The benefits of enterprise video are clear. But what is the most efficient and effective way to implement it? As with any technology solution, to get the most out of video you've got to follow best practices for setting up, provisioning and creating awareness.
We have designed this assessment to help you identify gaps in your plan for deploying video. Complete this short assessment to find out how ready your organization is in terms of:
- Room and workstation preparation
- Network optimization
- User experience and adoption
Note: this tool is intended to stimulate focused conversations about readying the organization for an enterprise video program. When you have completed this assessment, contact your Bell representative for information on a more thorough assessment and sample implementation scenarios. You can also request to have a Bell representative contact you.
Section 1: Room readiness
Whether you're setting up desktop or multi-room video solutions, you need to consider the same things: lighting, audio and visibility. Multi-room can take some fine-tuning, while with desktop it can be as simple as making sure that users don't have the afternoon sun coming in through a window behind them.
Desktop
Is ambient noise low enough that desktop video is viable in every location?
- Yes
- No
- We have yet to ascertain
How will you position the camera and microphone appropriately for users' existing seating positions and ambient environment?
- Users will do their own setup
- On a case by case basis
- In a standard manner. If there complaints are voiced, we will adjust
Will outside or inside lighting put the user into shadow or reflect on the screen at any time of day?
- Morning: Yes/No
- Afternoon: Yes/No
- We will reconfigure seating or install sunshades to eliminate the problem
Conference room
It's not as simple as plugging in a video endpoint and hoping for the best. You want the right microphone for the room and the best placement for the display. If conference rooms are being used for more than a few people at a time, they may require several microphones, more speakers and multiple screens.
How many users will be in the room?
- 1–4
- 5–10
- 11–15
- 16–25
- 25+
What are you going to show on the screen? To effectively view spreadsheets and diagrams, you may need a bigger screen than you would for interpersonal communication.
- The other audience
- Spreadsheets, diagrams, blueprints or similar
- Powerpoint presentations
- Detailed images
- All of the above
Do you need a screen for interpersonal communication and another to display subject matter?
- Yes
- No
Video is a window into your organization, so it's important that you come across well. How will you test the lighting, acoustics, microphone placement and overall appearance of your conference rooms?
- Trial and error
- A vendor will perform room evaluations and make recommendations
Are you planning to carry out the installation internally, or will you have the vendor do it?
- Internal installation
- Vendor installation
Note: If you plan to install yourself, it's good to know that most manufacturers offer complete video solutions that come with a display screen, speakers, microphone, etc. Settings are optimized for video and the simplicity of ordering one part can make them a smart option.
Section 2: Network
Until recently, video required a separate network line for each endpoint. Now that video doesn't need as much bandwidth, all endpoints can make use of your existing data network wirelessly over IP. But since every organization has a different network topology, you'll still need to look at connection into the WAN and at access points. Consider the following:
Depending on how much bandwidth is available and whether you have quality of service (QoS) provisioning within your network, service prioritization might be useful in meeting the requirements of video within the limits of existing bandwidth. What applications are currently running on your IP network?
- Voice
- Web conferencing
- Multimedia content
- Business management software
- CRM applications
- Other applications
Office-type enterprises tend to have high-bandwidth local area network (LAN) environments, while retailers and other types of organizations have limited bandwidth. But even if LAN throughput is significant, most organizations run video off of the WAN. What is your connection access into the WAN within and between campuses?
- High bandwidth (50 to 100+ Mbps)
- Medium bandwidth (10 to 50 Mbps)
- Low bandwidth (1 to 10 Mbps)
While endpoint may require as much as 2 megabits per second (Mbps) to get true HD quality, a very slight decrease in quality translates into an important reduction in bandwidth. This is just one example of the kinds of choices you will encounter when it's time to configure. How many new endpoints are you thinking of provisioning:
Now:
- 1–5
- 6–10
- 11–20
- 21–50
- 51–200
- 201+
And in the future:
- 6–10
- 11–20
- 21–50
- 51–200
- 201–500
- 500+
If you provision more than a handful of video endpoints, you will need to guarantee the network access and infrastructure to support them. How will you keep on top of software updates, proactive monitoring, change management and call control functionality?
- Video management platform
- Manually
Once video service has been provisioned, how will you ensure that everything functions properly?
- We will use video management and diagnostic tools
- If something stops working, users will let us know
Video network management tools can make calling easier for end users and simpler to manage for the IT team. How are you going to book and initiate multipoint video calls?
- Through a web portal
- With a hosted bridging service
- Automated bridging services (similar to audio bridging)
Regardless of the interface, multipoint calls connect through multi-conferencing units (MCUs). Will you manage the provisioning and administration of MCUs yourself, or will you outsource their setup, remote monitoring and troubleshooting?
How will you guarantee that video quality is always 100%?
- Quality of service (QoS) together with an MPLS network
- Increase overall bandwidth
- Overprovision bandwidth to each endpoint
Section 3: The user experience
Video solutions save time and money. But to reap the benefits, you've got to ensure that people are using them. That comes down to awareness, training and a positive user experience. Consider the following:
How are you going to educate the workforce on the existence of a new video solution?
- Set up a table or booth in a high-traffic area like a cafeteria to demonstrate
- Post a notice on the employee intranet
- Publish an article detailing the service in the internal newsletter
- Come up with a branding and name for the service
Do you intend to sell the benefits of video to users? If so, what techniques will you employ?
- We don't intend to sell the benefits–they are self-evident
- Prefacing training materials with a benefits section
- We will use a commonly accepted formula to quantify the return on investment for reduced travel
- Demonstrating time savings in a graphical manner
- Getting top executives to adopt first and pass on benefits by word of mouth
- Using a work-life balance argument
How will you help employees to learn about and use the new video solution?
- Create a manual explaining the unit's use
- Hold introductory seminars
- Provision a help call line, either internally or externally
- Produce a how-to video
- Enforce a travel policy
How will you make employees aware of others who have video?
- Post a list of subscribers and their extensions
- Post a video connectivity link on employees' personal profile pages
- Put a video directory on the desktop
- Put video addresses in email signatures
How will you make sure that your video solution is being used effectively?
- User surveys
- Call analysis monitoring tool
- Monitoring the reduction of travel
Talk to Bell
You have taken the time to answer these questions, but what does it mean? We've found from experience that companies are not deploying video solutions all at once, but based on business unit demand. That means choosing a vendor who will be there all along the growth cycle. Bell has significant expertise in architecting and implementing video solutions.
If you would like help interpreting the information you have generated with this tool or want to ind out more about the video planning and implementation services that Bell offers, contact our Bell representative today or request to have a Bell representative contact you.