UK Healthcare Trust Uses HD Video to Save Time, Cut Carbon Emissions and Reduce Travel by Nearly £9,500 per Month

Posted on January 27, 2012 by jzellman

Julie Zellman

by Julie Zellman, Marketing Communications Coordinator, LifeSize

North Bristol NHS Trust is a healthcare trust that serves a large geographical region in the United Kingdom, including Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Cornwall. Known for its work in neurosciences, plastics and burns, orthopedics and renal care, the Trust is regarded as one of the most innovative medical facilities in the UK.

Because the Trust is so geographically dispersed, staff found themselves having to travel long distances to provide care to patients. During rush hour, employees had to allow almost an hour for the commute. For those that had to travel to Bristol for weekly meetings, the drive could take up to half a day. The Trust was desperate for a solution to make their employees’ time more efficient, cut travel costs, and provide a better quality of life.

Though the Trust had believed that video conferencing was a “90’s solution”, they were open to exploring the technology again and seeing it how had evolved over the years. Surprised by the low cost of the equipment and ease of implementation, North Bristol NHS Trust began using LifeSize HD video solutions across the organization. All-staff meetings became more efficient and even medical specialists could participate from their own respective locations. The endpoints were also used in surgical and consultative meetings, all-hands nurses meetings, and medical case examinations.

The Trust experienced other benefits along with increased productivity. The organization saved nearly 3,000 kg of carbon over 12 months and nearly £9,500 per month in saved travel costs, as a result of using video to conduct meetings.

“The money saved on staff time and travel from using LifeSize in a single meeting room is nearly enough to pay for an entire room system,” said Martin Bell, director of assurance.

The Trust plans to use video in the future, especially for clinical applications. For example, they may be able to use to video during a surgery to contact medical experts for advice.

“The opportunities to create even more efficiencies through the use of LifeSize video communications solutions are huge,” concluded Bell. “Further implementations will help us reach economic and environmental targets, increase staff morale and provide even better care to patients. Ultimately, the NHS is a people-focused organization, and so LifeSize video communications will continue to maintain that critical face-to-face interaction.”

To read the entire case study for North Bristol NHS Trust, visit Saving Time and Cutting Carbon: How North Bristol NHS Trust Turned to Video Conferencing to Improve Efficiency and Achieve Goals.

Posted in Customer/Case Study, Features, Green, Healthcare, LifeSize, People, Products, Technology, Travel, Trends | Leave a comment

How To Be A Road Warrior – Convincing Your Boss to Let You Go Mobile

Posted on January 26, 2012 by jzellman

In this vlog series, “How To Be A Road Warrior”, Mobile Matt gives you tips on every aspect of how to be a modern road warrior, from what to wear to best places to connect. In this video, Mobile Matt gives you some great advice on how you can convince your supervisor to consider video conferencing and let you work remotely.

Posted in Features, LifeSize, Miscellaneous, Mobility, People, Technology, Travel, Trends | Leave a comment

You Can’t Get Much Closer to the Cloud

Posted on January 25, 2012 by jzellman

Andreas Wienold

by Andreas Wienold, Vice President of Sales – EMEA, LifeSize

Much like our LifeSize CTO Casey King, it seems that I can´t keep my fingers off of the keyboard while on-board a plane. I´m writing this on a Lufthansa flight from Munich to Chicago, heading to the great city of Austin, Texas.  While flying tens of thousands of feet above the ground and looking out of the window, I started thinking about clouds and more specifically, what the cloud means to LifeSize and to me, personally.

The cloud is slowly making its way into our daily lives, at work and at home. At work, many of us use Salesforce.com to manage customer relationships and Dropbox to store important files and share them with colleagues. At home, we are now using music-streaming services and sharing pictures on cloud-based photo albums. The cloud is everywhere and it’s only getting bigger.

