Video conferencing is available with Cisco's latest
version of MeetingPlace, software which hitherto only supported
voice and web conferencing.
MeetingPlace 5.3 is the latest in Cisco's aggressive move to use
IP data networks for multiple forms of communication.
It brings together MeetingPlace, which the company acquired last
year by buying Latitude Communications, with the Cisco CallManager
IP telephony system and Cisco IPVC 3500 Series video MCU, a
videoconferencing server.
The new release lets enterprises schedule conferences in which
participants can choose to appear on video, use web-based
collaboration or just call in.
CallManager and IPVC already support videoconferencing, but only
on an ad hoc basis if two users each have a video end point such as
a PC or video terminal connected to their IP phones.
Through MeetingPlace, users can set up conferences ahead of time
in Microsoft Outlook or IBM's Lotus Notes calendars, or via a web
interface, as well as setting up traditional telephone dial-in
codes.
Participants can receive a reminder and get into the conference
by clicking on a single link, then decide whether they want to
participate via video, web collaboration, voice or all three.
During the conference, participants can view one other user at a
time or divide their display up into separate screens to show four
users. The manager of the conference can mute participants.
Stephen Lawson writes for IDG News Service