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In today’s professional climate, video conferencing is far-reaching. In the legal industry, where all matters are sensitive and every minute is billable, attorneys and clients must connect quickly, easily and efficiently. One solution to reducing travel while still consulting face-to-face, deposing witnesses and finalizing deals is video conferencing. Whether high-end or basic, video conferencing for lawyers is becoming more common both in smaller firms and corporate legal departments.

Looking to incorporate video conferencing into your law practice? Here are tips to get started.

Know your budget. Can you afford the most expensive system? Some systems start at about $300,000, is considered top of the line, according to Steven Levy, principal of Seattle-based Lexician, who recently was interviewed on a podcast called Law Technology Now. This system uses virtual conference rooms to create lifelike meetings. “Somebody sneezes in the other conference room and you want to reach across and hand them a hanky,” Levy said to podcast host Monica Bay. “It’s that effective an illusion.” For most, this price point is extreme. So Levy suggests “80-20 versions” of video conferencing systems, which deliver 80 percent of the value for 20 percent or less of the cost.

Consider your needs. “If the addition of video conferencing will save many, or all, of your attorneys significant amounts of time in commuting and improve the productivity of their work day, then video conferencing will definitely help to grow your practice,” wrote corporate branding expert Harold German in the technology journal LLRX. Does your firm or company have multiple offices across the country and/or globe? Is it involved in cases with witnesses scattered far and wide? If you want video conferencing primarily for meetings, look to streamlined in-house systems, which can be set up in a central location with large monitors to accommodate more participants. Desktop systems in individual offices work well for intimate discussions, such as a deposition when an associate is on site and a senior attorney observes via video.

Resolve for the best image. Most IT departments will understand the technology better than an attorney, but it helps if the lawyer is schooled in some basic terminology. The camera is crucial to a successful video conference, said Levy. “The number of pixels you’re transmitting is very significant to that suspension of disbelief that transforms a video conference into a conversation,” he added. While most desktop and laptop Web cameras are low resolution, he recommends a resolution of at least 2 megapixels, with a frame rate of 30 frames per second. Don’t know what that means? Share that information with the right people, and you will get the right video conferencing equipment.

Secure the security. Firewalls, password protection and other security measures often take minutes to install, but they are likely the most crucial piece of the video conferencing experience for lawyers, who rely on attorney-client privilege to do their jobs. Take protection seriously: a technology security firm recently demonstrated for The New York Times how simple it was to hack into major global companies’ computer systems — including law firms and corporate legal departments — via their video conferencing equipment.

As ubiquitous as video conferencing is today, it makes sense for the legal profession to embrace the technology for the good of their business — and their clients, said Levy. “To be able to see somebody face to face, it’s a very powerful tool,” he said. “You lose yourself in the conversation if the quality is good enough.”

However, we generally do not have access to the servers for our premise based customers, so we rely on them to provide usage statistics. So, we try to bother them for information only once a year.

Over the last year, our top 10 single sites have averaged over 200,000 meetings with an average of 3.3 sites connecting into each meeting with 10% meetings consisting of 20 or more users. On average, our customers have over 500 different users online in any one month, and those users held over 1100 meetings for over 5500 hours. That is equal to 34 months of man hours. This is all in one month. Over a six month period they have held over 7000 meetings, spanning over 250,000 hours. That is a lot of time in meetings and is a testament to the ease of use and comfort level of the system.

If those numbers aren’t enough, these IOCOM power users are being supported by 1 or less FTE technician within their organization. These numbers are for single site locations and are not totals for a single company. These are only one location being served by one UCS. I knew it was reliable and easy to use, but I didn’t it was that easy!

Does anyone know of any other videoconferencing product out there than can compare with those numbers?

Some businesses have decided to shut down entirely for the duration of the summit while others are providing their employees with security tips to consider during the event.   One of the more peculiar recommendations:  dress down to avoid being hassled during their commutes including don’t wear a suit or dress and no corporate logos. Another option that was suggested that is less likely to be adopted includes dressing like the protesters, as if there is a subliminal validation within the protester movement.

With all the security measures being implemented, employees at Chicago-based IOCOM Communications are not worried about any lost productivity. CEO Tim Hackett relays that “at IOCOM, we’ve approved the option to work from home to our city-based employees during the NATO summit. Thankfully with Visimeet, our video conferencing solution, we’ll all be able to conduct business as usual.  We already use Visimeet on a daily basis to collaborate with our employee base around the country so this is no big deal for us.”

Visimeet from IOCOM is a software-based collaboration solution that keeps people connected through video, audio, and data conferencing. It works with many internet-enabled products, including room systems, desktop PCs, laptops, notebooks, and mobile devices. Customers around the world leverage Visimeet to reduce costs, accelerate decision-making, improve productivity, and enhance employee morale.

