Define your video conferencing requirements and wish list

Because video conferencing can be a costly endeavor, it's important to evaluate your company's business and technical video conferencing requirements before you start talking to vendors and drafting RFPs. Be sure to discuss the following questions with your IT and executive team to ensure expectations are clear and you can achieve the best possible results.

• What is the problem you need to solve or goal you'd like to achieve with your video conferencing implementation?

• What is your budget? Do you have video conferencing ROI or money-saving requirements or goals?

• How many users will the system support, and what's the prediction for growth?

• More on video conferencing decisions

  Pick the best type of video conferencing
  
  Determine the video conferencing quality to deliver
  
  Choosing video conferencing signaling infrastructure
  
  Where should you locate video conferencing  MCUs?
• Where are the users located -- will they be in offices, remote locations, or both? Will this change over time?

• What are the users' expectations for video and audio quality and experience? If they vary, can you address different classes of users in different ways?

• Do you have existing equipment or software you'd like to leverage or interoperate with?

• Do you have sufficient network bandwidth and infrastructure to support video conferencing? If not, how will you address this?

• Do you have IT expertise to support video conferencing in house, or will you need external support?