Videoconferencing

qas: question: In what decade was digital telephony transmission made possible?
answers: text: the 1980s

question: What is the minimum bit rate for compressed video and audio transmission?
answers: text: 128 kilobits/s

question: What is an example of an early form of digital video and audio communication?
answers: text: the Media space

question: In what form did the first dedicated videoconferencing system appear as?
answers: text: ISDN networks

question: What company offered the first commercial videoconferencing system?
answers: text: PictureTel Corp.

question: When did video and audio transmission come into being?

question: In November, 1984, what else was being researched?

question: What other minimum bit rate is not as widely used as videoconferencing?

question: What started to appear as the Media space was expanding world wide?

question: Where did the first compressed video transmission that was sold sold come from?
context: It was only in the 1980s that digital telephony transmission networks became possible, such as with ISDN networks, assuring a minimum bit rate (usually 128 kilobits/s) for compressed video and audio transmission. During this time, there was also research into other forms of digital video and audio communication. Many of these technologies, such as the Media space, are not as widely used today as videoconferencing but were still an important area of research. The first dedicated systems started to appear in the market as ISDN networks were expanding throughout the world. One of the first commercial videoconferencing systems sold to companies came from PictureTel Corp., which had an Initial Public Offering in November, 1984.

qas: question: What controls the conferencing while its active on the signaling plane?
answers: text: The MC

question: Where does the videoconferencing system manage conferencing creation?
answers: text: the signaling plane

question: What is one example of what the signaling plane controls in a videoconferencing system?
answers: text: endpoint signaling

question: On what plane does the MC operate?
answers: text: the media plane

question: What generates output streams from each endpoint?
answers: text: The MP

question: What does the MP control while active on the signaling plane?

question: Where does the system manage output streams while it is active?

question: What does the MC receive from in-conferencing controls?

question: What does the signaling plane do with information in a conference?

question: What signaling negotiations does the MP operate on?
context: The MC controls the conferencing while it is active on the signaling plane, which is simply where the system manages conferencing creation, endpoint signaling and in-conferencing controls. This component negotiates parameters with every endpoint in the network and controls conferencing resources. While the MC controls resources and signaling negotiations, the MP operates on the media plane and receives media from each endpoint. The MP generates output streams from each endpoint and redirects the information to other endpoints in the conference.

qas: question: What technology has become more widely available and affordable?
answers: text: High speed Internet connectivity

question: What is an example of a personal videoconferencing system tool?
answers: text: webcam

question: What has made videoconferencing accessible to many?
answers: text: The availability of freeware

question: Videoconferencing freeware is widely available in what programs?
answers: text: chat programs

question: What has become more available as the availability of freeware has decreased?

question: What has having access to a webcam done for videoconferencing?

question: What has happened after internet connectivity for technology has improved?

question: What type of programs is video capture usually a part of?

question: What has made high speed internet accessible to many?
context: High speed Internet connectivity has become more widely available at a reasonable cost and the cost of video capture and display technology has decreased. Consequently, personal videoconferencing systems based on a webcam, personal computer system, software compression and broadband Internet connectivity have become affordable to the general public. Also, the hardware used for this technology has continued to improve in quality, and prices have dropped dramatically. The availability of freeware (often as part of chat programs) has made software based videoconferencing accessible to many.

qas: question: Videophone calls are different from videoconferencing in what way?
answers: text: serve individuals, not groups

question: What is an example of a videophone call program?
answers: text: Skype

question: What term is more used today to refer to calls between two units?
answers: text: videoconferencing

question: What are videoconferencing calls now more commonly known as?
answers: text: a video link

question: What is another name for videophone calls?
answers: text: video chat

question: What technology serves sophisticated software clients and not groups?

question: How does increased bandwidth differ from point-to-point calls?

question: What is an example of a teleconferencing program?

question: What are software clients and multiple parties commonly called?

question: What type of call is another name for point-to-point chat?
context: Videophone calls (also: videocalls, video chat as well as Skype and Skyping in verb form), differ from videoconferencing in that they expect to serve individuals, not groups. However that distinction has become increasingly blurred with technology improvements such as increased bandwidth and sophisticated software clients that can allow for multiple parties on a call. In general everyday usage the term videoconferencing is now frequently used instead of videocall for point-to-point calls between two units. Both videophone calls and videoconferencing are also now commonly referred to as a video link.

