London June 24, 2008 – Video Over IP Everywhere VIPE(R) service is launched in the UK by VideoCentric enabling multiPoint desktop video conferencing on demand over the internet without users needing to pre-load any software on to their PCs. It will interoperate with professional H.323 VC systems from Tandberg, Polycom, Lifesize, Sony, Aethra and Emblaze-VCON, as well as with voice over IP systems and ordinary telephones.
VIPE® is VideoCentric’s revolutionary new VideoConferencing Service which allows worldwide users to meet in an internet Virtual Meeting Room regardless of what type of device they are using. The endpoint being used may be a firewall-protected PC with webcam and headset, a standard mobile phone, a professional H.320 ISDN room system or a high definition H.323 videoconferencing system.
When asked about why VIPE® is different to ordinary PC webcam conferencing such as Skype, David Shimell, Sales Director for VideoCentric said, “We have made it easy for those who have never conferenced before to join a multi-way video conference on the internet – PC users just click on a hyperlink sent to them inside an email and they can immediately join a virtual meeting room with other PCs or other professional devices. VIPER offers huge advantages to organisations such as Recruitment Agencies, Financial Advisors, Universities, Telecare centers and so on, where the people they want to involve in a quick face-to-face conference have no prior experience, have no more than a broadband PC or a mobile phone or maybe they are on a corporate LAN firmly protected by a firewall”. He went on to add, “By teaming up with Network-I, VideoCentric has ensured that internet bandwidth bottlenecks will not throttle VIPER. It is currently fed with 100Mbps of bandwidth but is scalable to multi GigaBit because of where we have located our servers in the ISO27001 accredited Thames Valley Data Centre”.
Other advantages of VIPE® are that PC data sharing between desktops is included, small rooms (up to 4 sites shown on each participant’s screen) do not need to be pre-booked, larger rooms (up to12 sites) can be reserved in advance and USB web-cams are supplied to those who need them. The service offers worldwide H.320 ISDN as well as H.323, SIP and Microsoft™ Office Communicator compatibility and mobile phones, analogue phones and audio conferencing star-phones can also join in.
