Videoconferencing Insight

Press release=
Reproduced with permission of the Editor: editor@vcinsight.com<= b>
Vodafone Group Plc is the world’s largest mobile telecommunications company with over 170 million customers= in 27 countries; the company has over 300 video conferencing systems in use =

21 November 2005. Vodafone Group Plc is the world’s largest mobile telecommunications company, with a significa= nt presence in Europe, the United States and Asia. The Group provides an extens= ive range of mobile telecommunications services to over 170 million customers.= = The Group= 217;s majority-owned mobile subsidiaries operate under the brand name ‘Vodafone’. The largest number of Vodafone customers are in Germany, Italy, the UK, Japa= n, and Spain. There are large associated companies in B= elgium, France, China and the United States (Verizon Wireless). The Group has ownership interest= s in 27 countries across 5 continents and Partner Networks in a further 27 countries. = The Vodafone business in each country is a major business in its own right. They are coordinated by Vodafone Group Services in Newbury, UK. World headquarters of Vodafone are in Düsseldorf, Germany= . = Vodafone mak= es optimal use of videoconferencing to link this global group of businesses.= There are over 300 videoconferencing systems in use and unique Videoconferencing Lounges in Newbury (2) and <= span class=3DSpellE>Dusseldorf to promote videoconferencing instead of travel. (See picture). = Today there = is an established set of uniform policies to guide deployment and a videoconferencing manager to implement and monitor them. Each site must be certified before it joins the Vodafone video network. All new units are TANDBERG and there is strong migration towards using IP instead of ISDN.<= o:p> = It was not l= ike this three years ago when Ray King, the Managing Dir= ector of EDSL, a UK-based Consultancy Company on Visual Communication, arrived = on the scene. = He was asked= by Vodafone’s Director of Operations - Global Web Enablement, Dr. Armin Hessler, to make an audit of how videoconferencing was used in the compan= y at the end of 2003. He found that every country was doing its own thing as f= ar as videoconferencing was concerned and there was no centrally-managed vid= eo network. = Ray King, as= the former head of conferencing services at PictureTel Europe until 2000, knew exactly what was required. Ray King has been reta= ined by Vodafone for the last 18 months. We examine what Vodafone have achieved with videoconferencing in this period in the next News Byte.
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Vodafone Group has re-assessed and gre= atly expanded its use of video conferencing systems as a three-stage process; first, take stock; second, implement changes; third, promote widely its u= se	<= /span>
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21 November 2005. Vodafone Group Plc. has developed the use of videoconferencing as a valuable communications tool in three-stages over the last three years. The first stage was to make a detailed audit of the state of videoconferencing use within the company at the end of 2003. Ray King of = the EDSL Consultancy took 6 weeks to compile a detailed report on the way videoconferencing was used within Vodafone across all operating companies including Japan. This was presented to Executive Members of the Main Board of Directors of Vodafone outlining a strategy and the business case. = A Board-level decision was taken to develop and implement a videoconferencing strategy aimed at encouraging employees to reduce the amount of time spent travelling. The effect would be to reduce wea= r and tear on individuals and, in turn, produce cost savings and improve efficiency. = As a consult= ancy company, EDSL is focused solely on helping companies realise the full benefit of using visual communication systems. Ray King’s research revealed that Vodafone already owned about 150 videoconferencing systems from five different manufacturers and of varying capabilities acr= oss the 16 major operating countries. = The in-house perception of videoconferencing, however, was discovered to be poor - due= to the poor quality and the low reliability of outdated videoconferencing systems in use, lack of process and some unreliable ISDN connections. As a result, the systems were used by a limited number of managers on a regular basis. = The Vodafone= Board of Directors made Dr. Armin Hessler, Director of Operations - Global Web Enablement, responsible for implementing the videoconferencing development plan. Top management wanted to make more use of videoconferencing themselves (the main Boards of Directors use Teliris videoconferencing suites as described in this Newsletter on 3 October 200= 5). = The Board wa= nted managers and staff throughout