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Videoconferencing


Overview

Increased workloads and added demands for productivity mean additional pressure for all government organizations. Videoconferencing from Verizon Conferencing can relieve some of this pressure by:

  • Reducing travel time and expense
  • Providing more flexible work arrangements for your government employees
  • Allowing you to respond more quickly in urgent or crisis situations
  • Enabling face-to-face meetings for negotiations and presentations
  • Creating effective, interactive training programs

When you subscribe to our videoconferencing services, you receive a competitive offering with scheduling, reporting, and value-added features that provide turnkey meeting solutions worldwide. And for your convenience, we provide a single toll-free number for Verizon Conferencing reservations.

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One-Stop Shopping

Face-to-face meetings are important, but the investment of time and money for travel is not always the most effective or economical decision. Verizon Conferencing offers everything you need to conduct videoconferences, including

  • Equipment. We have selected industry-leading companies to enhance our video equipment offering. Additionally, Verizon Business can also provide custom room design, engineering and implementation services to meet unique customer requirements.
  • Bridging. We can easily connect you to a single video location or multiple video locations worldwide. You can even connect to non-Verizon customers with our digital network that can be linked to other local and inter-exchange networks.
  • Network. Because the network is as critical as the video equipment itself, Verizon Business will ensure proper provisioning of either your ISDN or dedicated network.
  • Pre-sales Support. We will ensure that the equipment proposed is exactly what you need to meet your videoconferencing requirements.
  • Resources. We have our own strategic business unit focused on conferencing solutions, including sales, operations, reservations, services and support.
  • Technical Support and Troubleshooting. If you ever experience a video problem, one call to our toll free number (open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) will put you in touch with Verizon Business' technical specialists, who will troubleshoot your network connections and equipment to resolve the problem.
  • Training and Education. Our video specialists will train your staff on how to best use your videoconferencing service and equipment.
  • Project Management. We will provide you with with dedicated video project managers, who will coordinate all aspects of your video implementation.
  • Scheduling. You can arrange conferences in as little as 15 minutes through the advanced Verizon Conferencing Service Center. The toll-free reservation line is your connection to a Verizon Conferencing specialist. You can schedule the conference to begin immediately or at a future date. You can even schedule recurring conferences up to a year in advance.
  • Simplified Billing. You can easily manage videoconferencing activities and expenses with detailed, comprehensive invoices that summarize all charges, by conference and location information in an easy-to-understand format.

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Features

We provide high quality professional service at economical prices. Government organizations receive the following features with our Standard Service:

  • Easy Reservations. Simply dial 1-877-855-4797 to schedule Multipoint Calls, Point-to-Point Calls, or Gateway Calls. Online reservations are also available via the World Wide Web.
  • Dial Out. A conferencing specialist will originate the multipoint call for each participating facility. Participants can be assured that their call will be launched and available at the start of their meeting. Make your reservation and make sure your system is on. Verizon Business does the rest.
  • Technical Support. Available, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by dialing the same single toll-free number.
  • Confirmation. The individuals or groups participating in your videoconference will automatically receive confirmations, via e-mail or fax, detailing the conference subject, leader, duration, numbers to dial, and other customized information — all in an easy-to-read format.
  • Reporting. We automatically provide each facility coordinator with a Daily Schedule and Daily Reservation Activity Report, which is generated at midnight and transmitted to the contact via e-mail or fax. These reports work in unison to help facility coordinators oversee conference activity managed by Verizon Conferencing.
  • Meeting Assurance. All videoconferences are backed by a corresponding audioconference. In the unlikely event of a technical difficulty, a site may join via audio until the issue is resolved. This complementary service enables your meeting to continue as planned and on time.
  • Roll Call. The conference coordinator conducts a roll call when the meeting begins. This feature must be requested at the time of the reservation.

In addition to our Standard features, you may select from an array of additional features for your unique videoconferencing needs.

  • Transcoding. Allow participants to take part in conferences where other conference participants communicate via dissimilar codec speeds. Verizon Conferencing converts the participant's bandwidth to match those of other conference participants.
  • Enhanced Continuous Presence. View up to nine sites with our Enhanced Continuous Presence features. In addition choose from other screen configurations such as, the two square side-by-side, two square top-bottom, four square, or the five and one.
  • Audio Add-On. If conference attendees do not have videoconferencing access, Verizon Business can connect participants to the conference with an audio-only connection. Verizon Business can add an unlimited number of audioconferencing participants to expand your videoconference.

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Network and Technical Specifications

Videoconferencing uses Switched Digital Service. As a premier provider of videoconferencing, Verizon Business has the video network expertise for reliable worldwide service. Our video specialists are available to assist with your network choice for economy and reliability. ISDN, PRI, and on-net video networks are supported.

Videoconferencing from Verizon Conferencing offers easy-to-use, competitively priced services designed to appeal to customers who want inclusive video services or to customers who need occasional access to specific value-added features such as CODEC and speed conversion. These features include state-of-the-art multipoint bridging for users of H.320 services to improve network ubiquity, conference room management, and support services designed to keep our customer's videoconferencing network running smoothly.

Compression Methods (H.320 [H.261 & H.263]). H.320 is an umbrella standard developed by the International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication sector (ITU-T) that allows dissimilar videoconferencing systems and videophones to communicate with each other.

Network Management
Our videoconferencing reservations are captured through a single system called Timberline. Each video system is profiled in a common database called Commonsite, which allows reservationists worldwide to view the equipment, capabilities, and contacts for all video sites. Government entities may also:

  • Establish entity-wide standards for videoconferences
  • Establish leader preferences for videoconferences
  • Reserve recurring videoconferences
  • Create billing by host or site on an individual-call basis

In addition, the following management reports are available via e-mail or fax:

  • Daily Schedule. Provides facility coordinators with a list of all scheduled conferences for each videoconferencing room prior to each business day. This report is suitable for posting outside individual conference rooms.
  • Conference Summary. Shows entity, order type, site usage, and calls for a time period by contact/leader.