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

So today, amidst the cloud(s), I thought about how LifeSize is adapting to this current paradigm shift. First is LifeSize® Connections™, our brand-new cloud-based service that makes HD video calling truly ubiquitous. All you need is a webcam and Internet connection to collaborate with someone face to face. For example, the LifeSize Connections client is installed on my MacBook Air and, to stay touch with my family, I’ve installed a LifeSize® Passport™ in our living room. After only a  few seconds, I was up and running, speaking to my family in phenomenal HD quality. There were absolutely no headaches. I didn’t have to worry about the network setup on the satellite connection I was using or the network address translation (NAT) at my home. In fact, the only challenge I encountered was explaining to my 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter that they´re really talking to me while I’m flying in a plane above the Atlantic Ocean. They were just as surprised as the Lufthansa steward, who received a wave from my two kids, as he handed me another Diet Coke. He couldn’t believe it either.

After the call back home, I decided to further my education on LifeSize’s newest solutions. Remember the old days where corporate training was delivered on printed material? Those days are over. Just recently, LifeSize launched LEN (or the LifeSize Enablement Network), a training platform to keep the LifeSize field team and our channel partners up-to-date on our solutions and recent developments. The in-house LEN team has prepared a series of online videos to share this information, all created in our own television studio at the company headquarters in Austin. The content is easily accessed online from anywhere in the world, even on an airplane! Time flew as I went through one training episode after another and luckily, I even passed the test at the end of my lesson.

After a few days in Austin, I´ll fly back home at the end of the week. On my way home, I can’t wait to test our LifeSize® Clearsea™ app for my iPad 2 to call a few folks on the team. Maybe I´ll also review a few LifeSize® Video Center recordings of meetings that I’ve missed while I was out of town. How did all of this work in the past? I can’t imagine life without HD video.

There are tons of other ways to leverage HD video and new, innovative ideas are popping up everyday. I have been in the video communications industry for 16 years and we´re still just scratching the surface of what video could do.

Posted in Cloud, Features, LifeSize, Miscellaneous, Mobility, People, Products, Technology, Travel | Leave a comment

Taking Learning to a New Level: Introducing LEN/LLX

Posted on January 24, 2012 by jzellman

Wayne McCulloch

by Wayne McCulloch, Global Director of Education Services, LifeSize

Remember the days of traditional (see: boring) training aids? PowerPoint presentations? Those cheesy 3D avatars? I am happy to announce that LifeSize has put an end to those painful training methods. We are taking education to a new level, unforeseen in the video conferencing industry.

Today, we’ve introduced the LifeSize Enablement Network (LEN), a new online social learning platform designed especially for sales professionals, installers, administrators, support personnel and end users. Training is delivered in a series of short, engaging HD videos (hey, it’s what we do best!), as well as quizzes, downloaded sales aids and personalized newscasts, all of which are available on any browser or mobile device.

Along with LEN, we have also created a collaborative online social learning platform for community members to share information, ask each other questions and download tools. We call this the LifeSize Learning Exchange (LLX). By providing this social learning platform, we are enabling our reseller community to better understand our solutions which will help them improve their selling techniques and ultimately grow their businesses.

As with everything we do at LifeSize, we truly believe you have to see it to believe it. Check out this video below to learn more about this innovative new learning solution, only from LifeSize:

Posted in Channel, Education, Features, LifeSize, Miscellaneous, People, Products, Technology, vLog | Leave a comment

Tech Notes: What You Need To Know about LifeSize Security

Posted on January 23, 2012 by jzellman

David Morrison

by David Morrison, Senior Product Manager, LifeSize

The video conferencing industry is more sophisticated than ever before: more devices are being used in more places and customers are now able to access video from endpoints in conference rooms, on personal computers and mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. But how do you keep all of these devices secure from access by unauthorized third parties? You may have read in today’s New York Times article, “Conferences via the Net Called Risky,” that some video conferencing implementations are vulnerable to hacking. This is a valuable reminder for the industry, and we believe it is a great opportunity to address potential security issues while helping our customers to get the most out of their video conferencing deployments.

In the video conferencing industry, many users believe that video conferencing is too complex to deploy, and manage securely. At LifeSize, we believe that customers of all levels of sophistication can successfully deploy and use a secure video communications system. In this blog post, I will discuss a number of things that you can do to protect your LifeSize solutions from unwanted visitors.

