1. Introduction

Video teleconference (VTC) has come of age, in no small part due to the explosion in network data bandwidth and CPU performance increases of the last ten years. This increase in the conversion, formatting, compression, transport, and rendering processing of moving video finally reached a stage where the vision of the AT&T Videophone shown at the 1968 World’s Fair has become reality – and in a big way. Video teleconferencing solutions from Polycom, Cisco, and Lifesize have made VTC conference rooms a standard feature in a modern office for meetings, presentations, and training events that might have otherwise required a significant travel burden.

However, the standard VTC configuration entails housing the video tele-presence equipment in one location and requires distant ends (participants) to connect in via a telecommunications link, i.e. Internet or telephone. This creates a network burden on the hosting station and therefore limits the number of participants because of data throughput rate demand at the host station. For example, a common HD720p video with a 30 frames per second refresh rate @ 24 bits of color requires 664 Mbps, compressed to a 2 Mbps transport for each VTC connection. While this works fine for 5-6 users, much more than this chokes the host station and the VTC begins to suffer from packet latency, i.e., disjointed voice and video, dropped connections, and overall poor quality.

Another problem for “hub and spoke” video solutions currently on the market is that the equipment, known as the Multipoint Conferencing Unit (MCU) for hosting, is expensive and requires an Audio – Video (A/V) technician to install and at times, to operate and maintain. Typically, since this equipment is for a single room and may not have the capability to format video in a multiple of formats for many different participant VTC systems, i.e., PC, Mac, iOS, Android, or types of displays in their native video format, participants’ end-devices may not project quality video.

VaaS solves these problems while adding capability to mange VTCs in a mobile, worldwide, or traditional VTC systems. VaaS employs VTC Datacenters, specifically designed with large, powerful MCU equipment to handle thousands of participants in just about every common video format. Additionally, these VTC Datacenters are located strategically around the world with very large circuits between one another, thus ensuring quick access to users wherever they are located.

2. VaaS System

VaaS employs a cloud-based Multipoint Conferencing Unit (MCU) to manage the disparate Coding-Decoding (CODEC) used by widely varying endpoints. The MCU[1] used by VaaS also manages the multiple communication sessions under the H.323[2] standard to bridge the endpoints, reconfiguring the video to fit a variety of common platforms, to include the desktop PC and Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows tablet, and Android Smartphone among other formats. These include Audio codecs: G.711, G.729 (including G.729a), G.723.1, G.726, G.722, G.728, Speex, AAC-LD; Text codecs: T.140; and Video codecs: H.261, H.263, H.264[3]. The VTC service-delivery platform is based upon common browsers, providing almost universal access to viewers. Additionally, VaaS employs global partners to receive, store, and deliver VTC services at multiple locations in the US, Europe and the Far East in an effort to reduce transmission latency.

VaaS runs on standard web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. This universal access is extended to Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android operating systems, providing a greater reach for your VTC audience. It supports ISDN and analog telephone connections, with recording and playback capability.

VaaS provides conference room equipment to host VTCs that are less than ½ the cost of current Tandberg, Polycom, Cisco, and Crestron conference rooms, as all of the local MCU equipment is not needed. Additionally, the cost of local technical operation and maintenance is saved as the only equipment needed for a VaaS conference room is a monitor, camera, microphone, and speakers along with your local LAN and desktop machine, all maintained by local IT staff.

VaaS features include:

1. Legacy Integration – broad access to multiple conference rooms using Cisco, Polycom, and Tandberg systems, plus most popular browsers and hand-held devices;

2. Security – video content stream is AES 128 encrypted, passwords are 256 SHA “salted or hashed” in the database and the entire cloud VTC data center is SOC-2 compliant;

3. Global Reach – MCU datacenters located worldwide to ease VTC congestion;

4. Simple to employ – no need for expensive and complex local VTC equipment, only a webcam, microphone, speakers and a computer;

5. HD Content – High Definition up to 1080p, scalable to lower resolutions;

6. Webinar support – store local presentations in the cloud for later broadcast or for training classes, includes recording, instant playback and content sharing services;

7. Expanded Participation – VaaS can accommodate up to 3,000 participants whereas a local VTC system reaches its maximum participation at about 5 users due to network congestion at the hosting station;

8. Scalable – to add more VTC sessions, simply add more licenses;

9. Enterprise ready – Single Sign-On, integration with Outlook Calendar for scheduling throughout the organization (requires browser plug-in), group Instant Messaging (IM), and includes Telephone Conferencing;

10. Cost – Stand-alone systems cost upwards of $200k per VTC room, allow approximately 5 participants, and require a near-full time technician to setup, configure, and maintain the system. VaaS systems are a fraction of that cost, as the equipment required is minimal.

3. Typical VaaS Installation

A typical VaaS installation is comprised of the following major equipment items:

1. High Definition (HD-1080p) Pan, Tilt, and Zoom (PTZ) camera;

2. Microphone Array system;

3. Integrated Voice Loudspeakers and Telephone Dialer;

4. HD Monitor, or Smart Board connected to standard LAN computer.

This reduced equipment list speeds installation, provides a simple interface for users, and offers two (2) separate and distinct VTC sessions, each with up to 25 participants. Service can be upgraded to host 100 users, as in the case of Webinars, for broadcast training.

Each computer must be equipped with the following minimum specifications:

1. Intel 4^th Generation i7/i5 Quad-core;

2. 8GB RAM;

3. No Hard Drive minimum or maximum, as Networked Storage is preferred;

4. Windows 7 or 10 Operating System;

5. Google Chrome or Internet Explorer;

6. Internet Ethernet connection with a Quality of Service (QoS) 5 mbps or greater;

7. Wireless, Infrared (IR) or Bluetooth for mobile keyboard and mouse;

8. A Discrete Graphics Processing Unit (Video Board) may be required if the on-board integrated video graphics processor cannot perform adequately with the desired monitor.