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Federal
The Department of Energy sees the power of VTC
Mar 09 2010
The TANDBERG Public Sector team just returned from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) 2010 Information Management Conference at San Antonio’s new JW Marriott. The brand new facility was filled with more than 500 vendors and DOE representatives discussing best practices and new technologies that can help the DOE communicate and operate more effectively.
This was the first year TANDBERG attended the event, and based on our conversations with DOE representatives, the timing was perfect to discuss the benefits of video teleconferencing (VTC). John Dunlap, the Acting Associate CIO and Director of IT Services for the DOE, has established initiatives specifically directed towards increasing collaboration and communication within the DOE. He is focused on finding more methods to enhance collaboration among the agency’s labs and video is one of those tools that will be utilized.
The DOE’s mission is to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States, to promote scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission, and to ensure the environmental cleanup of the national nuclear weapons complex. With such a broad mission, it should come as no surprise that the agency is composed of many decentralized organizations, with labs and offices scattered across the United States.
Despite the geographic distance separating these offices and labs, effective communication and collaboration are still mission critical. This is especially true of the DOE labs that are working on advanced sciences. VTC is the perfect solution in this situation. It not only allows natural, face-to-face communication between individuals regardless of the distance separating them, but also enables the easy and secure sharing of plans, documents and other things that are visual in nature.
With so much decentralization, it goes without saying that disparate network infrastructure within the agency can lead to problems with the acquisition and implementation of VTC solutions. The ability to interoperate, like TANDBERG’s VTC solutions, is critically important for the DOE, and many other government agencies, because it enables all existing network infrastructure across the agency to remain in place and reduces the cost and scope of a VTC solution installation.
VTC is helping to break down the walls between and within government agencies. At TANDBERG, we’re proud to be powering communication for federal agencies like the DOE and enabling a new way of working.
Air warfare symposium illustrates international need for VTC
Feb 23 2010
The TANDBERG Public Sector team just returned from colder than normal Orlando, home of the Air Force Association’s 26th Annual Air Warfare Symposium and Technology Exposition. Although the air outside was disappointingly cold, attendance was amazingly good.
The Air Warfare Symposium is an excellent forum for the senior leadership of the United States Air Force, including Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley, Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Norton A. Schwartz, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force James A. Roy and other top Air Force officials, to discuss best practices and the topics affecting the Air Force today. The technology exposition also gives these leaders an opportunity to see the latest in military technologies available from government contractors and other vendors.
In an exposition that is normally limited to weapons systems and other combat technologies, TANDBERG and its video teleconferencing (VTC) solutions may have been a surprising participant. However, according to our conversations with some of the senior Air Force leadership during the show, there’s a very good reason for that.
One of the biggest problems facing military commanders and four-star generals today is command and control. With today’s war effort comprised of many moving parts, the need for rapid, in-person communication between senior leaders and field commanders is greater than ever before. The use of VTC solutions enables this rapid, natural face-to-face communication regardless of the distance separating people.
Also, in today’s day and age, the United States very rarely finds itself fighting alone. NATO forces and multiple other nations are involved with almost all wartime efforts. The use of VTC among NATO and other nations ensures that war efforts are coordinated and that clear communication and collaboration can occur between individuals oceans apart, even in the most critical times.
With senior leadership at the Air Force and other branches of the military moving towards VTC solutions, the mass adoption of VTC throughout the military is on the horizon. Internationally, the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A), which is tasked with aiding NATO nations with the acquisition of seamless and interoperable communications infrastructure, is also pushing for the adoption of VTC abroad. With movements for unilateral VTC adoption within the United States and around the globe, VTC is ensured a large part in military communication and collaboration today, and in the future.
VTC is breaking down the walls between commanding officers and their charges in the field, and breaking down the walls between military leaders across the globe. TANDBERG is proud to be enabling a new way of working for America’s armed forces, and a new era in military collaboration.
Surviving the snowpocalypse — how VTC can help the federal government weather the weather
Feb 09 2010
The Washington, D.C., area is predictably filled with federal government employees. Hill staffers, agency careerists, appointed officials, uniformed servicemen; they all call our nation’s capital home. With so many of the people relied upon to keep America’s government working all centered in one metro area, there’s a tremendous possibility that a major weather event could grind the gears of democracy to a halt.
Call it #snowpocalypse, #snowmaggedon or #snOMG. Regardless of the funny handle you’ve assigned the recent snow storms, by dumping multiple feet of cold, white powder across the region they have had a significant impact on every aspect of government.
