Breakthrough Applications for IP-Based Teleconferencing

A video image of Arnold Schwarzenegger blasting away on a desktop media player is quite different from that of a marketing manager in a Fortune 500 company firing up the troops for a new product launch -- and not just in the quantity of firepower they're packing. Schwarzenegger and the marketing manager each represent distinct sectors of the streaming media industry -- entertainment vs. B2B -- that are experiencing radically different life cycles.

While the entertainment content sector has seen grand expectations dashed by sudden reverses, teleconferencing has been steadily making inroads into corporate boardrooms and offices with increasingly sophisticated hardware, software and services.

Among the characteristics that distinguish the teleconferencing world from the broader world of streaming media are the types of network protocols and delivery paths they each employ. While "streaming" typically refers to the delivery of rich media over the public Internet, teleconferencing streams are traditionally carried over switched ISDN lines. However, that distinction seems to be fading as many teleconferencing companies introduce new products and services built around IP networks.

"The public Internet, from a quality of service standpoint, really isn't ready yet [for videoconferencing]… Enterprises will start using IP protocol in clusters… within a building, where they might have a network that can support a higher quality of service. [But] the future is clearly IP for many reasons -- the economics are so much better, and the quality of service issues [will be] figured out," said Andrew Nilssen, senior analyst at Wainhouse Research.

A Focus on Audio

While many vendors are dedicated to optimizing robust videoconferencing applications, at least one new company is focused on making the teleconferencing experience simpler and more accessible. Brainshark (www.brainshark.com) is an Application Service Provider (ASP) that allows low-tech authors to self-publish streaming media presentations over the Web. Greg Flynn, vice president of business development at Brainshark, explains, "You start with PowerPoint and upload it to our servers. Then, using the telephone, you dial in, enter an access code, and using the touch-tone commands on the telephone keypad, add audio to each slide. You can go back and listen, then re-record over a slide if you want to. As soon as you hang up the phone, we automatically convert the audio clips that you've recorded over the phone to RealAudio and Windows Media formats. The viewer of your presentation simply needs a browser and a Real or Windows Media player to experience slides, a table of contents [built automatically from the titles of the PowerPoint slides], and streaming audio."

Working in conjunction with VideoShare (www.videoshare.com), Brainshark also allows authors to attach video files (though not in sync with the presentations).

Flynn points out that, given the proper authorization, authors within an enterprise can mix and match elements from different presentations. "I might take three slides from my CTO, three slides from my CEO, put new header and footer slides on that, and send it off to a client," he said. "Because we're maintaining everything as distinct objects in the database, I can repurpose them in any way that I want."

And because Brainshark hosts the media, authors can make changes without having to redistribute the content. Flynn notes, "When the viewer comes back to that URL, he'll always [experience] the latest and greatest version of my presentation." Brainshark is a monthly subscription-based service that charges either by the number of named users or by the number of views. Named users are entitled to author and view as many presentations as they want, while public views start out at 25 cents per view (anything over one minute is considered a "view.").

Interactive Teleconferencing

While Brainshark promotes the self-publishing of relatively simple streaming presentations, MSHOW (www.mshow.com), an e-communications service provider based in Denver, offers a fully managed, live, interactive Web experience. Steven Cappellucci, vice president of marketing at MSHOW, explains, "A lot of people who have done videoconferencing will say, ‘How do I take that to the next level of interactivity?'" Founded in 1996, MSHOW is a pioneer in a market segment that is rapidly becoming crowded with competitors.

The MSHOW service works with a "leader" -- the company representative responsible for running the presentation -- on all phases of the production, from initial concept to the live presentation itself. MSHOW helps prepare e-mail invitations to participants, sets up registration pages, and offers training and support to the show leader. In addition to supporting audio, video, Flash and PowerPoint, MSHOW can present real-time demonstrations of desktop applications without installing the application on audience members' computers. The leader can draw or type while highlighting text, and can ask the audience live questions during the presentation. MSHOW aggregates the answers and displays the results in real time. Audience members can also send private messages to any other participant, or to the entire group. In addition, MSHOW offers a live-operator help desk, archived on-demand playback of presentations, and post-show reports on usage and polling. MSHOW runs two live demos every day on its Web site, so you can easily have a look.

MSHOW is most frequently used for product launches, sales meetings, Web marketing seminars, investor relations briefings, and internal corporate communications. As companies become more aware of the travel and other cost savings achieved by using such interactive multimedia presentations, and as the interactive corporate webcast space becomes more crowded with competitors, companies like MSHOW will no doubt develop even more and better services. And that just might make life a little easier for the marketing managers of the world.