Cisco’s Videoconferencing Helps Educators

Extending the reach of teachers and also providing enhanced professional development through meetings and training are important goals for all K-12 schools. Cisco Systems, Inc. (www.cisco.com) is helping educators achieve these goals with the announcement of a new Cisco Internet Protocol (IP) Videoconferencing Solution for K-12.

Cisco IP Videoconferencing significantly expands the capabilities of converged IP communications by delivering high-quality, lower-cost IP videoconferencing for teaching, professional development and meetings.

"Our new IP Videoconferencing solution will extend the reach of teachers to students outside the classroom, bring the world to students via virtual field trips, and eliminate the time and hassles associated with physically traveling from one meeting to another," said Phylis Hawkins, education solutions manager for Cisco.

The new Cisco IP Videoconferencing Solution combines Cisco IP Videoconferencing hardware and software with TANDBERG'S market-leading Educator MXP Series product line.

"Video communication allows students to interact with people and places previously unimaginable, including many of the world's finest art and science museums and institutes," said Deborah Harrison, Ph. D., president of the U.S. Distance Learning Association (USDLA) and global marketing manager, education and corporate training for TANDBERG.

According to Wainhouse Research, more than 80 percent of all videoconferencing will be over IP and the market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 15 percent. Helping to fuel this growth is the ability for K-12 school districts to tap into additional videoconferencing resources provided by the Internet 2.

During the past year, districts have discovered that by converging their independent networks - data, voice and video - into one IP network, they save both money and time by managing and supporting one robust network instead of many. In addition to the cost-saving benefits, IP is driving new software applications that take advantage of the consolidation of voice, video, and data.