The incredible amount of snowfall that the Washington metro area has experienced, and will continue to experience with additional snow forecasted this week, has left many neighborhoods unplowed and unable to be traveled via car. In addition, the region’s mass transit systems have seen multiple service interruptions. This has led the federal government to close outright for the safety of their commuting employees.
Luckily, the Obama administration and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are taking steps to ensure that weather phenomena and other events can no longer bog down the federal government. One of theses steps is to increase the government’s number of teleworking employees. By enabling telework, government employees can continue to function in their jobs and accomplish mission-critical tasks regardless of their ability to make it into the office.
According to a recent NextGov article, OPM is working to increase the number of teleworking government employees by 50% by 2011. Also, the agency is designing a 500 employee pilot program that will enable them to gauge the effectiveness and productivity of teleworking employees.
Concerns about productivity while working from home remain some of the largest roadblocks to widespread adoption of telework among government agencies. Many managers fear that employees who are unsupervised outside of the office will see a decrease in productivity, collaboration and communication. This is also where the rapidly increasing adoption of video teleconferencing (VTC) can help.
VTC systems enable people to have face-to-face conversations, regardless of the distance separating them. By embracing VTC, government agencies can more comfortably embrace telework.
VTC is breaking down the huge, white snow drifts separating government employees and helping to usher in a new way of working for federal agencies. How is VTC helping your agency weather the snowpocalypse? Drop a comment and let us know!
Interoperability is the key
Feb 02 2010
Multiple recent events, from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, have led government pundits and officials to call for better communication between government agencies. This increased collaboration is necessary to keep citizens safe, respond to disaster and emergency, and operate more effectively and efficiently.
Unfortunately, there’s a significant roadblock for increasing collaboration within and among agencies. As a rising number of agencies turn to video teleconferencing (VTC), instant messaging and other advanced and rapid forms of communication, converged voice and data networks are relied upon more than ever. This creates a problem for disparate agencies each relying on a different vendor for their network and communications infrastructure.
The key to enabling interagency collaboration and communication across these varied, disparate networks is interoperability. At TANDBERG, interoperability and firewall traversal are some of the most important features of our VTC solutions.
In fact, TANDBERG was first to deliver a telepresence solution that could interoperate with third-party systems, the first to enable high-definition video between Microsoft Office Communicator and multi-screen telepresence, and the first to deliver HD telepresence and video conferencing solutions that can interoperate with any other standards compliant systems. Interoperability is at the core of our VTC products.
The ability to enable face-to-face communication regardless of distance gives VTC solutions the ability to truly bring government agencies together and increase inter-agency communication and collaboration. When agencies are looking for VTC systems that will help them work more closely with other government organizations, the most important feature should always be true interoperability.
Helping the government better serve it’s constituents through collaboration and teamwork – now that’s a new way of governing.
What we have here is, a failure of preparedness
Jan 26 2010
The past 10 years have seen their fill of disasters, including terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and devastating earthquakes in Haiti this year. Impossible to predict and unpreventable, these events are examples of why disaster preparedness is so important. Crisis situations arise quickly and with little or no notice, and the speed of which we can provide necessary aid and assistance can often mean the difference between life and death.
Even with all these disasters, CNN reported today that a commission established to assess national security measures gave the U.S. government a failing grade in improving response time, especially response to biothreats. The commission found that despite improvements to identifying and preventing incidents, the past three administrations had failed to improve preparedness and response.
The failure to implement video teleconferencing (VTC) for delivery of healthcare during crisis situations is an incredible example of missed opportunities to improve disaster response.
Video teleconferencing (VTC) has seen rapid adoption in the healthcare arena as one way to deliver medical care quickly to those who need it. VTC has incredible potential in disaster response for increasing access to specialized health and medical services, enabling remote monitoring to control disease outbreaks and by providing back-up surge capacity for local healthcare providers.
Unfortunately, even with a wide array of implementation where VTC is helping to save lives and provide medical care to those in need, the wide-spread infrastructure and equipment investments and installations needed to bring VTC to mass disaster-relief operations have yet to be made. In fact, the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has grown frustrated by the sheer amount of recommendations that they’ve made to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use of VTC solutions in disaster recovery that have been ignored.
VTC solutions are capable of bringing care to victims of disasters. By enabling VTC in disaster response, the American government can break down the walls between skilled specialists and the victims who need care and empower a new way of responding.
Break down the (great) walls: video connects government officials in Qinghai
Jan 21 2010
We’ve talked extensively in the past about how video teleconferencing (VTC) technologies help government agencies and organizations run more effectively and efficiently. We’ve also discussed the ways that healthcare and education installations of VTC solutions help bring resources to remote and geographically isolated areas.