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Registration

Before you use our Videoconferencing service, you must register information about your agency and conferencing facilities on our corporate and facility profile forms. Timberline uses these profiles to reserve conferences according to your specifications. It is important that this information be correct and current. Any changes to your profile, such as new fax numbers, contact information, etc., should be reported as soon as possible to the Verizon Multimedia Center.

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Certification

After the profiles have been recorded, videoconferencing contacts can request certification, which will take approximately 20 minutes and will verify your video equipment capabilities on the Verizon network and bridges. We recommend that certification be done prior to the first videoconference; however, it can be completed at any time. During certification, test calls are initiated both from the MCU and the customer site. All applicable video protocols are tested at predetermined network speeds, in both directions. While certification is recommended to assure the highest quality of support and service, it is not required. We encourage site contacts to schedule certification at their convenience. Operations will keep track of all certification status to monitor call quality.

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Reservations

Before you call to schedule the meeting there are a few things you should know about each site.

  • Site name
  • Equipment manufacturer
  • Bandwidth for call
  • Site location (room and address where equipment is located)
  • Video equipment dialing number
  • Meeting type (Premier, Standard, or Unattended)
  • Meeting view (Voice Activated or Continuous Presence)
  • Agency internal billing code, if necessary
  • Date, start, and end time of your conference

When you schedule the call, an operator will walk you through the reservation process and will give you a confirmation number over the phone. They will also e-mail or fax you the reservation confirmation for your records.

International Toll Free Videoconferencing Reservation Access Numbers

For your convenience, toll-free access numbers are available for your use in accessing the Verizon Multimedia Center from any of the countries/cities listed below. You can use these numbers to make, modify, or cancel your videoconferencing reservations.

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Extending a Conference

To extend a Standard videoconference already in progress, a request must be made via a separate call to the Verizon Video Operations Center, providing the conference coordinator with the conference confirmation number. There is no extra charge for Conference extensions (your regular videoconferencing charges apply) and no request is ever denied.

Reservation Numbers
 
Asia-Pacific
Europe
North America
Calling from a location WITHIN a region Phone: 2802 5100
Fax: 2802 2522
FreePhone: 0800.018.24.18
Phone: 44-(0)207-950-9950
Phone: 1-800-475-5000
Fax: 1-800-857-5500
Calling from a location OUTSIDE a region

Toll free will only work if the person is calling from within each country listed
Customers outside Hong Kong
Japan - toll-free
Phone: 0066 33 800 890
Fax: 0066 33 800 893
Japan - toll
Phone: 813 5539 5100
Fax: 813 5539 5123
Singapore - toll-free
Phone: 800 852 3221
Fax: 800 852 3228
Australia - toll-free
Phone: 1800 505 020
Fax: 1800 505 010
Enquiries: 1800 505 500
Australia - toll
Phone: 61 02 8209 5100
Fax: 61 02 8209 5123
China - toll-free
Phone: 10 800 852 0421
Malaysia - toll-free
Phone: 1800 803 186
New Zealand - toll-free
Phone: 0800 443 232
Philippines - toll-free
(ETPI only)

Phone: 1800 765 8042
South Korea - toll-free
Phone: 00798 8521 2020
Fax: none
Taiwan - toll-free
Phone: 0080 85 5556
All other countries calling Hong Kong - toll
Phone: 852 2802 5100
Fax: 852 2802 2522
Customers throughout Europe, outside U.K:
The Netherlands
Phone: 0800 023 0681
Germany
Phone: 0800 800 1361
Belgium
Phone 0800 400 54
France
Phone: 0800 686 983
All other countries
Phone: 44 20 7950 9950

Customers in U.K. and Europe:
U.K. Video Reservations
FreePhone: 0800 018 24 30
Phone: 44 20 7950 9950
Customers travelling abroad, who want reach North American Centres:

Toll Call
Phone: 1-319-375-1930

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Customer Service/Video Technical Assistance

We take customer service seriously. In fact, more than one-third of our entire staff is devoted to providing outstanding support to our customers. All government organizations can be assured of around-the-clock service from our dedicated customer service team. Verizon Conferencing Customer Service can be reached toll-free at 1-877-855-4797.

For continually outstanding service, we have implemented a reliable service recovery process that provides your agency with timely follow-up and resolution of any reported problems.

Consolidated Conferencing Trouble Ticket System (CcTS)
To measure the quality of our processes and procedures, Verizon Business uses a system called Consolidated Conferencing Trouble Ticket System (CcTS). Developed with our customers in mind, CcTS is a state-of-the-art conferencing tracking system running on a clarify-based platform. A CcTS ticket is opened for each affected conference.

Affected conferences are meetings that have problems such as, delayed starts or disconnected sites. Conference specialists open tickets that describe events as they took place. Technical Support opens tickets to document any reported technical issues when contacted for testing or equipment dispatch. Technical support engineers also follow up and resolve failed certifications. The cause of failure and an action plan are documented in the CcTS.

  • The data that CcTS provides gives Verizon Business an invaluable tool for trending and analysis on the types of calls handled and the problems associated with them.
  • CcTS is designed to enable Verizon Business to continue to provide our customers with the highest level of quality control and exceptional customer service.
  • CcTS is also used to track internal issues.

Resolution may require further testing and/or dispatch to replace malfunctioning equipment/software, all of which is documented in CcTS.

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Implementation Plan

Verizon Business makes the implementation plan extremely easy, so your government organization can concentrate on your daily business activities. Implementation plans are co-developed with the customer to ensure minimal impact and maximum coordination with all parties and locations.

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