qas: question: In what decade did developers extend the capabilities of videoconferencing to more devices?
answers: text: the 2010s

question: What allows people in remote locations the ability to video-conference with colleagues far away?
answers: text: Mobile collaboration systems

question: What is one example of an application that videoconferencing manufacturers have begun to offer?
answers: text: still image streaming

question: What type of applications have videoconferencing manufacturers begun to offer?
answers: text: mobile

question: What is an example of a place that videoconferencing can be used today?
answers: text: hand-held mobile devices

question: What have moblie collaboration system manufacturers provided?

question: What has the use of video done in the 2010's?

question: What is one type of application that mobile collaboration manufacturers offer?

question: What have videoconferencing developers created for use with off shore oil rigs?

question: What does still image streaming allow?
context: Technological developments by videoconferencing developers in the 2010s have extended the capabilities of video conferencing systems beyond the boardroom for use with hand-held mobile devices that combine the use of video, audio and on-screen drawing capabilities broadcasting in real-time over secure networks, independent of location. Mobile collaboration systems now allow multiple people in previously unreachable locations, such as workers on an off-shore oil rig, the ability to view and discuss issues with colleagues thousands of miles away. Traditional videoconferencing system manufacturers have begun providing mobile applications as well, such as those that allow for live and still image streaming.

qas: question: What can videoconferencing offer students?
answers: text: participating in two-way communication forums

question: Who can benefit from two-way communication forums?
answers: text: students

question: What is a major barrier to videoconferencing between some communities?
answers: text: language

question: What is one example of how students can benefit from videoconferencing?
answers: text: virtual field trips

question: What is one experience that students using videoconferencing can achieve?
answers: text: visit museums

question: What do geographically isolated areas provide to students?

question: Who can  be brought to small schools to help students learn?

question: What will persist when teachers and lecturers are brought together?

question: What can students do through geographically isolated locations

question: Who can learn from foreign language forums?
context: Videoconferencing provides students with the opportunity to learn by participating in two-way communication forums. Furthermore, teachers and lecturers worldwide can be brought to remote or otherwise isolated educational facilities. Students from diverse communities and backgrounds can come together to learn about one another, although language barriers will continue to persist. Such students are able to explore, communicate, analyze and share information and ideas with one another. Through videoconferencing, students can visit other parts of the world to speak with their peers, and visit museums and educational facilities. Such virtual field trips can provide enriched learning opportunities to students, especially those in geographically isolated locations, and to the economically disadvantaged. Small schools can use these technologies to pool resources and provide courses, such as in foreign languages, which could not otherwise be offered.

qas: question: What company introduced the first device to help deaf people communicate through telecommunications?
answers: text: AT&T

question: What was the name of AT&T's videophone device?
answers: text: Picturephone

question: In what year was AT&T's "Picturephone" device introduced?
answers: text: 1964

question: Where was AT&T's "Picturephone" device unveiled?
answers: text: 1964 New York World's Fair

question: In what decade were more efficient ways of using sign language via video-telephony developed?
answers: text: 1990s

question: Where was the Picturephone introduced in the 1990's?

question: Where were universities able to communicate with each other at the fair?

question: What organization conducted research on ISDN phone lines?

question: How were video codecs hampered for years?

question: What was introduced to make extensive research easier over video telephony?
context: One of the first demonstrations of the ability for telecommunications to help sign language users communicate with each other occurred when AT&T's videophone (trademarked as the "Picturephone") was introduced to the public at the 1964 New York World's Fair –two deaf users were able to communicate freely with each other between the fair and another city. Various universities and other organizations, including British Telecom's Martlesham facility, have also conducted extensive research on signing via videotelephony. The use of sign language via videotelephony was hampered for many years due to the difficulty of its use over slow analogue copper phone lines, coupled with the high cost of better quality ISDN (data) phone lines. Those factors largely disappeared with the introduction of more efficient video codecs and the advent of lower cost high-speed ISDN data and IP (Internet) services in the 1990s.

