per year with a customer base of services business, with several major customers
approximately 400 multinational corporations, defecting to the services competition.
consisting primarily of Fortune 500 companies. The
estimated 2001 revenue growth rate for the acquired In July 2001, PurePoint and a few key engineers
customer base was 75%. Prior to the acquisition, were shipped off to First Virtual Communications in
ACT’s videoconferencing bridging business was a strategic alliance that gave PictureTel an equity
generating about $2 million revenues per year. position in FVC.
What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been In October 2001, the bridging business itself has
been sold to ACT, completing the dissolution task.
This is the final dismantling of the ill-fated
PictureTel empire prior to its being subsumed into Now, with the pending acquisition of PictureTel by
Polycom. Some day, some business historian will Polycom, the sale of the video bridging business to
put together the saga and we will all wonder how it ACT reinforces the joint commitment of PictureTel
could have happened. PictureTel got into the and Polycom to not compete with their channel
bridging service business somewhere in the early or partners and gives the new, post-acquisition
mid 1990s, in response to European customer Polycom a clean, clear business charter. Things are
requests for a worldwide service. Things ran pretty indeed looking up.
well until the late 1990s when things inside
PictureTel in general began to unravel. One last note, PictureTel's videoconferencing
service delivery business is a great fit for ACT,
In June 1998, PictureTel acquired streaming which is a service provider. No channel conflict or
company Starlight Networks and renamed their resource allocation problems here.
never-finished product the eVideo application
!lrygg@corp.acttel.com (Liza Rygg)
server. Meanwhile a team internal to PictureTel was
developing a streaming video server dubbed
eVideo3000. All of these were lumped together in a
concept then-CEO Bruce Bond dubbed VCN, Video Now Available!
Collaboration for the ‘Net. Some of you may
remember the full page ad in the Wall Street Journal
for VCN. Problem was - you can’t really collect
revenue for a concept - you need a product or a
service.
Later, the Starlight services company, which was
never really integrated into PictureTel proper, was
combined with the bridging services operation, and
the combined operation was dubbed 1414c in April
2000. The eVideo3000 product was renamed
PurePoint. This put PictureTel squarely in the
position of having a hardware company selling
through channels, many of whom were competing
with PictureTel’s own services company.
Meanwhile 1414c’s revenues were almost
exclusively bridging revenues.
Conferencing Clients: Video & Web Clients
In October 2000, Starlight was essentially sold off for Group and Personal Conferencing
for a song, with PictureTel cutting its cash burn rate
and keeping some product and technology use Complete details including an Executive Summary
Available at http://www.wainhouse.com/cmands.html
The Wainhouse Research Bulletin Page-2 Vol. 2 #40,October 10, 2001
3. Genesys Launches Genesys Meeting Center The Wainhouse Research Bulleting would like you to join
us in thanking our sponsors who help keep distribution of
Genesys has taken another leap towards that the WRB free:
Integrated Collaboration Environment (ICE) in the Collaborative Systems LLC
sky with its Genesys Meeting Center (GMC), a new First Virtual Communications
service that is intended to focus on small unattended Genesys Conferencing
meetings that involve audio and web and data Gentner
Global Scheduling Solutions
conferencing (and will be expanded into video in the
InView
future). GMC brings together several key elements, Ivron Systems
including integrated audio and web capabilities that PictureTel
can be managed through a single web interface, Polycom
synchronized streaming of audio and video (not fully RADVISION
automated yet), and automatic archiving for Ridgeway Systems and Software
subsequent streaming playback. And the pricing is TANDBERG
potentially disruptive to the web conferencing V-SPAN
market, dominated by PlaceWare and WebEx. VBrick
GMC is pricing its web conferencing service (as an Zydacron
add on to the company’s audio conferencing The fine print: Sponsorship of the WR Bulletin in no way
customers) at $39.95/month per concurrent meeting. implies that our sponsors endorse the opinions expressed in the
Bulletin. Nor does it imply that the Bulletin endorses their
If you don’t want to sign up, you can pay $0.40 per products or services. We remain an equal opportunity critic.
user per minute.
Here’s What I Think
Click to Meet Meets Exchange
First Virtual Communications has announced a new
Genesys, through a string of over 20 mergers
version of Click to Meet for use with the Microsoft
combined with internal growth, has emerged as one
Exchange and Outlook environment for messaging
of the leading service providers worldwide. The
and collaboration. Click to Meet for Exchange
company is on track to do nearly $200M in revenues
version 2.1 is the first major product release
this year, more than twice the sales of year 2000.
following the merger of First Virtual
We’ve said this before and we think it is still true –
Communications and CUseeMe Networks. It
the future of audio conferencing is web conferencing
combines previous CUseeMe Videoware technology
(and vice versa), and Genesys, with its recent
with the Click to Meet platform for a more
acquisition of Canada’s Astound, has the best web
comprehensive solution to videoconferencing and
conferencing technology around. GMC, with its
rich media collaboration. Click to Meet supports
single interface to multiple media conferencing
both desktop and room-based conferencing systems
types, and with its focus on reservation-less services,
as well as a variety of networks types, including IP,
is aimed squarely at the sweet spot of the market.
