Digicom Technology News

Garth Lobban provides an overview of Extron’s latest audio products and technologies from their Audio Demo Room at the InfoComm 2010 tradeshow in Las Vegas. Highlighted are their surround sound and digital signal processing products, along with a demonstration of the powerful, intuitive software used to configure them. Also featured are the XTRA™ Series of ENERGY STAR® qualified amplifiers and the Extron exclusive, patented Flat Field® ceiling speakers. View this video by clicking here.

Modelworks, an architectural presentation company based in Blackrock, Co. Dublin launched their interactive Media Model of Dublin City at MIPIM, Cannes in March 2011. Digicom collaborated with Modelworks in recommending the ultra-thin bezel displays utilised. It has been received to great acclaim and for the video please see www.modelworks.ie

CDW which sells tech to business, government, education and health care concerns, conducted a Video Conferencing Straw Poll Report recently, finding not only that half the companies surveyed use some form of video conferencing today, but that “another quarter plan to implement the technology within the next two years.”

Within the next two years, survey officials report, “almost half of those surveyed indicate that they plan to implement immersive telepresence,” which uses high-definition, life size images to simulate an in-person meeting. It approximates “the sensation of being at the same table with users spread across multiple locations,” according to CDW officials.

This is consistent with robust interest in communications technology recently: According to TMC’s Rajani Baburajan, Unified Communications implementation rates doubled from 2010 to 2011, with 16 percent of organizations fully implemented, according to another study from CDW.

“According to 76 percent of organizations that fully implemented UC, their ROI has met or exceeded their expectations – up 5 percent since 2010,” Baburajan wrote.

Video conferencing adoption is being driven mainly by reduced operating costs, naturally, since it does cut out a great deal of business travel expense. Also cited as reasons for adopting the technology, the survey found, were “improved decision making” and “improved communication.”

The survey concluded that video conferencing will branch out beyond simple peer-to-peer devices into “more cutting-edge collaborative video conferencing systems, such as immersive telepresence.” Desktop and multisite meeting rooms are the main video conferencing tools for companies now, the survey found, adding that “IT managers show increasing interest in immersive telepresence.”

Article from TCMnet

According to figures just released by InfoSource, the office automation market data specialist, office and print solutions company Ricoh Ireland, has become the No. 1 provider of print and imaging solutions in Ireland for the first time based on its market share in 2010.

Ricoh designs, develops and manufactures a range of print and document management, hardware, software and services which they say are tailored to meet individual customer needs. Its devices print, copy, scan and fax documents as an integrated part of the IT network and enterprise content management system. Software is used to audit usage, manage
document flows, simplify business processes, control print expenditure and secure access.

Part of the global $22bn Ricoh operation, the company's strong year in Ireland saw the successful merger of IKON into a single, integrated Ricoh business. This merger resulted in a number of high profile customer wins across the commercial, higher education and public sectors, beating competitors like HP, Canon, Xerox and Kyocera. Ricoh also has a strong partner network in Ireland, including leading local distributors such as Bizquip, Digicom and KopyKat.

As Ricoh Ireland entered its new financial year on 1st April, it expects to consolidate its market leading position in the Irish market. Alan Mason, managing director, Ricoh Ireland, comments: "Our achievement of reaching first place in the Irish market for the first time is an important milestone for both the local and international business. We hope to grow market share in Ireland again this year through continued service excellence and the introduction of some very high-quality, innovative and sustainable new technologies."

Mason added: "We anticipate growth in a number of key areas, particularly for our world-class production and digital print portfolio. We are also experiencing significant growth for our managed document services which are helping customers to cut document management costs by at least 30%. This new service-oriented model is being supported by the Ricoh Group's recent investment of $300M in our global MDS infrastructure."

Article from: Irish | Dev

Cloud computing no longer pie in the sky thanks to Vodafone

Digicom are specialists in the areas of audio-visual technology and print/document management, offering an extensive range of leading brand names together with impartial advice. As independent consultants, they work closely with their clients to ensure they get the most e ffective technology option for their needs. Their goal is to deliver a value-added solution which will enhance business processes and optimise productivity and efficiency within client organisations. Established in 1997, they employ 25 people and service the length and breadth of Ireland.

Peter Fox, Director Audio Visual, describes how the company took the decision to move to cloud computing and the impact that had not just on their telecoms requirement, but the way in which the business now operates.