  • Auto-answer functionality: At LifeSize, all of our solutions ship with auto-answer disabled by default. This is true for our conferencing room endpoints and our cloud-based platform, LifeSize Connections. We feel this is a best practice for secure video conferencing. Additionally, we provide other infrastructure options for even greater security deploying systems behind firewalls, like LifeSize Transit.
  • Password management: LifeSize endpoints and LifeSize Connections prompt users to change their password at set-up. This is an incredibly important step and should be done immediately. Choose a unique password that is difficult for outside users to guess. Also, the password should not match other passwords you have for other technologies within the organization.
  • Encryption enablement: Encryption comes standard with every LifeSize video endpoint and cloud offering available.
  • On-Premise versus Infrastructure-as-a-Service: If your IT department wants to manage its own infrastructure, we offer a client-server NAT/firewall traversal solution called LifeSize Transit. This solution enables IT administrators to take control of their own endpoints and deploy them securely behind their firewalls, while still being able to freely communicate with the outside world. This solution works hand-in-hand with our encryption technology to help ensure that all video conferences are secure. However, if your company is looking for a simpler, more hands-off approach (that is less CAPEX intensive), we recommend that you take a look at our video conferencing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solution, LifeSize Connections. This platform facilitates secure calling behind the firewall automatically. This option works well for companies without extensive IT resources.
  • Cloud-based directory services: If you are using a cloud-based platform, ensure that there is no public directory. For example, with LifeSize Connections, you can only contact users if you have their Connections user credentials or if they are within your company’s private directory.
  • Understand and utilize all of the security tools available to you: It is important that you and your IT staff truly understand the products that you are working with and that all parties have the training and knowledge needed to make informed decisions about building a secure network. Leverage all of the technology available to you, such as NAT/Firewall traversal and encryption, and periodically review your security settings to make sure they have not changed.
  • Training, training and more training: The best way to

    Keeping a video environment secure is of the utmost importance to IT admins (Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia)

    protect your company from outside attacks is to arm yourself with a deep knowledge of the systems you have deployed. End-user training is vital for the successful usage of video communications technology. It’s for this reason that we created a new online social learning platform that delivers training on LifeSize products in a series of short, engaging HD video episodes. We believe this will help administrators to gain the knowledge they need to design, deploy and manage better, and more secure video communication networks. We will be announcing additional details about this platform soon.

As always, if you are concerned about your video conferencing endpoints and want to ensure secure communications at all times, please do not hesitate to contact your LifeSize reseller or our support team for help. Both parties can answer any question you have, no matter how difficult. Our solutions are designed with users in mind and we can help you utilize your systems to their fullest potential.

Update 1/25/12: For more information on this topic, see today’s NetworkWorld article, Teleconferencing vendors defend product security features.

Posted in Cloud, Features, LifeSize, Miscellaneous, Products, Technology, Trends | 1 Comment

LifeSize Mobile Solutions vs. Competitors – What are the differences?

Posted on January 20, 2012 by jzellman

Cristoforo Mione

by Cristoforo Mione, Senior Manager – Mobile Video, LifeSize

In the summer of 2011, Logitech announced the acquisition of Mirial. Since the acquisition, Mirial has joined the LifeSize family and kept improving its LifeSize® ClearSea™ product to seamlessly connect to PC/Mac desktop computers, as well as the broadest range of support for mobile devices, including Android/iOS smartphones and tablets.

You may have heard of other vendors who boast seemingly similar video collaboration solutions, namely Polycom RealPresence and Cisco’s Movi solutions. But, how does LifeSize ClearSea stack up against these solutions?

Before we get into comparisons, let’s discuss briefly LifeSize ClearSea and some of its advantages:

  • Turn-key Solution: LifeSize ClearSea does not require any additional hardware (such as gateways or bridges). Everything you need is included, such as firewall/NAT traversal, multiconference, encryption, native support for external H.323 and SIP equipment, IM and presence – to name a few.
  • Power of Choice: LifeSize ClearSea supports the broadest range of devices in the industry: over 40 mobile devices (Android and iOS) as of today. This number continues to grow rapidly. This feature is especially useful for the increasingly common “bring your own device” environment to which many companies are adapting.
  • Video Quality: LifeSize ClearSea supports up to 1080p on desktop and 720p on mobile devices. For this reason, LifeSize ClearSea video quality remains unmatched. The software automatically adapts to the actual device capabilities and available bandwidth.
  • Simplicity: Instead of dialing a different number for different devices, you are assigned a single number and calls will ring to all of your devices at once (PC, smartphone, tablet, even room systems). You can answer on the device you prefer.
  • Easy to Manage and Control: LifeSize ClearSea works in any IT environment, supports quick and easy dialing with a centralized directory and LDAP integration, and the server component is available as a virtual machine or hardware appliance. Finally, with a “licensing per port” model, the implementation grows as your company grows and you only have to pay for what you need.

