Video Conferencing Bandwidth Requirements
Do you really need to spend a lot of money for a high-broadband connection? The bandwidth requirements for video conferencing differ from one provider to the next. Whereas small video conferencing solutions rarely need a T1 connection, expensive solutions that have plenty of features such as multi-way video broadcasting are known to have need high bandwidth requirements for video conferencing.
To save on money, a customer has to match the right type of Internet connection to fulfill bandwidth requirements for his particular video conferencing solution. One has to be careful because a slow Internet connection can mean dismal performance, while an overly expensive Internet connection can mean wasting thousands of dollars for unused bandwidth. It’s wise to know the exact bandwidth requirements for video conferencing before you decide on whether you need to upgrade or not.
Video Conferencing Solutions - As Good as the Bandwidth They Use
The first thing you should do is find out the exact bandwidth requirements for the video conferencing solution you are looking at. If it seems ambiguous, go ahead and talk to your provider about it. Afterwards, browse through your Internet service provider’s roster of Internet solutions to find one that fits your needs most. It’s ok to choose a plan that is slightly more than what is needed by your video conferencing solution to ensure fast meetings.
Videoconferencing can use public telephone networks, private IP networks or even ordinary Internet connections. Common bandwidth requirements for video conferencing is high though and the bandwidth of the Internet connection has to be symmetrical (i.e., the download and upload times have to be the same).
A Lesson in Bandwidth Types
There are many bandwidth types and getting acquainted with many of them is a good thing. An AT-1 bandwidth circuit for instance provides 1.5 bit/sec symmetrical connection and is good enough for video conferencing solutions that have modest needs. Multipoint conference bandwidth on the other hand allows three or more video conferencing participants to engage in a video conference where they can see each other. Multipoint bandwidth can exist in either IP or ISDN environments, which are good for solutions that need high bandwidth requirements for video conferencing.
Multipoint conferencing products can be program-based or improved with hardware. Their configuration can provide different bandwidth types to suit the different requirements of various video conferencing solutions. For instance, bandwidth can be divided amongst various participants in a meeting. For video conferences where more than four participants are present, network-based products are best.
If you are of the opinion that your network will not be able to handle the additional traffic of various video conferencing sessions in a merged network deployment, you may have to rely on circuit switched networks. Another alternative is to deploy additional IP bandwidth capacity to fulfill the requirements of the solution. If you are having trouble determining the exact bandwidth requirements of your video conferencing solution, consider hiring a consultant to do the selecting and initial setup of the video conferencing system for you.