the Group to make optimum use of videoconferencing. It is rare but very important to have such high-level involvement in the decision to extend the use of videoconferencing. = The second s= tage was to map out and implement the development plan. Most connections used = in 2003 were over ISDN (IP was used in three countries) and some of these had proved to be unreliable. Hence, after auditing the 150 systems that the company had in operation, there was a clear decision taken that videoconferencing would move to IP on Vodafone’s own MPLS-based IP network. = At an early = stage, a videoconferencing organisation was created = with a manager at the centre and an individual assigned responsibility in each country. Efforts were made to improve performance of existing room systems and outdated equipment was replaced. A process to certify each conferencing room was launched and Ray King and his team of video enginee= rs implemented this policy. Processes were standardised= and customer feedback launched. Records were kept to measure the use of a= nd benefits achieved from videoconferencing. = After an RFQ, Vodafone decided to standardise on TANDBERG a= s a supplier for all videoconferencing equipment. The videoconferencing system most widely used in the Lounges and executive offices is the TANDBERG 2000MXP. = All the TAND= BERG videoconferencing systems are controlled remotely by the TANDBERG Managem= ent System (TMS). Each of the new TANDBERG systems can support a four-way meeting fr= om its own built-in MCU, but for larger conferences Vodafone has installed a TANDBERG MCU in Newbury and Düsseldorf. These can be used to video l= ink a larger number of sites for training or a specific management briefing.<= o:p> = The third st= age was to persuade managers and staff to make optimum use of the videoconferencing systems deployed. Our picture shows one of two Videoconferencing Lounges in Newbury. There i= s a similar Videoconferencing Lounge for staff to use in Düsseldorf. = Videoconfere= ncing Lounges have proved to be very popular. Vodafone staf= f have found that using a Videoconferencing Lounge is much more comfortable than= air travel because there is no hassle getting to and from the airport and no = time wasted waiting in the airport lounge. There are no delayed flights; video links are instant. = There were A= ir Hostesses at the launch and a number of internal posters such as: “= Say Good-bye to red eye” and “Spend more time with your family.” = There has be= en no compulsion to use videoconferencing in Vodafone. Management is confident = that once staff experience for themselves the improved quality of life and hig= her productivity that videoconferencing brings, they will minimise their air travel. = The third st= age of education and promoting use of videoconferencing is underway and gathering momentum by word of mouth. Dr. Armin Hessler&#= 8217;s assessment is that: “I am very pleased with the progress of this project. Ray King has helped us to create tangible targets that were capa= ble of execution and the delivery of a service that Vodafone could be proud o= f. EDSL has helped us achieve a great deal in a short time frame by staying focused on the key issues.” = Armin contin= ued: “ I am really excited about our new Videoconferencing lounges as these will offer a new level of service that= is both accessible and easy to use. Videoconferencing is a great tool to use when it works properly so we have concentrated our focus on reliability a= nd quality. At one time my own feelings about videoconferencing were negativ= e, mainly due to bad experiences, but I now have a system in my office and u= se it all the time. There are times when you need to meet people face to face but many meetings can be replaced by VC - at least we now have the choice.” = Ray Kings co= mments “This is the most exciting project I have worked on to date. We initially took a pragmatic approach and simply tried to get the basics ri= ght. This is always difficult when working with global companies but having se= nior ownership is the key to the success. Dr Armin Hessler defined a global project team that allowed us to create a coherent approach within the fis= t 3 months. The team has been very committed and this has largely been driven= by the strong leadership and passion for success of Dr Hessler.” = = “We don’t have any magic formulas but simply believe in hard work and w= e do what we set out to achieve. Once we had created stability between the operating countries we then moved on to a bolder approach. The lounge con= cept is fantastic and will change the view of videoconferencing within Vodafone and hopefully employees’ attitude towards travel. The benefits to b= oth the individual and to the company will be significant and will make everyone’s hard work worthwhile”	<= /span>