ISDN and ATM.
For audio conferencing enthusiasts, GMC offers a
wide range of web controls, eliminating the need for !tprather@fvc.com (Tanya Prather)
years of DTMF training. While GMC doesn’t
embrace video yet, which annoys video-centric Spectel-Multilink is Now Spectel
people like myself, the truth is that video is a minor
The more things change, the more they stay the
part of the service provider universe and that web
same! Spectel will maintain dual headquarters in
conferencing is growing by leaps and bounds
Andover, Mass. And Dublin, Ireland.
because it is a low-cost, network-friendly, easy-to-
use, and highly effective communications vehicle. !Bernadette_Golas@multilink.com
!Paul.joyal@genesys.com
The Wainhouse Research Bulletin Page-3 Vol. 2 #40,October 10, 2001
4. H.323 Version 4
RADVISION has released its H.323 Version 4.0
Development Solution that is in compliance with the
latest ITU H.323 standard – version 4.0.
!sfathi@radvision.com (Sandra Fathi)
A Comprehensive Two-Day Tutorial of
Wheeling & Dealing Streaming Media Technologies & Markets
November 8-9 2001 – Washington DC
Wire One has entered into a co-marketing
agreement with Everest Broadband Networks. Wire Details at http://www.wainhouse.com/seminars
One customers requiring last-mile connectivity to
the Glowpont network can now use Everest’s People & Places
scaleable, IP-over-Ethernet, service (at up to
100Mbps). In a separate announcement, the e-StudioLive, Joe Bane, VP of Alternate Channels
company said that Louisiana State University Health
Sciences Center will equip 12 institutions across the Letters to the Editor
state with Polycom interactive video systems
provided by Wire One.
Andrew:
Avistar and Syntegra, the global consulting and I thought your comment regarding Gentner being
systems integration business of British "known for its excellent customer service, something
Telecommunications have announced a joint that could buy them market share" was highly
marketing and resale agreement for the integration relevant to our little industry and highly appropriate.
and sale of Syntegra’s ITS voice trading platform I often come across poor customer service from both
and Avistar’s video operating system. the leading manufactures and value added reseller
community, and it seems as tho customer service is
Vianet Technologies has signed a letter of intent to not a priority within their business model? Those
merge with Comm - Services Corporation. within our industry guilty of this will grow of course
by constantly discounting their prices – a foolhardy
and fragile approach, but one which is common
place.
Save These Dates
BenLaVelle@CITYIS.co.uk
Wainhouse Research Summit 2002
April 2-3, 2002 The Wainhouse.com Web Link Database:
Sheraton Boston Hotel. Over 14,000 click-thrus served !
Our categorized, searchable Industry Web Links
Our first summit, which focused on “The Future
database now contains over 325 Internet web links,
of Conferencing”, was a sellout, so make your and if your favorite link isn’t there, submit it!
plans early. The next summit will focus on Bookmark www.wainhouse.com/links.
“Achieving Success with Rich Media
Conferencing.” Wainhouse Research will be Vendors:
Our link database is consistently producing over 500
looking for some interesting end-user speakers click-thrus a week. Are you getting your share?
from all types of large and small companies, Add a description and logo with an Enhanced Link
plus a select number of experts to shed light on and get your message across.
the remaining mysteries. Additional details
The Wainhouse Research Bulletin is published by Wainhouse Research
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Email to editor@wainhouse.com. Free subscriptions are available at
www.wainhouse.com/. Copyright 2001 by Wainhouse Research.
The Wainhouse Research Bulletin Page-4 Vol. 2 #40,October 10, 2001
5. TeleCon Preview Special
TeleCon is less than two weeks away. We draw your attention below to some of the special events taking
place within the confines of the world’s largest show dedicated to conferencing and collaboration
technologies and applications.
Wainhouse Research at TeleCon 2001
Analysts from Wainhouse Research will be actively participating in this year’s TeleCon show in Anaheim.
