With the onset of the digital network era, the network economy is replacing the traditional economy. Enterprises, especially in large companies. the main expectations are to shorten the product launching time, improve services provided to the users and reduce expenses on business trips by using more advanced communication systems.

Overview

\The rapid progress in the economy has greatly improved the living conditions of people. Communication between individuals and enterprises is more frequent in a broader range. People are not satisfied merely with voice and data services. They demand better communication modes. Going by the overall trend of globalization where commercial competition becomes increasingly fierce, enterprises and even countries must find a more advanced communication mode to increase their efficiency, respond to changes more quickly and thus keep in pace with the competition in the industry.

Since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the international environment for domestic enterprises has become more complex. The competition has become fiercer. Therefore, enterprises need more convenient communication modes to exchange information with enterprises in other countries/areas. There is also an imminent need to manage information efficiently. After the 9.11 event in America, people are increasingly concerned about transportation security. Therefore, a large part of all communication needs will be fulfilled by videoconferencing systems. This situation calls for a more advanced videoconferencing service, as the traditional communication systems cannot satisfy the present day needs. The videoconferencing service can enable people to communicate in the "face-to-face" mode even if they are thousands of miles apart. Because of this new need for communication and thanks to the broadband development, the videoconferencing (multimedia) service, being one of the three basic communication services of the future, draws more attention and thrives in every walk of life.

Currently, every aspect of life has great demands on the videoconferencing service.

• The Government requires governmental departments and industrial departments to increase their work efficiency by constructing and using their own information network and automated office system. The videoconferencing service is one of the major contents, used for remote administrative meetings, directing/scheduling, and training.
  
• With nationalization and globalization trends, each enterprise has to build its own videoconferencing system to coordinate and manage the operation of its branches more effectively, and to provide efficient communication means to the branches.
  
• To make communication between/among enterprises as convenient as those within one enterprise, a third party (such as a communication service carrier) needs to provide a uniform videoconferencing service platform.
  
• To develop nationwide education and professional trainings at different levels, the education department needs to build a remote education network. It is believed that education in the 21st century will be open learning through online (or computer-based) education. The videoconferencing service will be a major factor allowing the implementation of remote education. The State Bureau of Education has decided to invest 18 billion Yuan RMB to construct a remote education network. 
  
•  With the decrease in the network cost, more users can use broadband network resources. Users are not merely satisfied with voice and data services. They require more videoconferencing services that enable them to interact with each other.

Therefore, enterprises increasingly emphasize on how to build a multimedia communication network that integrates voice, data and videoconferencing services on a single data network, to satisfy versatile communication requirements of enterprises. It is also the focus of enterprise communication construction in the recent two years.

Huawei ViewPoint MeNet Multimedia Communication Solution

As one of the telecommunications equipment vendors with the most diverse product lines, Huawei has many outstanding advantages in providing complete solutions to satisfy the multimedia communication service demands of various enterprises. Coordinating its joint strengths in data communications, transmission and multimedia products, Huawei proposed the ViewPoint MeNet Multimedia Communication Solution (hereinafter referred to as ViewPoint MeNet Solution), which thoroughly satisfies versatile communication demands of enterprises. The ViewPoint MeNet Solution provides various services such as video conference, conference call, videophone, IP telephony, PC to Phone and streaming service. Using the ViewPoint MeNet Solution, an enterprise can construct the following networks:

• A videoconferencing network, enabling multipoint video communications and multimedia conferences.
  
• An IP telephony intranet, which can also interwork with PSTN phones.
  
• A conference call network, enabling multipoint conference calls.
  
• A video telephone network, enabling point-to-point video communication.
  
• A co-working network, enabling multipoint data sharing, online modification and reviewing.
  
• A streaming network, enabling live broadcasting, storage or on-demand of video conferences or conference calls. The streaming network can be used as the live broadcasting system and storage system for enterprise communications, and also the bulletin board, training platform and entertainment platform for enterprises/staff by using the video on demand (VOD) technology.

The following figure shows the networking of the Huawei ViewPoint MeNet Solution. 
   

As shown in the above figure, the Huawei ViewPoint MeNet Solution consists of four layers. They also consist of the following devices.

I.Management layer

Devices on this layer mainly manage, schedule and control various services. They also configure and manage the network devices.

• ViewPoint vBill Accounting and Billing System
• ResourceManager (Multipoint Resource Management Center)
• ScheduleWeb (Service Reservation Center)
• ViewPoint StreamManager (Streaming Management Center)
• SwitchManager (Network Control Console)
• iManager (Network Management Center)

II. Network layer

• ViewPoint SwitchCentre (network control center) manages calls between network nodes and the registration process, controls the switching process for point-to-point communication, and enables IP phone and videophone services.
  
• ViewPoint MediaCentre (broadband videoconferencing switching platform) provides services such as multipoint video conference, multipoint conference call and mixed conference.
  