qas: question: In what industry has videoconferencing become useful?
answers: text: film

question: On what film was videoconferencing widely used?
answers: text: Frozen

question: What year was the movie Frozen released?
answers: text: 2013

question: In what city were the songwriting team of Frozen located?
answers: text: New York City

question: How many months did the songwriters work on the movie via videoconferencing?
answers: text: 14

question: How has videoconferencing become useful in the songwriting industry?

question: In what industry has using different locations become useful?

question: In what year was the film industry globalized?

question: How long did songwriters work in different locations through videoconferencing?

question: On what movie were complex details of film production used?
context: In the increasingly globalized film industry, videoconferencing has become useful as a method by which creative talent in many different locations can collaborate closely on the complex details of film production. For example, for the 2013 award-winning animated film Frozen, Burbank-based Walt Disney Animation Studios hired the New York City-based husband-and-wife songwriting team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez to write the songs, which required two-hour-long transcontinental videoconferences nearly every weekday for about 14 months.

qas: question: What is a video-conference also known as?
answers: text: videoteleconference

question: What does a video-conference use that allows communication in live situations?
answers: text: a multipoint control unit

question: What is a multi-point control unit?
answers: text: call management system

question: How does video-conferencing allow multiple parties to communicate with each other?
answers: text: web-based applications

question: How many locations can one use videoconferencing for?
answers: text: two or more

question: What is a web-based application more expensive than?

question: How does a videophone allow live communication?

question: What is a videophone also known as?

question: How many locations can you use a videophone in?

question: What have videophones allowed by going around traditional definitions?
context: A videoconference system is generally higher cost than a videophone and deploys greater capabilities. A videoconference (also known as a videoteleconference) allows two or more locations to communicate via live, simultaneous two-way video and audio transmissions. This is often accomplished by the use of a multipoint control unit (a centralized distribution and call management system) or by a similar non-centralized multipoint capability embedded in each videoconferencing unit. Again, technology improvements have circumvented traditional definitions by allowing multiple party videoconferencing via web-based applications.

qas: question: What is one area where teleconferencing could not be used?
answers: text: telemedicine

question: Who developed the first systems to transmit slow-scan video?
answers: text: AT&T Corporation

question: When was the first slow-scan video systems researched?
answers: text: the 1950s

question: What was the bit rate of AT&T's Picturephone?
answers: text: 6 Mbit/s

question: What was the bandwidth of AT&T's Picturephone?
answers: text: 1 MHz

question: Who developed the first system to transmit distance education?

question: In what area could business meetings not be used?

question: Why did using business meetings to transmit slow-scan video fail?

question: In the 1950's why did the Picturephone not become a success?

question: How many telephony networks were there in the world?
context: This technique was very expensive, though, and could not be used for applications such as telemedicine, distance education, and business meetings. Attempts at using normal telephony networks to transmit slow-scan video, such as the first systems developed by AT&T Corporation, first researched in the 1950s, failed mostly due to the poor picture quality and the lack of efficient video compression techniques. The greater 1 MHz bandwidth and 6 Mbit/s bit rate of the Picturephone in the 1970s also did not achieve commercial success, mostly due to its high cost, but also due to a lack of network effect —with only a few hundred Picturephones in the world, users had extremely few contacts they could actually call to, and interoperability with other videophone systems would not exist for decades.

qas: question: What year did one the first community service usages of videoconferencing take place?
answers: text: 1992

question: What company helped in the creation of community service videoconferencing?
answers: text: IBM

question: What is the videoconferencing product that both IBM and PictureTel worked on?
answers: text: PCS/1

question: What does DIANE in Project DIANE stand for?
answers: text: Diversified Information and Assistance Network

question: How many years did it take for Project DIANE to grow?
answers: text: 15

question: Where was distance education first used?

question: What was first used  in neighborhood centers?

question: What did a partnership between libraries and science museums promote in 1992?

question: In 1992 what are two places that were part of the PictureTel network?