What makes LifeSize ClearSea different?

Let’s take Polycom Real Presence Mobile. The solution from Polycom has a higher price point as it requires additional Polycom VBP for firewall/NAT traversal, a feature included in LifeSize ClearSea. Not only this is expensive, it also adds time and needless management complexity.

Secondly, LifeSize ClearSea supports a broad and fast growing range of mobile devices. As of January 2012, Polycom’s mobile solution supports only three tablets (and no smartphones), without far-end camera control, presence or IM – all of which come standard on our solution.

Finally, you may be enticed by Polycom’s “free” mobile stand-alone client. However, this client is inadequate for business purposes as it lacks fundamental features such as directory dialing, encryption or firewall traversal, thus restricting it to LAN only. You will need to purchase the complete Polycom suite just to get basic features.

LifeSize ClearSea enables true mobility.

Another solution that is available currently is Cisco Telepresence Movi. Though Movi supports desktops, it does not work with smartphones or tablets beyond its proprietary tablet, the Cius. As we all know, mobile devices are gaining in popularity with every passing quarter and it has become the new standard of communication. Without broad mobile support, it is difficult for end-users to experience video communications at its full potential.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many other areas where LifeSize ClearSea wins hands down. Contact your LifeSize partner and request a free trial to experience the LifeSize ClearSea difference.

Based on these product comparisons, it is clear that LifeSize ClearSea is the most flexible, open and interoperable solution for desktop and mobile video conferencing. What is your favorite feature of LifeSize ClearSea? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Posted in Features, Industry, LifeSize, Miscellaneous, Mobility, Products, Technology, Trends | 3 Comments

How To Be A Road Warrior – Dressing the Part (For Dudes)

Posted on January 18, 2012 by jzellman

In this vlog series, “How To Be A Road Warrior”, Mobile Matt gives you tips on every aspect of how to be a modern road warrior, from what to wear to best places to connect. In this video, Mobile Matt tackles the basics of dressing the part of a road warrior. Here’s how to look sharp, pack light and be ready for any curve-ball occasion thrown your way.

Posted in Features, LifeSize, Miscellaneous, Mobility, People, Technology, Travel, Trends, vLog | 1 Comment

WFH Fashion Tips: From Couch to Video Conference

Posted on January 13, 2012 by jzellman

Jacey Overton

by Jacey Overton, Corporate Communications Manager, LifeSize

Working from home. To some, this phrase conjures up images of lounging in pajamas and answering emails from the couch while daytime television shows hum in the background. But in reality, working from home (often known as “WFH”) isn’t about lolling around in your best (or worst) sweatpants (save that for a sick day). In fact, dressing down to work from home can deter your productivity. When you stay in your pajamas all day, it can be easier to get distracted by errands, housework and other personal matters.

Even when you work from home, you can still look fashionable. (Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia)

However, this doesn’t mean you have to lug out your ironing board and your best slacks for the day. There’s a middle ground where the WFH Wardrobe lives. We went ahead and channeled our inner Rachel Zoe to bring you the following tips and examples of easy, polished and affordable work-from-home looks that will keep you comfortable enough to work from your kitchen table and professional enough to hop on a video conference with your colleagues.

Let us know what you think and feel free to leave your own tips in the comment section below!

