OK CODEC Critique time!

[George]

What brand of CODEC do you operate? Tandberg, Polycom, VTel, Rembrandt CLI, other?

Help us out. Give us your honest opinion on the product and whether or not you would do anything to improve it.

[pbraatelien]

I usually use a Polycom (on my cable connection). I have tried Tangbergs (I sell video so I have access to different systems), VCON (no settops) and a long time ago PictureTel. I do not really prefer either one. They are both good units (throughout their product line). The only unit I do not really like is the iPower stuff. I am a firm believer in closed system architecture.
Nice forum-I hope you get many members

[mazzarak]

It's funny you mention the iPower, considering Picturetel made such a big deal of it, Polycom didn't seem to share their view... I've put so many software patches on ours I've lost count.

Now Viewstations are another matter. We have had one of them since version 5, and it's still going strong.
:blink:

[George]

mazzarak,

Same here, the section I used to work in used a polycom Viewcase (basically a big briefcase with a stripped down viewstation in it) for mission critical operations for years and have had few to no problems or complaints and it fits in the rack nicely. They're only thinking of upgrading to a tandberg 2500 because they want to go with a flat panel monitor and the Tandberg has the VGA compatibility. Oh yeah and it looks better that way too ;)

[mazzarak]

I have to say that, having had a Tandberg 6000 in the office for a while on trial, they seem to have got the "portability" of the equipment sussed. Just to have a piece of equipment where all the cables are already ready for you is a mark of simplistic genius.

I like the fact that, even though your mobile kit was just a viewstation in a briefcase, they still had to give it a Name. :D Say it in a Voiceover voice - "The Polycom Viewcase - it's a Polycom, in a case.."

[Toney]

I work for a fairly large multinational and I was lucky enough to be a part of a working group that created the corporate VC standard. When we evaulated the the then big players, Polycom, PictureTel and Tandberg, we found that even though Tandberg was more expensive, they seem to make the best designed, most robust VC endpoints.
Amongst many reasons, we like Tandberg because they have been smart enough to design different level of endpoints with a common user interface, this is extremely important to making our users comfortable with using VC. The endpoints themselves are smartly designed and built, in that they more or less have common H/W on which you buy the required S/W with the desired functionalities.
Polycom, at least in the past, have released cumbersome H/W. It seems that with every function you needed, you had to buy a new little black box that plugged into the endpoint (ISDN MUX's etc). For corporations, this raises many support issues.
The user interface for the Tandberg range is a lot more straight forward than the 'windows' interface of Polycom.
I must say that based on my experience with both Polycom and Tandberg, Tandberg are definitely way more accessible. They have always been keen to listen and sometimes implement some functions and recommendations their customers make.

[Entropy3XD]

I work for a company which specializes in VTC integration. In our lab we currently have a wide array of endpoints by Tandberg, Polycom, Vcon, VTel, as well as MCUs, Gateways, and Gatekeepers by Tandberg, Accord, Radvision, & Cisco. As far as endpoints go I am partial to hardware based codecs as opposed to PC based. As a whole, I prefer Tandberg, with Polycom a close second.

I have found the Polycom menu structure and colorful icons useful in an environment in which the end users do not have a lot of VTC experience.

I rate Tandberg as the best simply because they are rock solid. I have beaten the heck out of these machines and they never quit. We are now using them in deployable cases for military use. I am especially fond of the 2500 & 6000 models from Tandberg. They are such a versatile box in a small 1 U chassis, and can be adapted to any environment, from roll cart, to deployable, to full conference room system. Polycom does have the VS4000, which is a great unit, but I prefer the Tandberg when it comes to versatility.

Tandberg has also excelled when it has come to making product changes for specific applications.

The only place where I find Tandberg to lack is in the T.120 world. Some of the Tandbergs are T.120 capable, but it requires and old copy of netmeeting and is not very user friendly. I personally would prefer to use T.120 on a PC which is separate from the VTC conference, but for those who require T.120 integrated into their video system, the iPower is the way to go.

For personal PC VTC systems my top two hardware codecs would be VCON's Vigo or Polycom's Via Video. I personally prefer the Via Video because of its size and ease of install and use. The Vigo would be a better solution if a PTZ camera is required. Both support T.120.

For software based codecs my choices would be VCON's vPoint or Radvision's ECONF. I just got a copy of ECONF from Radvision and I really like this software. I believe it is mad my France Telecom. These two codecs use a standard off the shelf web cam and although they may not be as high end as hardware based systems but they do make a very cost effective solution for your standard "talking head". I have had problems in the past with the vPoint software, especially when it comes to hidden files that stay behind after uninstall, however, VCON has come out with a new version for which I am waiting for my copy to review.

This is just a generalization. If anyone has any specific questions about a certain product, please let me know. By the way, outstanding job on the site. I’ve been looking for site like this to hang my hat for awhile now. I hope I can be of use to everyone.

[jaron]

To be honest, TANDBERG get's my overall vote too ... purely based on system design and product range. I've been involved with PictureTel and Polycom products (the latter currently) and I must say that TANDBERG have always headed in the right direction from a product development point of view. Technically they are very easy to support, if I ever had any connection issues etc, I could dump a report out of the codec and send it to Norway and get an answer the next day.

