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Managing the Environment      
Written by yanglu   
September 27, 2008 14:55

Companies tend to make the most mistakes by not appropriately managing their video conferencing environment. The global economic environment has changed since then, but we do not see Chile's strong economic position as being greatly affected. The recovery from the unexpected slowdown in the third quarter of last year remains broad based. And we believe growth will reach close to 6 percent in 2007 and remain around the potential rate of 5 percent next year. Let me close with a brief discussion of structural reform. Chile is already an example for structural policies in many areas, resulting in an enviable record of growth and considerable success in reducing poverty.

Planned reforms of the pension and education systems will further strengthen the foundations for long-term growth while also addressing key social concerns. Likewise, we welcome the creation of the President's Commission on Labor Market Issues and Social Equity, as we see scope for improving labor market flexibility and also reducing labor informality. Last but not least, we remain impressed by the speed with which the financial sector in Chile has developed. Past reforms have already created a vibrant market that is increasingly integrated with the rest of the world. Planned reforms, such as the liberalization of investment rules for pension funds, should further enhance the effectiveness of markets, raise returns to pensioners and savers, and provide improved access to financing for entrepreneurs, large and small.

I should probably also mention that what you're now seeing in terms of the documents, the staff report and accompanying selected issues paper have been provided to the Board for the discussion of the Article IV Consultation back in July. The outcome of that discussion was contained in the PIN, in the Public Information Notice, that has already been published on the IMF's Web site, but now we are releasing the report. And these reports are somewhat shorter than in recent years, because we have done what the Fund called a streamlined consultation, which means that we have used somewhat fewer resources than in the past because of the absence of any systemic issues in Chile and the continued excellent performance of the Chilean economy. A phone made specifically for conference calls.

A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than one called party listen in to the audio portion of the call. The conference calls may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call, or the call may be set up so that the called party merely listens into the call and cannot speak. It is often referred to as an ATC (Audio Tele-Conference). Conference calls can be designed so that the calling party calls the other participants and adds them to the call. In most cases, the participants are able call into the conference call themselves, by dialing into a special telephone number that connects to a "conference bridge" (a specialized type of equipment that links telephone lines). Usually, most companies use a specialized service provider who maintains the conference bridge, or who provides the phone numbers and PIN codes that participants dial to access the meeting or conference call. Three-way calling is available (usually at an extra charge) for most customers on their home or office phone line. To three way call, the first person one wishes to talk to is dialed. Then the Hook flash button is pressed and the other person's phone number is dialed. While it is ringing, flash is pressed again. This will put the three people together. This option allows callers to add a second outgoing call to an already connected call. This means they are not managing the users, the rooms, the end points, the network, or the video infrastructure. If your video systems are in meeting rooms, those are often scheduled resources. For these calls to be successful you will need to:

Manage the user - This is best achieved with a web scheduling tool so that video conferencing is fully automated and made simple.

Manage the room - Whether it's a simple room for two people or a big auditorium, you need the right room with audio visual equipment that corresponds with the room's size. A small room requires a small system, and a large board room may require a fully integrated AV solution. Or, if you want a multi-purpose room to also show DVDs and presentations, you may need a multi-purpose system to effectively manage that room.

Manage the endpoints - To ensure the system is working when you need it to, you need an advanced video management system to watch your solution 24/7. This system should provide proactive monitoring of the endpoints and fully automatic point-to-point or multipoint call launching.

Manage the networks - A Video conference is unique because it is bi-directional and real-time. It doesn't function well with networks that suffer from packet loss or jitter. If you are running at standard definition, you may be able to get away with limited control of the network. However, now more companies are choosing high-definition video conferencing, and the network piece is becoming even more important. If the network isn't designed and architected to run scalable, reliable, and secure video conferencing then you may face performance issues.

Manage the infrastructure - The following comprises the video infrastructure; gatekeepers, gateways, video bridges, firewall traversal systems, video management systems, and video scheduling systems. The mistakes companies often make is not managing all of these components - only some - and the end result is that their meetings aren't successful. For example, many organisations say "We have a great network and that's all that we need," and they buy endpoints. But the video system is not often used, so they do not show return on their investment. Typically this is because the other components that are key to running successful video meetings have not been addressed.