“We decided to make the move to cloud computing, in order to enable us to be more efficient in how we collaborate both internally and externally, and in how we deal with email etc. More than half our employees spend most of their working day out of the office and it was important that they could continue to function in a virtual office while on the road."

"To make it work though, we had to make sure that we had the right voice and data service. We talked to each of the operators and found Vodafone to be the most knowledgeable about cloud computing. They also had the most competitive voice and data tari ff. As a result, we moved our business to Vodafone in August of this year and already we’re seeing the benefi ts."

"Vodafone recommended android handsets based on their experience of cloud computing, and our employees now use them to access and update documents stored on Google Docs and their email via Gmail. The whole country is now their office as they can access everything they need during the course of the day using their phone. The result is a more efficient workforce, particularly our sales people and engineers who spend a lot of time on the road."

"The combined voice and data tariff is also delivering cost savings, although it’s too early to quantify those just yet. Vodafone has enabled us to use cloud computing to take ‘hot desking’ to a new level. We’re con dent that the knock-on benefi ts in terms of our overheads over time will be significant."

"We’re really pleased with the benefi ts so far and are already looking at ways of expanding our use of the technology to further improve productivity and reduce our cost base. Our office based people no longer need to be based in the office so there’s the potential to deploy people to other areas if needs be, and we’re now looking at developing a new cloud based CRM system which will enable the sales team to work from ‘enquiry to invoice’ without ever stepping inside the office."

Samsung's new TV panels are transparent like glass, consume 90% less energy than backlit LCDs.

Video conferencing has been around for a long time - roughly since the concept was introduced at the 1964 World's Fair -- and has often been suggested as a way to save travel costs for businesses. The problem is, with many videoconferencing systems and applications that most small business owners have seen, the quality is similar to what you might expect if you were talking to an astronaut on the Space Shuttle. Not quite a substitute for real face-to-face interaction.

The technology has made amazing leaps and has come down in price, so that most small businesses can at least consider deploying video communications for their business -- even in businesses with as few as 10 employees. Suppliers such as Polycom, Siemens, Cisco, Tandberg and others are the big names looking to encourage small businesses (under 1000 employees) to jump into telepresence.

Sue Hayden, executive vice president of video communications supplier Polycom, says the advantage of using what her company called "telepresence" (better technology needs a new vocabulary) goes beyond cutting costs through reduced travel. As important as reducing business travel costs is increasing productivity. People can "interact in a higher quality way and get more done. Visual communications allows companies of any size to meet face to face and ensure they are really productive."

So what's the difference between videoconferencing and telepresence? The latter, says Hayden, is a "high definition video experience that's crystal clear. You can see eyes blinking, people breathing. It's lifelike. It's an immersive experience." Systems today also are more flexible in terms of where they can be used. It can be from an employee's desktop computer, a conference room, or even a mobile computing tablet. Polycom says its systems are "platform independent" - a techie way of saying they go where you go.

A lot of entrepreneurial companies these days are virtual -- their employees may work from home, and they may not even have employees in the traditional sense. They may use talent across the globe with business partners and individuals who work for themselves. Telepresence systems can enable such organizations the flexibility to attract talent from anywhere in the world, knowing that true "like-being-there" communication and collaboration is possible. It's also easier to initiate telepresence contact than with videoconferencing. When individuals are part of a telepresence system, another user can "see" them online and can initiate contact, rather than having to schedule a pre-arranged meeting that employees have to log into.

Polycom has clients like a small magazine publisher with a few dozen employees, many of whom work from home; and a talent casting company with about 20 employees that's on the East Coast and can audition talent from the West Coast without having to fly them in. The technology also lends itself to fields like medical diagnostics, to give healthcare professionals the ability to share patient information remotely; and training/education, enabling organizations to offer higher quality interaction and information sharing.

Hayden says a business owner looking for a video communications system should focus on these questions:

• Is it easy to use?
• Is it affordable with a quick ROI?
• Does it have the quality and reliability that can result in productivity increases?
• Is it open standards (that is, will it work no matter what other technologies and vendor platforms are already in place)?
• Is it platform independent, able to work in any environment from a headquarters conference room to a laptop to mobile devices?

Article by Mitchell York, About.com Guide