Voice and Video Conferencing Fundamentals

Foreword

I still remember the first video conferencing network I helped implement almost 20 years ago. It was an H.320-based system that used multiple ISDN channels to connect endpoints at the relatively high (for the time) speed of 768 kbps. However, building the video conferencing network was actually easier than using it. Users had to navigate through a complex array of parameters such as service provider IDs (SPID) and telephone IDs (TID) using a 30-button remote control just to set up the session. A common joke at the time was that video conference meetings would always start 20 minutes after the scheduled start time; this gave the users enough time to get the proper connections up and running.

And that was just for video. The audio conference ...