question: What did IBM Corporations grow to create over the next 15 years?
context: While videoconferencing technology was initially used primarily within internal corporate communication networks, one of the first community service usages of the technology started in 1992 through a unique partnership with PictureTel and IBM Corporations which at the time were promoting a jointly developed desktop based videoconferencing product known as the PCS/1. Over the next 15 years, Project DIANE (Diversified Information and Assistance Network) grew to utilize a variety of videoconferencing platforms to create a multi-state cooperative public service and distance education network consisting of several hundred schools, neighborhood centers, libraries, science museums, zoos and parks, public assistance centers, and other community oriented organizations.

qas: question: What enables videoconferencing to connect three or more remote points?
answers: text: Multipoint Control Unit (MCU)

question: What is one type of MCU bridge?
answers: text: IP

question: In what way can an MCU be characterized?
answers: text: the number of simultaneous calls it can handle

question: What feature enables an MCU to allow for multiple parties to be seen on screen at the same time?
answers: text: Continuous Presence

question: Where can an MCU be embedded?
answers: text: dedicated videoconferencing units

question: What makes videoconferencing between Continuous Presence possible?

question: What is one thing that characterizes an ISDN?

question: What feature lets more than one person participate in sequence?

question: What are remote points made of?

question: What is one type of simultaneous call that acts as a bridge?
context: Simultaneous videoconferencing among three or more remote points is possible by means of a Multipoint Control Unit (MCU). This is a bridge that interconnects calls from several sources (in a similar way to the audio conference call). All parties call the MCU, or the MCU can also call the parties which are going to participate, in sequence. There are MCU bridges for IP and ISDN-based videoconferencing. There are MCUs which are pure software, and others which are a combination of hardware and software. An MCU is characterised according to the number of simultaneous calls it can handle, its ability to conduct transposing of data rates and protocols, and features such as Continuous Presence, in which multiple parties can be seen on-screen at once. MCUs can be stand-alone hardware devices, or they can be embedded into dedicated videoconferencing units.

qas: question: In what one way can videoconferencing help a person?
answers: text: money savings

question: What technology can be used along with videoconferencing?
answers: text: VoIP

question: What is another use of VoIP?
answers: text: telecommuting

question: What is telecommuting?
answers: text: work from home

question: What is the percentage of people who use videoconferencing a majority of the time?
answers: text: 54%

question: What can time savings help people do?

question: What are face-to-face business meetings also used for?

question: What did a report based on money savings show?

question: As of June 2010 what  percentage of telecommuters used the technology frequently?

question: What are low-cost meetings also used for?
context: Videoconferencing can enable individuals in distant locations to participate in meetings on short notice, with time and money savings. Technology such as VoIP can be used in conjunction with desktop videoconferencing to enable low-cost face-to-face business meetings without leaving the desk, especially for businesses with widespread offices. The technology is also used for telecommuting, in which employees work from home. One research report based on a sampling of 1,800 corporate employees showed that, as of June 2010, 54% of the respondents with access to video conferencing used it “all of the time” or “frequently”.

qas: question: In what decade was Internet video-conferencing made possible?
answers: text: 1990s

question: In what device was videoconferencing finally able to be used in?
answers: text: desktop

question: In what year was CU-SeeMe, a desktop-based videoconferencing tool, developed?
answers: text: 1992

question: In what year did the first public video-conference take place?
answers: text: 1995

question: What South African city participated in the first public video-conference?
answers: text: Cape Town

question: What was developed at Cornell by Seiji Ozawa?

question: When did the CU-SeeMee take place that linked San Francisco and Captown?

question: What happened at a technofair in Nagano, Japan in real time?

question: What became possible that allowed the Winter Olympics opening ceremony to happen?

question: When did Nagano Japan take part in the first public video-conference linking two continents?
context: Finally, in the 1990s, Internet Protocol-based videoconferencing became possible, and more efficient video compression technologies were developed, permitting desktop, or personal computer (PC)-based videoconferencing. In 1992 CU-SeeMe was developed at Cornell by Tim Dorcey et al. In 1995 the first public videoconference between North America and Africa took place, linking a technofair in San Francisco with a techno-rave and cyberdeli in Cape Town. At the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Nagano, Japan, Seiji Ozawa conducted the Ode to Joy from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony simultaneously across five continents in near-real time.