“Visimeet is more than just a tool to use during NATO summit type events,” said Hackett. “Organizations across Chicago, the US, and the world, are using Visimeet every day for multimedia collaboration, project management, company briefings, trainings, and so much more.  And, you don’t have to worry about any wardrobe changes!”

About IOCOM

Founded in 1998, IOCOM develops, markets, and supports video conferencing and collaboration software and solutions that enable multi-point communication for business processes.  IOCOM delivers innovative solutions that enable multiple groups or individuals to instantly collaborate anytime and anywhere over their chosen medium. IOCOM is the first collaboration software company to integrate high performance multiple data and video windows with high performance audio. To learn more, visit www.iocom.com.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Industry experts peg the worldwide telemedicine market at about $28 billion, with $7 billion of that right here in the United States. And while the annual growth rate of 20 percent isn’t too shabby, it could be a lot better.

That’s according to panelists on “The Telemedicine Market,” a Monday morning Industry Executive Panel that discussed the market’s size, challenges, opportunities and trends, among other things.

While telemedicine holds great promise for improving outcomes and reducing costs, a number of factors have inhibited its growth in the United States, said panelists Jasper zu Putlitz, MD, president of Bosch Healthcare; Amnon Gavish, senior vice president of Vidyo; and Harry Kim, senior director of worldwide healthcare strategy and portfolio for HP Enterprise Services. The panel was moderated by Linda Boles, chief strategist for U.S. public sector healthcare innovation for Cisco Systems.

One of the key drags on the U.S. market, the panelists agreed, is adoption by payers and providers. At the moment, they said, there isn’t sufficient hard evidence to prove that telemedicine can help control and/or reduce costs and improve outcomes.

“Doctors are looking for guidance and they need evidence,” Putlitz said. “We need to show cost savings and mortality reductions. The industry has many studies, but many are contradictory.”

That industry must prove that telemedicine can help the United States care efficiently for an aging population and that it can improve outcomes by, among other things, making it more convenient for providers and patients to interact, Gavish added.

Likewise, telemedicine technology is not always user-friendly, and that’s a must if large numbers of providers are to adopt it. That most likely won’t occur until telemedicine technology can be integrated into a provider’s existing infrastructure and become a seamless or holistic component of the clinical process. Once technology “disappears,” the industry can focus more on proving telemedicine’s value proposition, Kim said.

The panelists agreed that when it comes to deploying telemedicine, the United States stands a bit flatfooted and is in danger of being left behind by other countries. That’s because the U.S. healthcare system is extremely fragmented and slow to change, which makes integrating telemedicine solutions difficult. Additionally, U.S. reimbursement for telemedicine lags behind that in many other countries and continues to hold back the market.

Eventually, these challenges in the United States will sort themselves out and the market’s growth will accelerate, the panelists said.

In part, healthcare information exchanges and consumer demand for increased access to healthcare information will help accelerate growth in the U.S. market. Also, as providers become more accountable to drive financial and clinical outcomes, they’ll turn to telemedicine to help them do that, Bales said.

“The ultimate goal here is to rise the standard of care, and that is what we are striving for,” Putlitz said.

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The four participants in Monday’s “Paying for Telemedicine” industry executive panel discussion agreed very quickly on one key fact: Forget, for now, about reimbursements.

Once you get beyond expecting the government to pay you back for your services, they said, you can get creative and find new sources of ROI.

“You need to rethink the value proposition,” said Roy Schoenberg, MD, CEO of American Well, and “look at all the (other) pieces of the puzzle,” like payers and patients. He said the traditional concept of thinking solely about how physicians will be paid is too shortsighted.

“There are models and innovative ways,” added Kathleen Plath, vice president of sales and marketing for Specialists on Call, “so that we don’t have to wait for reimbursement.”

Moderated by Cardiocom CEO and President Daniel L. Consentino and featuring Schoenberg, Plath and Randall Swanson, vice president of business operations for Intel GE Care Innovations, the panel discussion, held in a packed conference hall during the first full day of ATA 2012, tackled what many consider to be the chief barrier to full-on acceptance of telemedicine as a standard of care. And the panelists generally agreed that, instead of waiting for the government to embrace and reimburse for telemedicine, providers need to look for other sources of value.

“Where is telehealth generating value that people are willing to pay for?” asked Schoenberg.

For instance, he said, health plans might be willing to pay to help their members stay healthy and avoid unnecessary hospital visits, patients themselves might be willing to pay if it helps them avoid much more expensive healthcare encounters down the road, and employers – both large and small – might be willing to pay to ensure their workforce is healthy and productive and isn’t taking time off from work to visit the doctor or nurse a cold.

