Group Video Conferencing? 31
darhaw asks: "What started out as a simple request has turned into a big deal. I work for a small firm with partners in 4 different cities, and we'd like to do weekly video conferences. There seem to be many different 2 PERSON video conferencing products -- but there are very few GROUP video conferencing products. Is there anything out there? Any help I can get would be greatly appreciated."
iChat, supports up to 4 (Score:5, Informative)
Bandwidth will become a bit of an issue, as you need to serve your stream out to everyone involved, as well as downloading theirs.
Re:iChat, supports up to 4 (Score:4, Informative)
So you could get 3 Mac Minis, 3 isights and a new iMac w/ integrated iSight and be good to go...
Egads (Score:2)
So unless you want to narrow your request down a bit the universal response here is likely to be "WTF? Google it!"
Re:Egads (Score:2)
Totally not what you're looking for... (Score:2)
At a prior employer, we had one of these setups (actually, I did most of the work in setting it up) -- we had a 15 foot display (4096x2304 - 12 adjacent projectors), 4 cameras (two to zoom the speaker, two for general views), 8 (IIRC) desk mounted microphones, and a &^$%#-load of supporting hardware. It required a real multicast network -- we spent way too much time diagnosing routing issues with ES.net, but it was an awesome toy. Oh, and productive, too.
Hardware or software? (Score:2)
Re:Hardware or software? (Score:2)
The reason we ended going with Polycom 7800a/s systems (despite the fact that they didn't seem quite as glitch-free) was that you couldn't share video from a Polycom unit to a Tandberg (and our parent company uses Polycom). Other way around worked fine, though.
Imac? (Score:2)
Probably because I don't want to see 3 relatives simultaneously (unless I have to - like during the holidays!).
It could probably be pretty cool if it was with friends tho.
4 dimensional? (Score:1)
For the discerning CEO... (Score:2)
It might be a bit on the expensive side, but it seems to be stable and comfortable.
Re:For the discerning CEO... (Score:3, Funny)
VidConference (Score:1)
AccessGrid (Score:1)
Microsoft Conference (research.microsoft.com) also another solution, there's another company that make a commercial spin-off of AccessGrid but I for
I do this right now.. (Score:1)
Re:I do this right now.. (Score:2)
Most "real" VC systems support at least 4-way. (Score:2)
H.323? (Score:2)
One that I haven't seen mentioned yet is H.323. Clients are implemented in Linux with GnomeMeeting (and a few others), in Windows with NetMeeting (and some other commercial options), and in Mac OS with XMeeting.
Festoon (Score:2)
Why iChat is better (Score:3, Informative)
Apple has done a really, *really* good job. Don't fool around with crap like NetMeeting and H.263. Do it right.
Now, if you're willing to put in some serious $$$, there are other options with higher fidelity still. One of the big problems with iChat is that its resolution -- good as it is -- isn't good enough to read Powerpoint slides off the screen. There ought to be some mechanism by which everyone can see PowerPoint or Keynote being broadcast in real-time.
Re:Why iChat is better (Score:2)
Re:Why iChat is better (Score:3, Informative)
At the very least, anyone interested in videoconferencing should go down to an Apple store with a few friends when they're not busy and get a dem
lots of web conferencing options (Score:3, Informative)
1. Avacast (cross-platform, browser-based, small groups or large audiences) http://www.avacast.com/ [avacast.com] (note: my employer)
2. Citrix GoToMeeting
3. Adobe Breeze (also browser-based, small to medium sized audiences)
4. Microsoft LiveMeeting (video not supported)
5. Webex (video not so good)
6. NetMeeting (H.323, have big bandwidth at the ready)
7. Other H.323 products from companies like Polycom, Tandberg, Sony (big bandwidth)
8. Skype (for limited audio and video conferences)
9. iChat AV (if everyone is on a Mac)
10. WiredRed (no Mac support)
You can google for more. There's probably 50 vendors, all told. Of the commercial options, I'm gonna have to say that I think Avacast is the best.
In the world of open source:
11. OpenH323-based products like Xmeeting & GnomePhone
With Red5 on its way, expect more open source SWF-based web conferencing solutions soon.
sony pcs-1 video conferencing (Score:2)
Looking for a product or Roll Your Own? (Score:2)
Most commercial providers will have their own implementation.
If you want to "roll your own" in house, the openh323 project has an open source/MPL'd implementation called openmcu.
These devices will essentially allow your H.323 based video phone/soft-phone to connect to a common conference.
openh323.org has the info.
If you need any pointers, let me know. Did quite a bit of work w/ voip/h323 professionally.
group video conferencing (Score:1)
AccessGrid (Score:2)
Festoon (Score:1)