WFH Fashion Tips:

  • Stock up on mix-and-match pieces that are comfortable, but presentable, so you can pull an outfit together instantly while saving money on hard-to-match standalone pieces. Beware of anything too revealing, since both can be accentuated on camera.
  • Go neutral or pastel when selecting your tops: All white or black can wash you out or diminish your appearance on camera whereas really bright colors will pop out,making it hard to see your facial expressions. Stick to solid, non-patterned fabrics.
  • Keep accessories to a minimum since HD quality cameras will catch anything too big and flashy (such as large hanging earrings or metal tie clips), which makes it hard to focus on the non-shiny objects. Also, avoid noise-making accessories that the microphone will catch and distract the other participants.
  • Tend to your most important accessory: your face. Men, don’t forget to shave. Women, keep makeup conservative. Also, make sure that your hair is well-kempt and styled away from your face to avoid creating shadows
  • Contacts or glasses? If you can, opt for contacts when on a video call since glasses often reflect light into the camera, especially if you are sitting in front of a computer monitor.

Sample Outfits For Her:

A blazer can add a professional look to just about anything and the tweed varieties are soft enough to be comfortable all day.

A simple blouse can be comfortably layered under cardigans or jackets.

These jeans have the perfect amount of spandex, so they’re polished for work and comfortable for lounging.

Wrap dresses are a triple threat: comfortable, versatile AND professional.

The key for jewelry – less is more. You don’t want to be sparkling and distract your colleagues on a video call, but you can add a little piece of flair.

Sample Outfits For Him:

This Gap sweater is cozy, but the mockneck collar adds professionalism.

Corduroys are casual for home, but also appropriate for stepping in to work at a funky coffee shop.

You can’t go wrong with a nerdy graphic tee – you are at home, after all. Pop a pull-over sweater on if you’re worried about a conservative colleague on a video call.

Choose dark wash denim to spiff up your daily work from home outfits.

A button up shirt doesn’t have to be stuffy – make it casual with a plaid spin, but don’t go too “loud.”

 

Posted in Features, LifeSize, Miscellaneous, People, Technology, Trends | Leave a comment

CES 2012: A New Year Equals New Products

Posted on January 12, 2012 by jzellman

Casey King, CTO, LifeSize

by Casey King, Chief Technology Officer, LifeSize

You’ve got to love the new year. I’m not one to make a lot of New Year’s resolutions, but the turn of the clock does offer a great chance to look forward to all of the possibilities to come.

And that means new products.

I’m currently on Southwest flight 1242 en-route to see some future products. No, I’m not heading to Detroit for the North American International Auto Show, but I sure am looking forward to seeing the new Acura NSX hit showrooms in three years. Where am I headed? Every year in early January, I head to Las Vegas for a couple days to experience the insane mass of humanity that can only be experienced at the international Consumer Electronics Show. You can read about it on Engadget, Techcrunch, The Verge or a host of other blogs, but there really is nothing like being there in person.

See the insane mass of humanity? I wasn't kidding. (Photo Courtesy of CESweb.org)

My first day is full of meetings with current and potential partners. I never even step onto the show floor. The second day also includes meetings, but I’ll get the chance to go see the show. What am I looking for? I am looking for trends. I am looking to learn new ways to approach old problems. At LifeSize, we are always looking to innovate and connect the dots in ways that only we can see.

Over the past few years, you see many trends emerge. With the recovering economy, the crowds have exploded. You see mobile contenders come and go. Smart TV’s have gotten smarter. 3D TV continues to try. Netbooks were hot, hot, hot and then fizzled into obscurity, only to be replaced with tablets and now Macbook Air imposters. Cameras evolve and integrate with other devices.

Photo Courtesy of CESweb.org

A common trend that seems to have no end in sight is video. LifeSize is right in the thick of this technology trend. You can feel it growing and, more importantly, changing. Home video is changing. Delivery mechanisms are changing. Physical sales of video (DVD and Blu-ray) are down. Digital sales, including streaming movies, rose 50 percent. If the trends continue, then 2012 will be the crossover year where digital sales exceed physical. You knew this was going to happen.

So what will we see at CES this year? I don’t know, but I have a long list of things to check out and the most interesting discoveries are always unexpected.

I do know that 2012 will be a very big year for LifeSize products. The innovation pipeline is full and you won’t have to wait very long to get the first peek.

Posted in Features, Industry, LifeSize, Miscellaneous, Products, Technology, Trends | 1 Comment