[galld]

Hi from Australia, we run a number of different systems (280 in total) including the following:
MGC 100 x 3
MGC 25 x 2
Pathnavigator x 2
GMS
Webcommander
The endpoints mainly consist of Polycom VS128's with some swiftsite I and II, Sony 1600, Tandberg, VCON, Venue 2000, Concorde and Vtel. Look forward to sharing info in the future ;)
Cheers

[dndtech]

How about a CLI Rembrandt II/VP? Found one kicking around a customer site this morning. First I've ever seen. I guess it's one of the Grandaddy's of VC. Holds the door open real good now...... :o)

[Talon Oak]

It's funny you should find an old CLI Rembrandt VP. This unit, while old, is still as good a workhorse and the Picture Tel 4000. Of course, had you seen the first Rebrandt codec you would think that the VP is small by comparison. The old Rembradt codec was the size of a small apartment refrigerator and the original CLI codec was the size of a tall equipment rack.
I've worked with several different codecs over the years, CLI Rembrandt II/06, CLI Rembrandt II/VP, the PictureTel 4000 series, the British Telecom, the BPT, the VTEL Media Max, the VTEL ESA, the VTEL Galaxy, the VTEL SmartStation, the VTEL Settop 250, the PictureTel SwiftSite, the Tandberg and the Polycom series. I've also worked with the Accord bridge, the Radvision bridge and gateway, the Ezenia! 2000 bridge, the Ezenia! Gatekeeper and Gateway and most recently I've been to school on the Tandberg bridge.
Out of all of these I have to say that I have been most impressed with the Tandberg and Polycom lines. They use a proprietory software that boots up so quickly that from shut off to completely on it only takes a couple of minutes. The CLI Rembrandt series took up to about 5 minutes to boot even though it used a proprietary software as well and the VTEL ESA and Galaxy systems could take 5 minutes or more to get fully up and running.
From an installation standpoint the Tandberg and the Polycom are the easiest to install and if you need to upgrade the software it only takes about 5 minutes. The VTEL ESA and Galaxy systems can take up to an hour or more to reload the software since you have to load Windows and then the Vtouch application software. The PictureTel iPower systems would take about an hour to reload the software, but they have an image on a CD to reload the software.

[seifran]

For what it's worth, when we replaced our Picturetel 4000's about 2 years ago, we did a head-to-head test of our 2 "finalists" (Polycom and Tandberg). At that time, the Tandberg 6000 performed much better on our internal IP network than the Polycom, and was much easier to integrate into the boardroom settings we have because of the audio inputs and level adjustments. On the down side, they were slightly more expensive, and the software upgrades must be purchased rather than downloaded.

Having come from the Picturetel 4000 (and Rembrandt II before that), I appreciate never having to reboot the system to make it work (we had a procedure before any conference of rebooting the codec, especially the CLI). In fact, the Tandbergs never reboot except when the software is upgraded or the power fails, and we very seldom have any connection problems at all.

[zornzack]

I've been using Polycom and PictureTel product for almost 5 years, since PictureTel 4000 series ( the dinosaur) i called it, and i guess, Polycom still has the best product range.
And i think Tandberg still need to improve more on their GUI and inter-system operability.
There's one day i've tested a Polycom VS384SP with Tandberg 800 if i'm not mistaken, and i can tell you that when the Tandberg has the laptop pluged in (using VGA) and did a power point presentation, no joke the image display really disappointed me. i can even see the start button clearly. And suprisingly, i had my laptop plug into VSX using s-video only, and the other site complemented on the system.
Polycom bravo!!!

[tjulian]

If you want a wide range of variety in systems, with awesome tech support, and a lower price, choose Polycom. Tandberg may have a bit of an edge on them in system quality, but I don't see it. They are also not near as inexpensive as Polycom's endpoints. Sure, they have more capabilities in one box, but that is the purpose of Polycom's design. How many users really need to be able to do H.323/H.320/T.120/everything else? Most users, at least from my experience, will pick one and go with it.

I find the Polycom UI to be easier for those who have no knowledge of VTC equipment, and the capability to network all of my Polycom endpoints together for management and upgrades over the CAN is great (if someone will buy it....).

I am currently the admin for 70+ systems at Redstone, consisting of CLI, VTEL, Polycom, Tandberg, PicTel (even one or two Live50's), and Sony. Most of the CLI's go upgraded to Tandberg codecs, and the PictureTel Concorde's are being upgraded to Polycom ViewStations or better, as well as some of the VTEL's. The others are being trashed as they die (did someone say dinosaur?).

I also prefer appliance based systems over PC based systems, due to the ever-changing world of PC platforms. Mr. Gates is impossible to keep up with, even on a Government Budget.....

[mazzarak]

We currently supply maintenance for some of these old whacked out Concordes, yet as you say they keep going and going. People are only now realising that they could buy a new codec for the cost of the maintenance of their old kit.

We still have Concordes, Sony 1500s, Sony PC confs, Live 200s and VS512s in our office. But then we are only providing service, not using it ourselves...

[Entropy3XD]

Originally posted by dndtech@May 5 2004, 12:02 AM
How about a CLI Rembrandt II/VP? Found one kicking around a customer site this morning. First I've ever seen. I guess it's one of the Grandaddy's of VC. Holds the door open real good now...... :o)
I have about 20 of these holding up a wall in our warehouse.