The financial badminton match between Cisco and TANDBERG seems to be drawing to a close. Cisco has once again revised its offer (which is now up to around $3.4B) to purchase the videoconferencing leader, placing the birdie back in TANDBERG shareholders’ court. In addition to increasing the cash offer, Cisco has also offered to increase the interest payable on the offer price to a rate of 3.00% from its previous offer of 1.75%. According to a news release by Cisco, “this revised offer represents Cisco’s final price for this transaction.”
A total of more than 30% of shareholders have pre-accepted this offer based on the new price. These, combined with the previously announced acceptances, push the total to more than 40% acceptance of the sale. The rest of TANDBERG’s shareholders have until Dec. 1 to make a final decision.
Like many others in the AV industry, we’ll be watching from the sidelines, waiting for the birdie to fall.
As the cost-saving reputation of videoconferencing (VTC) technology grows, more organizations are curious to know if they’re receiving the maximum benefit. Noted business research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan addresses concerns with a new informational video, especially designed to help you make the most of your videoconferencing investment.
The online resource breaks down the 5 assessment steps you need to take. Be sure to check out the video and ask yourself the following key questions:
Are you measuring the current adoption rate within your organization?
Have you determined how and when your employees are using VTC technology?
Has your organization successfully overcome user resistance?
Have you promoted the use of unified collaboration technology through your corporate messaging?
What steps have you taken to expand your collaborative technology reach?
TANDBERG ’s shareholders thought $3 billion was too low of a bid to purchase the videoconferencing technology leader. It was originally reported that Cisco purchased TANDBERG in early October. Some analysts are saying Cisco has funds to increase the offer. Maybe Cisco will just purchase a smaller share? How does this affect Polycom and other TANDBERG competitors?
Reading doesn’t just happen inside a book. There are opportunities to practice students’ reading skills everywhere. Create a more print rich environment in your school by utilizing your VariQuest products – the Poster Maker, Awards Maker and Cutout Maker.
Encourage teachers to post banners and posters in the hallway, cafeteria, office and other non-classroom areas. While walking with elementary students to the library or cafeteria, stop at the posters and banners to ask them to read aloud. One of the great opportunities for reading everyday is to post the lunch menu. Select a different student each day to read the menu. The media specialist may want to have students contribute to book reviews each week. Again, this project could become an opportunity to read more – reading the reviews might inspire a student to read the whole book!
Create word walls to keep new vocabulary on the walls to help students learn their meanings. Use your Awards Maker bumper sticker templates to create sticky-backed labels to post to your word wall. Or, use the clear parking permit sticker and take advantage of the unused space on your windows. You can encourage your students to stare at the window! Keep the wandering eye engaged by sticking words and phrases from the lessons on the ceiling too – they’ll be learning something no matter where they look!
The Cutout Maker can make learning grammar enjoyable. With the Total Access Shapes CD, you have access to over 3000 shapes in the Cutout Maker library. Get started with a grammar lesson by cutting out some shaped nouns like a picture of a cat or a beach ball. Then use your fonts and the “connect letters” or “add bar” option to help create your verbs, articles, prepositional phrases, etc. Lay the cutouts on a table and ask the students to create sentences using the cutouts. Make it harder by asking them to identify the different parts of the sentences. Show how to rearrange sentences by utilizing commas. That portion of the lesson can help educate your students on comma splices and prepositional phrases. Learning how to remove prepositional phrases from sentences to check the subject and verb agreement is a skill tested on the SAT, so this is a great activity for high schoolers too.
Practicing reading everywhere gets students in the habit of understanding how important the written word is. Make reading a daily activity with your class and utilize your VariQuest products to help inspire your students to become avid readers!
In Today’s Facility Manager magazine, AVI-SPL General Manager Patrick Britton highlights the advance of conference room technology:
“… The critical nature of AV technology in conference and meeting rooms has many facility managers (fms) asking themselves: How do I manage the use of these spaces? And how do I maintain the equipment to maximize life cycle and prevent critical failures that will impact my users?”
Want to learn how to increase the ease of your facility management technology? Click here to read more »
Alert! It has come to our attention that there is a computer virus named Green AV (”Green AntiVirus”) circulating on the internet. AVI-SPL in not affiliated with or affected by the Green AV hoax. All references to Green AV on any of AVI-SPL’s websites is relevant to the Green Audio Visual industry.
In his article, “Videoconferencing helps companies cut travel costs,” USA Today reporter Roger Yu profiles the cost savings being brought to law firm Lathrop & Gage. With 11 offices and 300 attorneys, Chief Information Officer Ben Weinberger estimates that he’ll only need to travel once this year to each office, versus the typical 25 times a year. He’s now relying on the six dedicated videoconference rooms set up in the main headquarters, with HD cameras, monitors and software provided by Polycom.
Substantial industry growth:
In 2008, the global videoconferencing market grew 24% to $2.4 billion, according to Roopam Jain, a technology analyst at Frost & Sullivan. The firm forecasts the market will more than double, to reach $5.7 billion by 2013.
Commentary by unified collaboration leaders TANDBERG and Polycom:
Recent tech breakthroughs have helped to loosen business customers’ purse strings, says Rick Snyder, president of TANDBERG ’s Americas operation. Internet bandwidth is more plentiful and affordable. HD cameras can cost less than $200. More sophisticated chips can compress HD images with crisper resolution. Some vendors can help clients better manage internal computer networks so that video gets priority. “The movement to HD has raised the bar,” Snyder says.
