NEW STANDARD MAKES VIDEOCONFERENCING AS EASY
AS EMAIL
ITU Adopts H.350 Architecture Developed by
Internet2 Working Group
the International Telecommunications Union
(ITU) will make
videoconferencing with colleagues, friends
and relatives via the Internet
easier and less expensive. Resulting from an Internet2(R) Middleware
Initiative Video working group, the new H.350
standard provides a uniform
way for storing and finding information
related to video and voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) in enterprise
directories.
The newly standardized technology enables
companies and universities to
scale up video and VoIP operations from a few
hundred endpoints to full
enterprise deployments without hiring
additional systems administrators by
linking account management and authorization
automation to the enterprise
directory using the lightweight directory
access protocol (LDAP).
H.350 makes video and VoIP information
available globally, and helps with
user device configuration, as well as
providing a convenient place to store
authentication credentials – resulting in a
more secure and integrated
environment for video and VoIP conferencing.
“ITU has a significant role to play in the
future of videoconferencing, and
with H.320 and H.323 we have already played a
major part in the development
of the multimedia standards that allow
systems to communicate with each
other worldwide. With H.350 we continue our tradition of
cooperating with
other standards development bodies, as this
is the most efficient way to
deliver meaningful products to businesses and
consumers on a global basis,”
said Mr. Simão Ferraz de Campos Neto,
Counselor to Study Group 16, the ITU
group responsible for ratifying the standard.
Yaron Bul, Director of Product Marketing for
RADVISION (Nasdaq:RVSN), a
leading global provider of videoconferencing
infrastructure solutions,
commented: “RADVISION has already embraced
the newly approved standard and
is committed to fully implementing
H.350. This standardization is
important for vendors like RADVISION and the
visual communications industry
at large because the H.350 architecture
addresses two very important issues
in managing a videoconferencing network -
easy scaling of video networks
and implementing a vendor-agnostic,
industry-wide directory standard.”
H.350 was born out of the Video Middleware
Group, a joint effort between
the Internet2 Middleware group and the Video
Development Initiative
(ViDe).
Significant support for this work was provided by a National
Science Foundation grant, ANI-0222710,
“ViDeNet: Middleware for Scalable
Video Services for Research and Higher
Education” to the University of
and
based on H.350 is available through ViDeNet
at
https://videnet.unc.edu/vide-dod/
for searching and making IP calls around
the world.
“H.350 allows you to search for and find a
user’s video or VoIP address
just like you would find an email address or
telephone number
today.
Because it is standardized, enterprises can maintain this
information with the confidence that it will
work with multiple vendor’s
equipment,” said Tyler Johnson, a systems
analyst at the University of
H.350 supports H.320, H.323, session
initiation protocol (SIP) and
non-standard protocols. H.320 is ISDN video conferencing; H.323 is
the
video and VoIP widely deployed over ViDeNet
today and is used in most
Internet2 schools today; SIP is a protocol
that supports video and VoIP
with an emerging following; and support for
non-standard protocols allows
users of experimental technologies to be
represented in the directory in a
standardized manner.
About RADVISION
RADVISION LTD. (Nasdaq: RVSN) is the
industry’s leading provider of high
quality, scalable and easy-to-use products
and technologies for
videoconferencing, video telephony, and the
development of converged voice,
video and data over IP and 3G networks. For more information please visit
our website at www.radvision.com
About ViDe
The Video Development Initiative (ViDe)
promotes the deployment of digital
video in research and higher education. Leveraging our collective
resources and expertise, ViDe advances
digital video deployment through
promotion and development of interoperable, standardized,
and
cost-effective technologies.
ViDe was founded by representatives from
universities and education
networks; ViDe members today include those
interested in improving and
deploying scalable, standards-based digital
video architecture and services
for use in research and higher education.
ViDe projects include: the Video Conferencing
Cookbook; ViDeNet, the
global, virtual network providing video and
voice-over-IP to advanced
networking communities; the annual ViDe
Digital Video Workshop; and working
groups focusing on specific advancements in
videoconferencing, video
streaming, video asset management, and data
collaboration. http://www.vide.net/
About Internet2(R)
Led by over 200
Internet2 is developing and deploying
advanced network applications and
technologies for research and higher
education, accelerating the creation
of tomorrow’s Internet. Internet2 recreates the partnerships among
academia, industry, and government that
helped foster today’s Internet in
its infancy.
For more information about Internet2, visit:
# # #
CONTACT:
Michelle Pollak
Internet2
(202) 331-5345
mpollak@internet2.edu
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