qas: question: What is the software that performs audio and/or video compression?
answers: text: a codec (coder/decoder)

question: How high can compression rates go?
answers: text: 1:500

question: What is one digital network through which a digital stream can be transmitted?
answers: text: IP

question: What does POTS stand for?
answers: text: Plain Old Telephone System

question: What do POTS do?
answers: text: convert the digital pulses to/from analog waves

question: What is the core digital network used in a videoconferencing system?

question: What is the low speed application that performs compression?

question: How high can audio modems go?

question: What is transmitted through low speed applications of some kind?

question: What does an ISDN convert in the audio spectrum range?
context: The core technology used in a videoconferencing system is digital compression of audio and video streams in real time. The hardware or software that performs compression is called a codec (coder/decoder). Compression rates of up to 1:500 can be achieved. The resulting digital stream of 1s and 0s is subdivided into labeled packets, which are then transmitted through a digital network of some kind (usually ISDN or IP). The use of audio modems in the transmission line allow for the use of POTS, or the Plain Old Telephone System, in some low-speed applications, such as videotelephony, because they convert the digital pulses to/from analog waves in the audio spectrum range.

qas: question: What profession utilizes videoconferencing technology to conduct online sessions?
answers: text: teachers

question: What is one way that videocalling can be used?
answers: text: personal videocalls to inmates

question: What is a common use of conferencing technology?
answers: text: tele-medical

question: What is one common use of tele-medical technology?

question: What is one way businesses can conduct online sessions?

question: What can diagnostic services resolve at maintenance facilities?

question: How often is the def Video Relay Service evolving?

question: What services do inmates incarcerated in penitentiaries use?
context: Typical use of the various technologies described above include calling or conferencing on a one-on-one, one-to-many or many-to-many basis for personal, business, educational, deaf Video Relay Service and tele-medical, diagnostic and rehabilitative use or services. New services utilizing videocalling and videoconferencing, such as teachers and psychologists conducting online sessions, personal videocalls to inmates incarcerated in penitentiaries, and videoconferencing to resolve airline engineering issues at maintenance facilities, are being created or evolving on an ongoing basis.

qas: question: What is one way that videoconferencing is useful?
answers: text: real-time telemedicine

question: What areas benefit especially from videoconferencing? 
answers: text: Rural

question: In what US state did a rural area use videoconferencing to help reduce the number of transfers of sick infants to hospitals? 
answers: text: Ohio

question: How far away was the hospital from this rural area?
answers: text: 70 miles

question: How much money did videoconferencing help this rural area save?
answers: text: $10,000 per transfer

question: What areas make contacting nurses more streamlined?

question: How much did it cost to contact a doctor in rural Ohio?

question: Where did a medical center use transmission of medical images to cut costs?

question: How far away was the doctor from the rural area in Ohio?

question: What allows medical centers to discuss cases across large distances?
context: Videoconferencing is a highly useful technology for real-time telemedicine and telenursing applications, such as diagnosis, consulting, transmission of medical images, etc... With videoconferencing, patients may contact nurses and physicians in emergency or routine situations; physicians and other paramedical professionals can discuss cases across large distances. Rural areas can use this technology for diagnostic purposes, thus saving lives and making more efficient use of health care money. For example, a rural medical center in Ohio, United States, used videoconferencing to successfully cut the number of transfers of sick infants to a hospital 70 miles (110 km) away. This had previously cost nearly $10,000 per transfer.

qas: question: In what European country has VRS services become well developed?
answers: text: Sweden

question: What is one of the reasons why VRS services are not in most European countries?
answers: text: financing

question: What European country is a leader in providing VRS services to its citizens?
answers: text: Germany

question: What country is a world leader in providing VRS services?
answers: text: United States

question: What has become developed in Germany since 1997?

question: What has the European Union become a world leader in providing?

question: Why are VRS services not in the United States?

question: For how long has Germany offered VRS services since the 2000's?