“Self-insured employers … have a big interest in controlling the exploding growth of healthcare costs in their space,” said Swanson.

Schoenberg said the development of accountable care organizations (there are some 150 proposals before the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said Consentino) will spur telemedicine because they require payers and providers to assume a portion of the risk in preventing avoidable health problems, and “risk is a great thing because it forces people to think about innovation.”

“It’s not cookbook medicine any more,” Swanson said.

On the other hand, Schoenberg said, ignorance is one of the bigger barriers to telemedicine adoption. As an example, he pointed out a recent bill before California’s legislature that was designed to curb illegal use of online pharmacies, but was worded to basically eliminate telemedicine in the state.

“One of the biggest obstacles is we don’t know what we don’t know,” added Plath.

The panelists generally agreed that telemedicine will continue to grow, regardless of whether the Obama Administration’s healthcare reform efforts are overturned by the Supreme Court or how long it takes for reimbursement to catch up. Consentino then pointed out that it’s taken 20 years for telemedicine to get this far, and most of that growth has been seen in just the last couple of years.

“We need to build an evidence base that shows and demonstrates a clear value proposition,” he said.

Attendees can stop by booth #1027 to learn about Visimeet, IOCOM’s software-based video conferencing and collaboration platform, and receive a demonstration on how it can help transform existing telehealth solutions. Visimeet gives healthcare institutions the ability to diagnose patients quicker, hold meetings with offsite individuals, and exchange data without the time and cost of travel.

“The focus of our booth this year is to educate healthcare professionals on how they can leverage video communication to increase productivity and reduce risk at their organizations,” said Tim Hackett, IOCOM CEO. “The ATA Expo is the best place to see new technologies that are changing the industry and we’re excited to be a part of it.”

The ATA Expo meets the changing needs of healthcare professionals who utilize telehealth technologies. This year, hundreds of classes and training sessions will be offered with topics ranging from clinical services and public policy to new technologies and telehealth case studies.

“Developing tools that help medical institutions provide better patient care is a top priority at IOCOM,” says Hackett. “Organizations, such as the National Health Service of England, are seeing improved patient outcomes, better use of physicians’ time, lower costs of health care delivery, and enhanced employee satisfaction with the use of Visimeet.”

About IOCOM

Founded in 1998, IOCOM develops, markets, and supports video conferencing and collaboration software and solutions that enable multi-point communication for telehealth processes. IOCOM delivers innovative solutions that enable multiple groups or individuals to instantly collaborate anytime and anywhere over their chosen medium. IOCOM is the first collaboration software company to integrate high performance multiple data and video windows with high performance audio. To learn more, visit www.iocom.com.

IOCOM Communications recently announced its video conferencing and collaboration platform has been selected by Mitchell Associates. An Illinois-based consulting firm, Mitchell Associates will now be able to use this platform to share HD quality renderings with multiple users via desktops or laptops, increasing overall productivity.

The firm uses the Visimeet video conferencing and collaboration platform from IOCOM to engage with clients from across the globe.

“Our previous Web conferencing solution restricted our ability to share high-resolution models with multiple users at multiple locations,” said Scott Vinson, President of Mitchell Associates. “Since launching Visimeet, we no longer run in to these problems and can now share HD quality renderings with an unlimited number of users on their laptops or desktops at an unlimited number of locations. This is bringing real benefits in terms of speed, productivity, and effectiveness.”

Mitchell Associates works on the development and implementation of best practices for analysis, planning and procurement of medical equipment. The company interacts with its clients on a daily basis through its offices across the country. To help improve client engagement, the company deployed Visimeet, facilitating vendor presentations, client discussions and internal project meetings.

“We’re noticing a trend that many of our customers are replacing their legacy Web conferencing solutions and opting to use Visimeet for their video collaboration needs,” said Tim Hackett, CEO of IOCOM. “Common reasons include the ability to have more people with flexible controls and higher quality video and audio without the dependence of bulky proprietary hardware. We’re excited to provide Mitchell Associates with the tools that allow them to easily meet internally and engage their clients externally.”

According to Frost & Sullivan (News – Alert), market research firm, companies that leverage strategic collaboration tools benefit from a competitive edge. An increasing number of employees worldwide work remotely, and it’s important for businesses to deploy video conferencing solutions like Visimeet.

Visimeet consists of video, audio and data conferencing solutions, interoperable with any internet-enabled endpoint including desktop PCs, notebooks and mobile devices.

