Videoconferencing Effort Goes Global

By Robert L. Mitchell

March 3, 2003 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Dow Chemical has nearly completed the rollout of IP videoconferencing to 500 offices worldwide using Polycom iPower units, and it plans to eliminate 125 ISDN-based systems. Chris Duncan, global leader for e-communication technology, spoke with Computerworld's Robert L. Mitchell about how the project is working out.

Why did you pursue IP videoconferencing? One reason was the reliability of ISDN. Those 125 sites were in 40 countries, and because of the questionable reliability of ISDN, it was never fully accepted beyond an executive tool. It didn't become part of the culture. We wanted to find a way to expand the endpoints, and video over IP seemed to make a lot of sense.

What's the payback? IP is significantly less money [than ISDN]. If we're going from the States to Pacific [Rim countries, it costs] probably 75% less. We're using the same bandwidth we use for everything else. We've allocated certain percentages of our [wide-area network] bandwidth to video only. It's the same pipe, but we've segmented the network. We have three-quarters of our deployment done. We're in 18 or 19 countries now.


Chris Duncan, global leader for e-communication technology at Dow Chemical

How does the quality compare with that of ISDN? We had been running our IDSN at 128K bit/sec. Some of that was due to cost. When we decided to upgrade with the new iPower systems, we decided that we had to improve not only the reliability but also the picture quality. We're running 384K bit/sec. It's a minimum of three times better. There is some jerkiness in 384K bit/sec., but it's not as annoying.

Why not use audioconferencing? You really need to have some face-to-face to read the body language to see what's going on. If we can avoid one trip per month per room, the entire system pays for itself.

How are users accepting videoconferencing? We haven't seen a notable reduction [in travel] yet. The harder part is the cultural change. People are comfortable meeting face to face. When you put a monitor in between, you have to focus on the cultural changes. There are certain etiquettes that are different. And if your call goes down for two minutes, you have to understand that the meeting still saved you 30 hours [of travel].

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Additional Resources

POLL RESULTS

Leading IT Pros Weigh In on Top IT Issues

Accelerate your knowledge of the IT world you inhabit by viewing the results of a series of polls taken by your IT peers. These polls of 100+ IT professionals each are available for full viewing. They cover key topics such as virtualization, processor performance, green IT, cloud computing and many others. Be a part of the buzz.

WHITE PAPER

For Best Results, Think Beyond the Box

Technology is complex. Keeping it running productively shouldn't be. To that end, you want to minimize the number of solutions needed in-house to simplify operations, maintenance, and support. Kodak offers a best-practices model. One company provides support for both scanner and software, for fast problem resolution without vendor finger-pointing. Download now!

WHITE PAPER

Accelerating the Path to Demand Intelligence with a Demand Signal Repository

Utilizing demand intelligence improves the precision of pricing, product assortments, channel/store placement, and promotion, which are all essential for sustainable revenue management performance. Learn more, download this free whitepaper today.

White Papers & Webcasts

Natural User Interface for Enterprise Applications
Learn how a revolutionary user interface can make a complex enterprise application so intuitive even casual users can jump right in....

Why Now is the Right Time for the Linux Desktop
(Source: Novell) Faced with tighter budgets, enterprises are rethinking their desktop strategies to deliver the same - if not better - services and...

Moving Beyond Monolithic - What's Next for Enterprise Application Architectures?
This white paper reviews the current state of enterprise application architecture and presents a prediction on what might come next....

Novell Opens PR Video
Is the Linux desktop for me? Customers are looking for ways to be more flexible and save money. Using Linux offers a great...

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Deployment Approach Guide
This document is intended for IT professionals and managers who are considering deploying SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Novell has had a number of...

Usability Is Everything
Learn what sets Workday's HR and Payroll solutions apart from the competition....

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Data Sheet
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is the market's only enterprise-quality Linux desktop ready. It delivers seamless interoperability with existing enterprise systems and dozens of...

The Value of Real SaaS at Workday
Cost savings, speed to value, and innovation brought to the enterprise by Workday's software-as-a-service solutions for HR and Payroll....

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Data Sheet
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is a highly reliable, interoperable and manageable server operating system built to power mission-critical workloads in physical and virtual...

SaaS at Flextronics, Inc.
Dave Smoley, CIO of Flextronics, discusses the real value of software-as-a-service and why he chose Workday for his HR solution....

All White Papers | All Webcasts