A recent article in FutureGov Magazine, which focuses on the modernization and use of new technologies in government, healthcare and education, contains an incredible example of VTC solutions making government work better and leveling the playing field for remote and geographically isolated regions.
The article discusses China’s largest province Qinghai, which stretches across the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Despite its size, Qinghai is one of the least populated provinces, with approximately two-thirds of its 5.2 million people living in the countryside and outside of cities.
With a majority of people scattered amongst the region’s mountains, deserts and grasslands, the local government offices are spread out. Some district offices are up to 1000 kilometers from the provincial capital of Xi’ning. With inclement weather common in the province, travel for government officials is expensive and difficult, if not impossible.
Last year, a VTC network connecting 42 county government and 13 provincial party committee offices was installed. The network has already hosted more than 600 meetings, some of which were between more than 100,000 government officials in Qinghai at the same time.
The system has already saved an estimated $3 million in travel expenses alone. The VTC system has also allowed individuals who may never have met in person before to have face-to-face conversation.
By allowing government officials to collaborate and communicate regardless of the distance between them, VTC is ushering in a new way of working in China. How can VTC help your agency work better?
Interoperability key for meeting federal mandates
Jan 19 2010
The Obama administration is pushing agencies to begin insourcing jobs by bringing them back to government employees and relying less on outside vendors. The OMB is reaching out to agencies to help them appropriately understand and handle a directive that appears at face-value to be a complete about-face from the previous administration.
The administration is pushing for insourcing for many reasons. First, there is a perception, warranted or not, that outsourcing jobs is wasteful and expensive, and that agencies can be handling governmental tasks at a savings to the American taxpayer. Insourcing is also being heralded as a way of increasing collaboration among agencies and creating a tighter-knit and interconnected system where government employees work closely together.
However , there are some issues arising from this new directive for insourcing. One is the misinterpretation among agencies that they’re being asked to stop outsourcing altogether and bring all jobs in house. Another problem is directly tied to human resources and hiring. Insourcing will bring many jobs back to government agencies who are already missing tens of thousands employees in mission-critical positions, according to this year’s Where the Jobs Are report from the Partnership for Public Service.
The other problem lies in the directive for agencies to work closer together and collaborate across the board. Unfortunately, with agencies making their own purchasing decisions, the networks across agencies are disparate and disconnected. The video teleconferencing (VTC) systems that agencies have been turning to as a way to increase communication and collaboration internally could go a long way towards doing the same for interagency collaboration, but the lack of connected systems remain a roadblock.
This is why interoperability of VTC solutions is so important. Interoperability is essential for allowing disparate networks and VTC solutions to work together. Also, with cyber attack and network security on the minds of all agencies, firewalls and other security measures are often put in place with little to no consideration for video networks. This makes the ability to traverse firewalls essential for both network security and interagency collaboration.
VTC solutions are becoming increasingly popular in federal agencies, and with this directive to insource jobs, they will become even more essential. With the government already straining to fill mission-critical jobs at agencies, and with the government workforce graying and near retirement, flexibility and telework are going to continue to be job benefits necessary to keep aging government employees working and attracting the best talent into public service.
TANDBERG equipment has been the choice of many government agencies in large part for its ability to interoperate with other networks and equipment. By breaking down the walls between government agencies and giving them the means to increase flexibility and retain top talent, TANDBERG is providing a new way of working within the federal government.
Teaching airmen over the airwaves
Jan 14 2010
The TANDBERG team is currently in San Antonio, Texas, attending the Air Force Air Education and Training Command Symposium at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.
Hosted by the Air Education Training Command (AETC), the symposium serves to educate senior leadership and airmen on the innovations, technologies and techniques available for training today’s Air Force. This is instrumental in the AETC’s mission of recruiting, training and educating all Air Force personnel worldwide.
In our conversations with some of the over 4,000 airmen and leaders in attendance, we continue to hear one major challenge facing the AETC today. With Air University, the Air Force Institute of Technology and the Air Force Academy all falling under the AETC’s umbrella, and a worldwide network of deployed airmen, officers and decision-makers, how can they bring the courses and training necessary to all of them in a more effective and efficient way?
In fact, with only a handful of expert instructors to serve thousands of potential students distributed across the globe, the cost of bringing students and instructors together was one of the single largest expenditures in the AETC’s budget.
This is why video teleconferencing (VTC) is becoming increasingly important to the AETC, and to professional development across government agencies and organizations today. By utilizing VTC solutions, the AETC can deliver the best knowledge and expertise to airmen, regardless of where they are.