• ViewPoint 8620/8620E (integrated videoconferencing switching platform).
  
• ViewPoint DataCentre (data service platform) provides the data service required in enterprise co-working.
  
• ViewPoint StreamCentre (streaming service platform) cooperates with the videoconferencing switching platform to provide automated conference live broadcasting, storage and on-demand services.
  
• ViewPoint Presence Server (online service platform).
  
• Quidway Eudemon 100 Multimedia Service Gateway provides a NAT/firewall traversal and security solution for the videoconferencing service.
  
• Quidway A8010/R3640/R3680 series gateways cooperate with the Network Control Center to enable interworking of IP phones and PSTN phones,. It also cooperates with the Videoconferencing Switching Platform to enable PSTN phone access in video conferences and conference calls.

III. Switching layer

Devices on this layer provide interfaces to third-party systems to enable service reservation, scheduling, authentication and accounting. Using the interfaces, customers can enhance the system by themselves, to integrate with their existing Office Automated (OA) Group Systems. In this way, customers can enable conference reservation through their enterprise office platform, simplifying the service provisioning.

• ViewPoint MediaCentre (Broadband Videoconferencing Switching Platform)
• ViewPoint 8620/8620E (Integrated Videoconferencing Switching Platform)

IV. User layer

• ViewPoint8020plus series videoconferencing terminals and ViewPoint8030mBox series videoconferencing terminals provide various interfaces such as E1, ISDN, V35 and IP. The series terminals can be applied in conference rooms of different sizes, providing diversified solutions to customers.
  
• ViewPoint8220 Broadband Video Phone and ViewPoint OpenEye Desktop (software) Videoconferencing Terminals are developed for enterprise users to enjoy multimedia communication on desktop. They are not mere terminals that can join in video conferences. They are multimedia terminals enabling various services, including point-to-point video communication, IP telephony, streaming, data conference, online directory service and various value-added services like call forwarding. In addition, the OpenEye can enable PSTN phone access to implement IP telephony on ordinary PSTN phones. In this way, it is convenient to add services on the existing network.

Huawei ViewPoint MeNet Multimedia Communication Solution for enterprises is mainly based on the intra broadband IP network of the enterprise. Except the terminals in branches that access through E1/ISDN/V.35 lines, all other services are implemented on the intra broadband IP network of the enterprise.

Providing complete network devices and diversified terminals, ViewPoint MeNet Solution brings enterprises into a whole new world of network communication.

Features of ViewPoint MeNet Solution

Huawei ViewPoint MeNet Multimedia Communication System can provide the following solutions:

• Videoconferencing service solution
• IP telephony solution and interworking of IP phones and PSTN phones 
• Coordinated working solution
• Conference call service solution
• Streaming service solution

The solutions mentioned above can be implemented separately or all together. Enterprises can select them according to the actual needs. Huawei ViewPoint MeNet Multimedia Communication System has an excellent scalability, which enables function expansion smoothly. Therefore, any function can be added to the enterprise communication network freely. Each component in the network also provides flexibilities of module overlaying, centralized management and scheduling. The same is to satisfy the multimedia communication requirements of different capacities.

ViewPoint MeNet Solution has the following features:

• Providing multiple services on a single network.

With as much money as invested in traditional videoconferencing service provisioning, this solution provides four types of functions: video conference, desktop videoconferencing communication, narrowband voice communication and multimedia service. Therefore, it can provide services such as video conferencing, conference call, videophone, VoIP, PC to Phone, online service, data conference, and streaming (live broadcast, storage and on-demand). In addition, Huawei can provide one-stop device maintenance and after-sales services with its expertise in transmission, data communication and multimedia.

• Providing multiple services through intelligent terminals.

All services can be implemented on diversified videoconferencing terminals. The terminals are highly integrated so that the investment in the terminals is reduced greatly. In this way, the enterprise users can use them easily and conveniently.

ViewPoint MeNet Solution has the following advantages: 

• Complete solution: A single network can basically satisfy all the needs of multimedia communication of the enterprises.
  Minimum investment: It is not necessary to invest in multiple systems. 
  
• Complete internal communications: An IP telephony intranet is set up to cover the whole enterprise and all the branches, with minimum investment and outstanding benefits.
  
• Automated services: ViewPoint MeNet Solution provides an automated service mode, so that conference holding, control and streaming live broadcasting can be performed on terminals. The services are as simple as making a telephone call.
  
• Integrated services: A single videoconferencing terminal can provide desktop video communication, video conferences, IP telephony and data conferences, which forms a one-stop solution.
  
• Maximized utilization of resources: The Videoconferencing Switching Platform can switch and process video conferences and conference calls. The Streaming Platform can provide live broadcasting and storage of streaming and videoconferencing services. Videoconferencing terminals can provide multiple services. All these aspects show that the solution makes full use of the resources. It is the most cost effective solution with the most powerful functions.