NETWORK VIDEO CONFERENCING AUDIO VISUAL SYSTEMS A GUIDE TO MANAGED SERVICES. Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems

Transcription

1 NETWORK VIDEO CONFERENCING AUDIO VISUAL SYSTEMS A GUIDE TO MANAGED SERVICES Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems 1

2 A CEO calls in top IT staffers and wants answers to a simple question: My daughter can talk to people in Europe on her ipad. Why can t we do that? From the C-suite to the Shipping Department, people want to be able to communicate with colleagues, vendors and clients whenever and wherever the need arises. With consumer-grade technology making it all seem so easy, they don t want excuses. But organizations trying to leverage the latest collaboration technologies have a lot to untangle: How do they guarantee they have enough bandwidth and professional expertise to keep their networks up and running all the time? How do they reconcile the ever-expanding universe of video hardware and software that their people are using every day? How do they ensure their high-tech conference rooms won t have embarrassing breakdowns at the worst-possible times? Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems 2

3 For all the IT expertise they have in house, many companies simply do not have what it takes to manage these ever-increasing demands. Managed services providers address these deficiencies in three key areas: Networks - Addressing rising demands for bandwidth and technical skill Video conferencing - Enabling collaboration across multiple devices and software platforms Audio-visual systems - Enhancing the reliability of sophisticated conference rooms, classrooms and other environments Managed services that support networking, videoconferencing and audio-visual systems lighten the load on IT departments, control costs, and give people the real-time accessibility they need to improve efficiency and drive work forward. 3 Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems

4 Networks: Rising to the Convergence Challenge It used to be that companies had multiple networks carrying traditional data streams, video streams, audio streams and telecom streams independent of one another. Today, it s increasingly common to see everything riding on a single converged network managed by the IT team. These networks need strong security, deep redundancy, and the ability to grow quickly. Companies have to monitor their networks in real time, anticipate problems before they become serious, and respond to crises with hair-trigger speed. Video requires substantial bandwidth, and multiple video software and hardware platforms require substantial expertise to keep that converged network running around the clock. This is where third parties can be especially valuable. Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems 4

5 Why Outsource Network Services? The demands of network monitoring obligate companies to make a decision on whether they are going to use full-time IT people or hire outside vendors to do it. An IT person monitoring a live video conference is not available for other critical tasks. Conversely, an IT person attending other critical tasks cannot monitor live video feeds. Either way, when something goes wrong, companies often need more help than they have available on staff. Managed service providers close this gap, with a huge bonus: Their people have the higher level of expertise required to identify network problems before they become serious and can keep critical audio and video streams flowing to ensure the best experience for users. If a company s video guy is on vacation or out sick, someone still has to ride herd over the traffic on the network. And that person has to be able to understand how multiple video devices and software work and how they interact with all the other data traveling on a network. Losing a network could take down the company phone system, web server and customer support desk. That s simply not an acceptable outcome. Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems 5

6 Managed network services can be delivered remotely or on-site, depending on a company s needs: Remote Monitoring - A managed services provider has highly trained, dedicated staff monitoring all network activity in real time. Because these people work on multiple networks they ve seen just about every imaginable problem, so it s much harder to surprise them. Perhaps two-thirds to three-quarters of all network problems can be solved remotely, so smaller companies rarely need to have experts on site to address network issues. challenges as they arise. Outsourcing lets companies hand off the challenges of hiring, paying, scheduling and providing benefits to a network-support team. Typically, providers will offer tiers of service depending on the size of the company and its network demands. Because managed services providers have seen so many configurations, they usually can customize a services solution to meet a client s precise needs. On-site services - Larger companies with substantial needs for network support often prefer to bring in a contractor to cope with 6 Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems

7 What to Look For in a Network Services Provider Managed services providers should have substantial experience on multiple technology platforms. They must be able to ensure redundancy and security and have deep knowledge of wireless technologies. You want a provider with global reach, with multiple data centers around the world for redundancy. If you lose a link to one data center, you want to be able to go right to another one without any interaction or even knowing it happened. Support from multiple software and hardware providers is a must. You want access to the Microsoft products, for example, but you don t want a provider who is limited only to one platform. Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems 7