This brings real-time, interactive training and educational content right to the student, significantly reducing the cost of mentoring and educating airmen in the field by taking away the need for travel. VTC also makes the most knowledgeable instructors more effective by expanding their reach and allowing them to mentor airmen thousands of miles away as if they were in the same room.
The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace. Without proper training, mentoring and instruction, there’s no way that our nation’s airmen could remain the best in an increasingly dangerous world. By delivering instruction and educational content via video, the AETC is breaking down the walls between the most knowledgeable instructors and airmen around the world and empowering a new way of teaching.
Even more incentive to stay home
Dec 31 2009
The average commuter spends eight and a half whole days a year (approximately 2% of the year) on trains, in cars and riding buses. What’s worse, these road and rail warriors are clogging up highways and train stations in the nation’s 439 urban areas to the tune of approximately $87,000,000 in extra time and fuel used.
In an effort to cut costs, relieve congestion and give time back to American commuters, Congressman Rob Wittman of the First District of Virginia recently introduced the Telework Tax Incentive Act. This bill would provide eligible taxpayers with an annual tax credit of up to $1,000 for qualified teleworking expenses paid or incurred that year. The tax credit is available only to those who telework at least 75 days per year and is designed to encourage employers and employees to implement work from home and telework environments in their workplaces.
There are multiple advantages of increasing the adoption of telework for the government, employers and employees. Employers who embrace telework environments are often rewarded with increased productivity and morale in the workplace. In fact, a study by the National Science Foundation found that teleworking increased productivity on average by 87 percent.
The benefits of increased telework adoption for the government are multiple as well. Less congestion on roads and public transportation systems means less capitol investment on transportation infrastructure. Also, with green initiatives and environmental friendliness becoming an important factor in today’s world, the decrease in greenhouse gas spewing automobiles on the roads could go a long way in reducing America’s large carbon footprint.
For employees, the benefits are numerous and rather obvious. Telework spells an end to lengthy commutes and frustrating traffic. With the eight and a half days of travel gone, Americans would have extra time to complete tasks, finish projects, play with their kids and generally do the things they would much rather be doing than sitting in traffic or on a train. Also, expenses such as gas, train fare and a daily cup of premium coffee would no longer haunt the household budget.
Unfortunately, despite the obvious benefits to the environment, employee morale and office productivity, many organizations in both the public and private sector are hesitant to embrace telework. One of the main reasons is a fear that “out-of-sight” employees are unable to be managed and supervised. Luckily, the increased adoption of video teleconferencing (VTC) and the evolution and desktop and mobile VTC solutions have provided a way for managers to see and communicate with their employees as if they were in the same room, regardless of how far away they really are. This ensures that managers can adequately communicate with and supervise their employees even when they are teleworking.
Telework is the future, a new way of working and an answer to helping the environment, lowering the country’s transportation costs and building a happier, more productive workforce. With new and progressive legislation like Congressman Wittman’s Telework Tax Incentive Act and the evolution and rapid adoption of VTC solutions, the future is not only bright, but closer than it may seem.
Video helps to overcome a years worth of challenges
Dec 24 2009
With the holidays here, it’s the perfect time to look back and reflect on the previous year that was and think about the one coming up.
2009 was a challenging year for many people, with weather phenomena, H1N1 and the ongoing recession making “business as usual” difficult across the globe. Fortunately, the adoption of video teleconferencing (VTC) has been there to help government agencies, organizations and employees continue to serve the American people.
VTC solutions have been the bridge connecting people and enabling them to interact and collaborate regardless of the distance between them. This has made continuity in the face of pandemic flu a much smaller obstacle, allowing government employees to interact without having to be in the office where they can become infected or infect others.
As recent snowstorms rocked the east coast, teleworking government employees utilizing VTC solutions could interact as if they were in the same room without having to navigate dangerous roads.
States struggling under budget deficits during the recession have also been able to find savings in VTC solutions. Schools have been empowered to share resources and teachers, bringing better educations to students without significant expenditures. Court houses and police have also been given the ability to get search warrants and witness testimony via VTC, saving money and time.
2009 has come and gone, but not without some unique and interesting challenges. At TANDBERG, we’re proud to have been supplying the VTC solutions that have enabled government agencies, organizations and employees to continue to serve the American people through the previous year’s many obstacles and look forward to bringing a new way of working into 2010.
From all of us at TANDBERG, we’d like to thank you for an amazing 2009 and wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season and new year.