Polycom iPower 9800 Brochure

CONFERENCINGBUYER • JUNE 2003
TOOLS OF
THE TRADE
Christine
Perey
What: Polycom iPower 9800
Software version 5.0
In short: Group videoconferencing
and conference streaming/
recording system
Results: Yes, definitely ready for
prime time
Who: Polycom
Web: http://polycom.com/
products_services/
0,1816,pw-35-
3091,00.html
Price: $18,000 without displays
or cart
Powerful, Yet Simple
W
hen I reviewed the PictureTel iPower 960 with ImageShare, in early 2001
(http://www.nwfusion.com/ reviews/2001/0326rev.html) the tall black tower
intimidated me at first. Once I got all the cables connected and turned it on,
I was favorably impressed by the system's audio and video quality and collaborative fea-
tures. It was the first generation of People+Content, in which the video (people element)
was encoded and handled differently from the supporting materials one might intro-
duce in a meeting (content element). I applauded the grace with which the developers
managed to integrate two challenging applications: videoconferencing and visual collab-
oration—both for presentations and true collaborative work.
Together, the third generation 9000 series hardware platform, enclosed in a sleek
2U high chassis, and the fifth generation of software (released for all iPower products
in March 2003) provide the iPower 9800 users experiences they will want to repeat
and, in some cases, even review.
Videoconferencing, Visual Collaboration PLUS Streaming
With the release of software version 5.0 users of all three iPower platforms enjoy
the benefits of a third, equally important and challenging technology: streaming.
Without in any way compromising the conferencing and collaborative capabilities,
Polycom has made it supremely easy to initiate and control a streaming media ver-
sion of a conference.
From within the iPower application interface, in the Options menu, I selected
"stream to Web." By entering a conference name and password, I immediately started
streaming to my virtual audience (up to five viewers on the stream without the
involvement of any additional servers). From a pop-up menu, I am able to change
what the audience sees from within this same screen. For instance, were I an instruc-
tor, I could set the streaming so its default would be to always stream to others my
audio and video, as well as my content, regardless of the type of system(s) with which
I am conferencing. This way, viewers can always be looking at an instructor even
when other video participants are asking questions. There is also a voice-activated
switching option for the full meeting dynamic to be seen by those audiences receiv-
ing the stream.
One of the best features of iPower streaming is how seamlessly it integrates the
People+Content technology. While the video is streaming (in Windows Media for-
mat), content is captured as JPEGs at the same display resolution as the iPower sys-
tem itself, up to 1024x768 (XGA). Content (whatever is in the transmitting system's
content window) is captured every five seconds and synchronized with the audio and
video. Since encoding to Windows Media Player takes about 10 seconds on the
iPower 9800, the slides have the same delay.
For the viewer, all that's needed is Internet Explorer with Windows Media Player
(v7.0 or higher). After entering a user name and optional password, the streaming plat-
form will prompt the user to install Windows Media version 9.0 for maximum quality.
If live streaming is either not an option or not needed, software release 5.0 will
also permit the iPower user to record to the local hard disk. This is a simple way to
archive a meeting if someone unable to attend needs to review the session at a later
time, or if a presentation needs to be made available for on-demand viewing through
a web browser.
I'm a very strong advocate for the convergence of videoconferencing and stream-
ing media and the iPower 5.0 implementation of this balancing act is an excellent
way for users and integrators in both domains to begin experimenting with the syn-
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