Siemens OpenScape product has its own integration with Microsofts LCS server, and hence with the Windows desktop and Office applications.
Videoconferencing is also a feature of consumer instant messaging services, while typically small-screen and choppy. Benedict is careful to distinguish Yahoos or MSNs video option–or even the enterprise Windows Messenger–from what LCS Istanbul client and Radvision will support: audio and 30 frame-per-second, full-motion video at CIF, full-screen resolution.
Radvision, for its part, is certainly happy to sell its MCUs and gateways into any videoconferencing scenario. And Benedict is careful to note that hardware versions of the Radvision platform still will be required for intensive tasks such as transcoding between ISDN and IP or H.323 and SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) endpoints, for conferencing in audio-only PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) or cellular participants, or between endpoints of variable bandwidths.
He said he foresees large videoconference-enabled networks as using some combination of software MCUs, and hardware MCUs and gateways.
The software-based iVIEW MCU is expected to be available for customer development by years end and generally available in the first quarter of 2005, supporting the GA of Microsofts LCS client.
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