8 Video Conferencing: Managing the Collaboration Economy Collaboration has become the touchstone of effective companies. Yet it was only a few years ago that some executives were suspicious of video conferencing. Today they see it as an essential business tool. They expect to be able to make a call instantly, and to be able to talk to anybody, at any time. If their calls have to cross nine time zones, so be it. And it s not just the C-suite. Today everybody has a video device. Your cell phone is a video device. So is your tablet. On the desktop of every employee is yet another video device. All these cameras are enabling genuine change in the collaborative attitudes of employees and companies. Employees want to collaborate among themselves over multiple platforms, devices, locations and organizations. Companies are designing their facilities to be more collaborative. These innovations are profoundly changing the work of IT departments. In years past, just a handful of providers were responsible for a vast swath of video-conferencing hardware and software. Today we have a range of providers and a host of mobile devices to run this software. These platforms were not designed to interoperate with each other, but people need interoperability nevertheless. As demands for video continue to increase, technical challenges will mount. Ensuring the interoperability of multiple devices, platforms and applications requires substantial technical acumen. When someone in Singapore joins a video conference in Philadelphia, it s ultimately up to the IT staff to ensure the stream works well. Managed services providers offer realtime monitoring of network traffic in tiered levels so companies have just what they need not too much or too little. Monitoring can be accomplished remotely or on-site. Cloud services are becoming much more popular because they save companies the capital expense of purchasing hardware themselves. Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems 8

9 What to Look For in a Provider Fundamentally, your provider has to understand how you use video and be able to ensure your technology is encouraging collaboration and not breeding frustration. Providers should have substantial experience on multiple platforms (Lync, Polycom, Cisco). And they must be able to ensure redundancy, security and mobility. You want a provider with global reach, with multiple data centers around the world for redundancy. If a data center goes offline, you don t want to know that it happened, you just want it to work as it always has. Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems 9

10 Audio-Visual Systems: Creating Collaboration Spaces A few years ago, perhaps only half of conference rooms, classrooms and other audio-visual sites were technically outfitted with services like high-speed Internet, projection systems and video conferencing. Today that number exceeds 90 percent, and we refer to them as collaboration spaces. The expectations for a room s performance have increased exponentially, even over the past three to five years. As more rooms become technically sophisticated, companies need more support during critical company meetings. Saying, Let s move this to another room, when a problem crops up is no longer an option. People expect all their collaboration space services to work for everyone in the room. All this creates a need for dependable collaboration space monitoring and support. IT departments could staff that job themselves, but they face growing pressure to legitimize their budgets like never before not just on a day-to-day or month-to-month basis, but hour-to-hour. 10 Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems

11 Why Outsource Audio-Visual Services? The explosive growth of advanced audio-video capabilities requires a commensurate increase in monitoring by IT staff. For many companies, however, it simply does not pay to provide full-time staffing for that monitoring. Outsourcing to third parties is much more economical. The decision comes down to finances and technical expertise. Audio-visual demands change constantly, requiring substantial training to keep people s skills up to date. Typically services are divided into three tiers: Remote Monitoring - The most basic service works a set number of hours per day depending on a company s needs, whether it s regular business hours or aroundthe-clock coverage. Remote Plus - The next tier combines remote monitoring with having technicians on-site within a guaranteed time, such as the next business day. On-Site - The managed services company staffs a facility for a client, so technicians are always available to address problems that arise. Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems 11

12 Choosing Between Remote Monitoring and On-Site Management The size of a company often determines which level of service is required. A midsize corporation, for instance, might have one or two offices that are operating fewer than 10 conference rooms. Remote monitoring with a guarantee to have a technician on site the next morning may be all they need. At the enterprise level, there s a lot more on-site staffing with complex service level agreements to address all their needs. Each company s needs have to be addressed on an individual basis. If video conferencing is the lifeblood of your company and your business collapses without it, you want service that matches those needs. What to Look For in a Provider You want a company that can provide service level agreements that match your precise requirements. So, ask a lot of questions, such as: What s your work process? How are you managing the connection to us? If our network connection goes down, how do you bring it back up? What s your service redundancy? How do you make sure that we are up 24/7 with minimal downtime? Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems 12

13 Technology is bringing people and companies together like never before. Innovative networking technologies allow face-to-face conversations around the clock and around the globe. Yet these advances represent significant challenges to company IT departments that have to add new responsibilities to their already substantial workloads. Managed services providers can assume these responsibilities, improving efficiencies and allowing IT staffs to focus on other missions, all while controlling costs. Want to learn more about how your organization can benefit from managed services? Call Judge Technology Solutions at or visit Judge.com Choosing a provider with experience and expertise across a range of responsibilities networks, video conferencing and audio visual systems simplifies the environment even further. Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems 13

14 About The Judge Group The Judge Group is a leading professional services firm specializing in technology, talent and learning solutions. Our services are successfully delivered through a network of more than 30 offices in the United States, Canada and China. Privately owned and headquartered outside of Philadelphia, The Judge Group serves more than 30 Fortune 100 companies. It is responsible for the placement of more than 4,500 professionals annually across a wide range of industries. Working at the crossroads of people and transformative technologies, The Judge Group delivers innovative business solutions powered by top talent to help organizations reach their strategic goals and realize opportunities now and in the future. Copyright 2014 The Judge Group, INC. All Rights Reserved. Network Video Conferencing Audio Visual Systems 14