Video is one of the fastest growing types of traffic on enterprise (and service provider) networks today. And while streaming video is driving the greatest total volume of growth, the most sensitive portion of video traffic is that which is part of live interactive videoconferencing. This emerging technology -- particularly when utilizing high definition video and audio, such as telepresence -- has the capacity to radically transform business communications, cutting both cost and time from work processes, saving travel expenses, and promoting more effective collaboration among workers both near and far, even across the globe. What makes videoconferencing special in the eyes of networking professionals is that in order to assure reasonable levels of real-time video and audio quality, session traffic must be assigned high priority and given preferential delivery rights over non time-critical traffic that will be sharing the network delivery infrastructure.  

In this Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) Research Report, the direct impact that videoconferencing systems and services are having on all manners of network planning, operations, and troubleshooting are examined to identify current best practices. Current levels of technology adoption are checked to provide context, and organizational responsibilities are also studied to shed light on how organizations are dealing with the technology at various stages of the lifecycle. Finally, insights are presented on how organizations have changed their management tools to accommodate videoconferencing, along with a number of case examples of relevant vendor technologies as well as direct practitioner experiences.