With costs falling, smaller businesses are being courted with systems that cost less than $10,000. Polycom and TANDBERG have introduced products featuring 32- to 52-inch monitors and HD cameras that can be installed in boardrooms or on PCs.
The 4th year warranty is available only to qualified schools and educational institutions who have purchased projectors from an authorized Sanyo Education Dealer. If you purchased one of the models above from AVI-SPL please register each unit by serial number within 90 days of purchase to be eligible for the 4th year warranty offer.
Readers have their say about the AV products they count on the most.
By PRO AV Editors PRO AV magazine
PRO AV asked its readers which brands they use most-and not just their top brands, but also the ones they go to when their flagship is inappropriate, unavailable, ruled out by the client, or otherwise not the first choice in a given situation. In April, we invited PRO AV integrators, installers, consultants, and end-users to take an exclusive online survey and asked them their brand preferences in 23 AV product categories. More than 250 AV pros completed the survey, and while not every participant had experience with products in every category, their feedback was compelling.
Survey Categories
Top Matrix Switchers, Large Venue Projectors, Conference/Classroom Projectors, and Projection Screens – Click here to read more. »
Top Videoconferencing/Teleconferencing, Audio Conferencing, and Distribution Amplifier – Click here to read more. »
Top Wired Microphone, Wireless Microphone, Installed Loudspeaker, and Venue/Line Array Loudspeaker – Click here to read more. »
Top Power Amplifier, Touch Screen/Panel, AV Control System, Lighting Control System, and Electronic/Interactive Whiteboard – Click here to read more. »
There are three great reasons that people who use projectors in classrooms, conference rooms, and other large image applications will love the new InFocus IN5300 and IN5500. They are; good looks, nice features, and super functionality.
The latest installation projectors from InFocus are the IN5300 and 5500 series projectors. That includes six projectors (IN5302, IN5304, IN5502, IN5504, IN5532, IN5534). The IN5300 level projectors have most of the same features, but do not include optional lensing (which is perfectly OK for about 80% of installations). There are a few other differences too, like brightness and resolution. But let’s talk about a few of the cool new features available on the latest and greatest InFocus installation products. By the way, if you want to skip the text, we are also posting a short video going over this too. Just look at the video above.
New Features on New InFocus Installation Projectors
The product designers at InFocus took the advice of users and resellers to address a few ‘missing’ features from the projectors they have used in the past. Those missing features included a few of the ‘problems’ listed below.
Problems with Older Installation Projectors :
XGA and lower 4×3 resolutions display in low resolution.
Projectors look industrial, cables looked messy.
Video conferencing collaborative content and white boards require multiple displays. Even projectors with split screen typically could not run dual video.
IN5300 and IN5500 Projector Solutions :
New WXGA and UXGA options available
Special cable management secret compartment, and multiple color options for casing (including a paintable primer for custom
color)
Enhanced Split Screen allows for multiple video – great for videoconferencing
New InFocus High Performance Features
InFocus seems to have adequately addressed most of those concerns with their new line. Their new line has also held tight to popular features while adding some other bits of cool, like a blue lit ring around the lens to indicate if the projector is powering off or on – a commonly confusing time for those who get confused about whether the projectors has begun to start-up or shut-down. As mentioned above, the new Enhanced Split Screen capabilities are a great new feature, as well as a Dynamic Messaging system that allows administrators to ‘broadcast’ messages to any projector on the network for important announcements. Here is a quick overview of the features available in the new InFocus lineup :
Enhanced Split Screen playback – perfect for video conferencing
Widescreen HD resolutions offered
Horizontal and vertical lens shift (manual in 5300s and motorized in 5500s)
Single or Dual lamps (5500 series)
Multiple lensing options (5500 series)
Customizable screen “help” page
Changeable ’skins’ for projector casing (including wood grain, black, white, and or primer paintable)
Illuminated blue “glow ring” to indicate when projector is cooling down and starting up
Embedded networking included (compatible with Crestron or AMX panels)
Dynamic Messaging System allows for ‘broadcasting messages” to any InFocus projector on the network
So there you have our overview. Now feel free to watch InFocus’ Benjamin Joy talking about the new projectors live and in person – on video.
It may be seem like a marriage of inconvenience, but it’s for life. As it did to so many others, information technology–and in particular, Internet Protocol networking–has wedded itself to the audiovisual industry. And many professional AV firms are finding it hard getting used to the new living arrangements.
“The adoption of IT is the most dramatic change in this industry since audio-centric companies adopted video,” says Dan Erickson, vice president and chief technology officer of General Communications in Salt Lake City and NSCA University’s 2008 Educator of the Year. “Now we see AV firms that have been in business for years having to become network savvy. That has been a difficult transition for a lot of companies.”
Encourage teachers to post banners and posters in the hallway, cafeteria, office and other non-classroom areas. While walking with elementary students to the library or cafeteria, stop at the posters and banners to ask them to read aloud. One of the great opportunities for reading everyday is to post the lunch menu. Select a different student each day to read the menu. The media specialist may want to have students contribute to book reviews each week. Again, this project could become an opportunity to read more – reading the reviews might inspire a student to read the whole book!