1. Video Conferencing Freedom
Leveraging New Video Conferencing Software In The World of Higher Education
Zach Phillips – Western Carolina University

2. Backdrop
WCU has
6 Hardware Codecs
4 Locations
A lot of faculty who want to talk to people outside of the state
and away from higher education institutions

3. W we were saying
hat
“I’m sorry but there’s not really a way for us to do
what you want”
“We don’t support Skype”

4. The W
orld of Video
Conferencing
Video conferencing technologies are mainstream
Consumers are very familiar with:
Skype
Facetime
Google Hangouts

6. In Q4 2013 Alone Apple
Sold…
33.8 Million iPhones
14.1 Million iPads

7. Fortuitous Timing
WCU had purchased 2 Phoenix Audio MT-301 Units for client
checkout
WCU had just signed an agreement with GoToMeeting for
faculty/staff/student conferencing

8. W makes a video
hat
The ability to communicate without difficulty be:
Communication between clients need to
conference successful?
Intuitive
Clear
Comfortable

9. Enhancing Software Conference
with Quality Hardware

10. Audio Hardware Options for Software
Conferencing
Personal - Headsets
Personal/Small Group - Conference Microphones
Medium Sized Group – Chainable Conference Microphones
Large Group – Traditional Microphones with Digital to Analog
Conversion
We will have the most success if we can include hardware echo cancellation in each category!

11. Brands to Know
Polycom
Phoenix Audio
ClearOne
Revolabs

12. Video Hardware Available
Limited Options
Traditional Small PC Webcams
Large Webcams
Traditional cameras through capture card

13. Brands to Know
Logitech
Microsoft
Vaddio

14. “OK, my Skype calls look good and
sound good, but I still can’t connect to
anyone outside of Skype.”
What was the point of all this?

15. Options for Adding Interoperability
Hardware Gateways
Vendor Specific Integrations or Plugins
Life Size and Skype
Polycom and Microsoft Lync
Service Based

17. W
hy?
No Hardware purchases needed
Works with multiple brands of existing conferencing technology
Portable!
Connects us to a wide suite of free, consumer supported technologies

18. Since Buying into BlueJeans
We currently use it for around half of all conferences coming into
and out of WCU.
Drastic increase in the number of event types that we are able to
support
Adds a level of control to desktop conferencing that we rarely get
natively
Beginning to solve problems that have plagued traditional codec
systems for years

19. Transformation of the Service
We’re doing more business
Previously the service revolved around forcing the customer
into complying with technical requirements
Now the service revolves around applying the technology to the
client’s needs
BlueJeans has emerged as our stepping stone, but the
technology consideration is highly dependent on the
environment

20. Lessons Learned
Clients are already using this technology in their personal life.
By meeting them halfway we can open the door to new business
and exciting new opportunities.
Having multiple paths to accomplish conferencing goals creates
new functionality that’s hard to replicate with a single product

21. Questions?
Thanks for attending!