The igmeeting.insors.net was established as a way to allow IOCOM users to link together without having to install the UCS on their own network. Many users wanted to be able to meet with others in other locations but the barriers of network security and network access made it difficult for a site to host a UCS to share. The solution was for IOCOM to place an open UCS on the internet that any user from any site can access. This proved successful and eventually led to the creation of the Visimeet Service that is available today.

The UCS has served faithfully over the years. It has supported major energy Companies in meeting together with various partners, students and educators holding classes, research groups as well as mass events such as the Bill Gates talk at Super Computing. During this time it carried the important data that allowed people to collaborate across the globe as easily, if not more easily, than with the person next to them.

While we are sad to see the old UCS get shut down, we are happy to know the service is still running better than ever with the Visimeet service. The new service is simpler to obtain and install, more robust, uses less resources and has an improved global foot print. All the way around it is a better, faster cheaper, higher performing solution. The igmeeting.insors.net UCS will be missed but we know that it’s ground breaking features have been carried on and all future system will be able to trace their roots back to the original.

Thank you for fine service.

Gary Refka

With offices across the country that heavily interact with each other on a daily basis, Mitchell Associates is now using Visimeet, IOCOM’s video conferencing and collaboration platform, to present plans with clients, facilitate vendor presentations, and hold internal project meetings on a global basis.

“Our previous web conferencing solution restricted our ability to share high-resolution models with multiple users at multiple locations,” said Scott Vinson, President of Mitchell Associates. “Since launching Visimeet, we no longer run in to these problems and can now share HD quality renderings with an unlimited number of users on their laptops or desktops at an unlimited number of locations. This is bringing real benefits in terms of speed, productivity and effectiveness.”

“We’re noticing a trend that many of our customers are replacing their legacy web conferencing solutions and opting to use Visimeet for their video collaboration needs. Common reasons include the ability to have more people with flexible controls and higher quality video and audio without the dependence of bulky proprietary hardware” said Tim Hackett, CEO of IOCOM. “We’re excited to provide Mitchell Associates with the tools that allow them to easily meet internally and engage their clients externally.”

Market Research firm, Frost & Sullivan, recently concluded that companies adopting strategic collaboration tools are two to five years ahead of the competition. As more and more employees work remotely, businesses with reliable video conferencing solutions, such as Visimeet, allow for ad-hoc meetings and collaboration, thereby increasing productivity while cutting costs.

Visimeet keeps people connected through video, audio, and data conferencing. Its solutions work with any internet-enabled endpoint, including room systems, desktop PCs, notebooks, and mobile devices. IOCOM focuses on delivering high performance solutions that provide superior quality audio and video without the cost and complexity of proprietary systems.

About IOCOM

Founded in 1998, IOCOM develops, markets, and supports enterprise video conferencing and collaboration software and solutions that enable multi-point communication for business processes.  IOCOM delivers innovative solutions that enable multiple groups or individuals to instantly collaborate anytime and anywhere over their chosen medium. IOCOM is the first collaboration software company to integrate high performance multiple data and video windows with high performance audio.

About Mitchell Associates

Mitchell is a multi-disciplined organization which accepts total responsibility for planning and implementation of medical equipment for health care facilities.  Since 1977, the firm has worked on more than 950 health care facility projects throughout the world, first advising them on appropriate technology, and then seeing the equipment purchased and installed properly. Mitchell, as a total planning and implementation resource, is dedicated to helping health care architects and providers integrate medical equipment technology in hospitals that deliver the finest health care possible.  Mitchell Associates is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, with additional offices in Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, Arizona, and Colorado.

The event was a bit different from a trade show as the delegates spent much of their time attending the session that were the main focus of the work shop. This worked out well as the people attending where focused on what they needed and had specific ideas when they came by the booth to talk with us. There were a number f great ideas for using Visimeet, such as extending the reach of educators to students in far away countries to assisting with animal care by allowing the veterinarians to monitor remote, contagious animals without needing to travel. They explained that each visit to a quarantined animal involves not only the trip itself but a decontamination process and shower. They sometimes have to shower 4 or 5 times a day and while very clean, use up much valuable time that can be used to help others. Using Visimeet to help others, including animals, is always a great feeling and we are very proud when we can help this happen.

The city of York dates back to Roman times and once was the seat of power for all of England. It still retains medieval walls that surround the center of the city and the extremely impressive York Minster Cathedral. It was great place to wander around we enjoyed the little time we had. The days ran long and the weather was not always great so we only had a few hours on the last night to see anything but what we did see was fantastic. If you ever get up north in England, we would recommend a visit.

We wanted to give a big hand to the Networkshop 40 events team from JANET. They did a great job and we are looking forward to 41!

Gary Refka