question: Where has legislation and financing become well developed in Europe?
context: VRS services have become well developed nationally in Sweden since 1997 and also in the United States since the first decade of the 2000s. With the exception of Sweden, VRS has been provided in Europe for only a few years since the mid-2000s, and as of 2010 has not been made available in many European Union countries, with most European countries still lacking the legislation or the financing for large-scale VRS services, and to provide the necessary telecommunication equipment to deaf users. Germany and the Nordic countries are among the other leaders in Europe, while the United States is another world leader in the provisioning of VRS services.

qas: question: What year was the first HD video conferencing system displayed?
answers: text: 2005

question: Who produced the first high definition video conferencing system?
answers: text: LifeSize Communications

question: Where was the first HD video conferencing system displayed?
answers: text: Las Vegas, Nevada

question: What company introduced the first HD video conferencing system to the general market?
answers: text: Polycom

question: What was the resolution of the first HD video conferencing system?
answers: text: 1280 by 720

question: In 2006, what was produced by Lifesize Comunications?

question: Where was Polycom displayed in May 2005?

question: What did LifeSize Communications introduce in 2006?

question: When did Interlop become a popular feature?

question: What did most suppliers in the display resolution market offer in the 2010's?
context: In May 2005, the first high definition video conferencing systems, produced by LifeSize Communications, were displayed at the Interop trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, able to provide video at 30 frames per second with a 1280 by 720 display resolution. Polycom introduced its first high definition video conferencing system to the market in 2006. As of the 2010s, high definition resolution for videoconferencing became a popular feature, with most major suppliers in the videoconferencing market offering it.

qas: question: What do systems with no MCU use in order to perform multipoint conferencing?
answers: text: a standards-based H.323 technique

question: What is one advantage of using an H.323 technique?
answers: text: higher quality

question: What is one disadvantage of using the H.323 technique?
answers: text: increased network bandwidth

question: What is the H.323 technique also known as?
answers: text: decentralized multipoint

question: Why is the video and audio of the H.323 technique higher quality?
answers: text: they don't have to be relayed through a central point

question: What is capable of multipoint conferencing without the H.323 technique?

question: What technique is used that transmits to an MCU?

question: What is a main disadvantage of using an MCU technique?

question: What do systems that use an MCU, use for video conferencing?

question: What are the advantages of using ad-hoc multipoint calls?
context: Some systems are capable of multipoint conferencing with no MCU, stand-alone, embedded or otherwise. These use a standards-based H.323 technique known as "decentralized multipoint", where each station in a multipoint call exchanges video and audio directly with the other stations with no central "manager" or other bottleneck. The advantages of this technique are that the video and audio will generally be of higher quality because they don't have to be relayed through a central point. Also, users can make ad-hoc multipoint calls without any concern for the availability or control of an MCU. This added convenience and quality comes at the expense of some increased network bandwidth, because every station must transmit to every other station directly.

qas: question: Who has the world's largest administrative judicial system?
answers: text: U.S.

question: What US Department oversees the World's largest administrative judicial system?
answers: text: Social Security Administration (SSA)

question: In what year did the SSA see a 55% increase in videoconferenced hearings?
answers: text: 2009

question: When did the SSA open its largest videoconferencing-only center?
answers: text: August 2010

question: Where is the SSA's fifth videoconferencing only center located?
answers: text: St. Louis, Missouri

question: In 2010 how many hearings did the U.S. SSA conduct?

question: What did the ODAR do to clear its hearing backlog in August 2010?

question: In what locations has the ODAR opened NHC's since 2007?

question: By what percentage did the SSA's hearing backlog increase in 2009?

question: What does the NHC oversee under its ODAR?
context: The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA), which oversees the world's largest administrative judicial system under its Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), has made extensive use of videoconferencing to conduct hearings at remote locations. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) conducted 86,320 videoconferenced hearings, a 55% increase over FY 2008. In August 2010, the SSA opened its fifth and largest videoconferencing-only National Hearing Center (NHC), in St. Louis, Missouri. This continues the SSA's effort to use video hearings as a means to clear its substantial hearing backlog. Since 2007, the SSA has also established NHCs in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Baltimore, Maryland, Falls Church, Virginia, and Chicago, Illinois.