We hope some of you will take the time to come up and introduce yourselves. Look for us at:
Oct 22 9-5pm Andrew Davis & IP Conferencing Tutorial, with colleagues Brent Kelly and
Andy Nilssen Mike Pihlman… details below
Oct 22 9-1159am Marc Beattie Streaming for Business Workshop
Oct 23 1230pm – 145pm Andrew Davis Panel moderator with representatives from Polycom,
PictureTel, Sony, TANDBERG, VTEL, Zydacron
Oct 23 1230pm – 145pm Marc Beattie Session moderator on the future of streaming media
Oct 23 330pm – 445pm Andy Nilssen Session moderator on managing digital assets
Oct 23 200pm – 315pm Marc Beattie Session moderator on wireless technologies
Oct 23 & 300pm – 345pm Andrew Davis Presentation on the industry status, the IP Pavilion sponsored
Oct 24 by TANDBERG
Oct 24 200pm – 315pm Andy Nilssen Session moderator on using the web for rich media
communications
Oct 24 500pm - 540pm Andy Nilssen Analyst Roundtable moderated by e-learning’s Gene Smarte
IP Conferencing Tutorial Agenda
October 22, 2001
Topic Start Time
0. Welcome 900
1. Intro to IP Conferencing 905
2. Quality of Service Issues 930
3. Network Infrastructure Issues 945
Coffee Break 1020
4. Demo – 1 1035
5. Panel Discussion – Why is this so hard. What are the technology issues 1135
users need to face; and what are the real solutions. Representatives from:
Polycom, RADVISION, Spectel, TANDBERG, VSPAN
Lunch 1215
6. Network Management 1300
7. Conferencing Support Servers and Services.. directories, scheduling etc 1330
8. Service Providers Issues 1410
Coffee Break 1430
9. New Forces Affecting the Future 1445
10 Demo 2 1500
11. Panel Discussion – Getting started. What are the first steps to take. What 1600
are the pitfalls. What about overlay networks vs. converged networks.
Representatives from GBH, Sprint, SPL, VTEL, Wire One
Adjourn 1645
The Wainhouse Research Bulletin Page-5 Vol. 2 #40,October 10, 2001
7. IMCCA USERS’ CONFERENCE
Tuesday, October 23RD, 2001, Anaheim California
Co-Located with TeleCon
Registration and Continental Breakfast Breakfast sponsored by Forgent
Opening Remarks and Keynote Introduction Dr S. Ann Earon, IMCCA Chairperson
Keynote Presentation: Polycomj’s Bob Hagerty will
address the future of conferencing and collaboration. Bob Hagerty, CEO, Polycom
AUDIOCONFERENCING…..End user customers will Anne Hardwick, Virginia Dept of IT
discuss their deployment of audio conferencing, the Pam Callen, Bank Of America
benefits and applications and what they wish to see from Spencer Freund, California State University-Sacramento
vendors in the future Phyllis Ford, Toyota Motor Sales USA
Jamie Poindexter, University of Wisconsin
MULTIMEDIA/WEB…Presentations from several end- Ira Weinstein, Principal, C-Tech Consulting Group
users on their selection of, deployment, and use of web Judy McKee, Phondementals
conferencing and online collaboration tools. Ron Miazga, Vopak USA
VIDEOCONFERENCING….Learn from end users the Dr. S. Ann Earon, IMCCA Chair Person
decisions they made, how the technology is being Brian Borucki, GE Medical Systems
utilized, and what they plan to do in the future Ken Studebaker, State Farm
Sharyle Price, Pacific Healthcare
STREAMING… Learn how users are deploying Clarence Burke, GlaxoSmithKline
streaming, the benefits of the technology, and the trials Russ Cary, SAS
and tribulation of deployment. Butch Brock, Eastman Chemical
IMCCA user forum attendee lunch and speaker Lunch sponsored by TANDBERG
EDUCATION ….This panel will present examples of the Gerald J. Richter, COO, Community of Agile Partners in
use of a range of technologies to enable multi- Education
institutional cooperative programs in higher education Karen Hicks, Director of Academic Services, CAPE
and between higher education and the K-12 sector, The Thomas Treadwell, Prof, of Psych, West Chester U
emphasis will be on technology as the basis for building Michael S Feinberg, Miranda Media Networks
new collaborative strategies and new models of teaching Lynn Rejniak. Director, Research & Development,
and learning/ University of South Florida
GOVERNMENT…. The Navy and Marine Corps have Dave Morgan, Fleet Combat Training Center
merged training facilities into a single network. This Dennis Chennault, Marine Corps, Distance Learning
session will explore technical strategies employed, Center, Quantico
efficiencies gained, and describe the variety of programs Mike Valetutti, President and CEO, AGT
now offered world wide to sailors and marines. Jean Jones, Program Manager, AGT
HEALTHCARE…. Videoconferencing has been accepted Toni Aloso, Pfizer
by the Healthcare/Pharmaceutical industry; but, how are Bob Meli, Johnson & Johnson
they using it? This session will explore everything from Gail Fish, Novartis
drug development to education to diagnostic medicine. Ken Bigrave, GlaxoSmithKline
VENDOR PANEL… Participate in this audience driven Dr. S. Ann Earon, IMCCA Chairperson
panel of conferencing and collaborative communications Fran Flood, CEO, Gentner Communications
vendors as you quiz them on their current and future Barry James Folsom, CEO, Placeware
directions with technology. Walter Sebastian, VP, Sony
Kristin Blix, VP Marketing, TANDBERG
Phil Keenan, Accord
IMCCA Reception Reception Sponsored by Polycom
Cost to attend the IMCCA Users Conference is free for TeleCon registrants and $525 for non-registrants.
Visit www.imcca.org or www.teleconexpos.com for further information. All handouts sponsored by AT&T.
The Wainhouse Research Bulletin Page-7 Vol. 2 #40,October 10, 2001
