At Cisco we believe that if everyone knew what video could do, they would want it. Our blog is dedicated to exploring the impact of video on people’s lives, organizations and the world!  Hope to see you soon, and remember to follow us on our Cisco TelePresence Facebook page and on Twitter – @telepresence.



Regardless of how well the District and its residents handle the snow, the city has been slammed the past two years with serious winter storms. The latest was yesterday’s “thundersnowcalypse,” which drove many locals to think the end of days was on their hands, with snow, thunder, rain, sleet and potentially other weather phenomenon occurring simultaneously.

The timing of the storm really wound up being a larger problem than the storm itself, since it started as rain around 3PM and then switched to snow later in the evening. This led to a slushy, icy, snowy mess on roads, sidewalks and other surfaces just in time for federal employees and other area residents to leave their offices and head home.

What resulted was a chaotic scene of slipping, sliding, abandoned cars, blocked roads and paralyzed rescue and snow removal vehicles. If you were one of the individuals driving around the D.C. region that saw an hour commute become a five hour commute, you know exactly what we’re talking about.

Many federal government offices closed early yesterday in hopes that employees would make it home before conditions got too bad. Many of them didn’t, and found their commutes prolonged by hours. A delayed opening was required this morning to ensure road conditions were better. Regardless, it’s probably safe to assume that folks who rolled into their driveways (and then subsequently shoveled them) at midnight felt it justified to take today off.

That’s a lot of lost time and production for federal government offices. Hours taken off of the day so that employees could leave early. Delayed openings or outright office closings the next day. Employees left tired, miserable and unproductive from nightmare commutes, delayed school openings and snow removal. All of these things cost the government money in the form of productivity and time.

There is an alternative, though. With the Telework Enhancement Act passed, it’s not too far of a stretch to have a situation where all eligible government employees telework on days when serious winter storms are forecast.

If employees were able to telework, and supplied with the advanced technology and tools available to a distributed workforce today, all of that time wouldn’t have been lost. Teleworking employees don’t need to leave early since they’re already home. They also don’t need delayed openings since they wake up, shower and prepare for their day either in, or down the hall, from their offices.

With video teleconferencing (VTC) and virtual desktop technologies available to government agencies today, all employees could access their work computers and interact face-to-face as if they were in the same room regardless of their actual location. It’s time to embrace these technologies and adopt telework in the federal government.

In today’s tough financial times, the federal government simply can’t afford to be brought to its knees by a little winter weather. Or as our Midwestern friends would say, “a slight dusting.”

Fast Company took the opportunity to look at the current state of education and debate if money is truly the catalyst needed to get Newark’s schools moving towards improvement. After all, Newark spends more than double the national average on their students and only graduates half of them.

They also used the opportunity to poll both readers and experts about what they would do if they had $100 million to spend on education. Not surprising, the handful of education experts they polled welcomed the challenge (and also wished they had this problem in real life) and had very differing ideas.

These “radical” ideas for spending the $100 million on educational programs were less “radical” in the “outrageous” sense of the word, and more “radical” in the 80s definition of the word. They were far out! And we agree with quite a few of them. Especially the one expert’s idea to make the classroom better through video teleconferencing (VTC).

The idea for utilizing VTC in classrooms was intended to bring high quality and previously unavailable educational opportunities to students. Learning French? Why not converse with students in Paris? Studying underwater wildlife habitats? Why not virtually tour the Great Barrier Reef? The fact is, VTC can help take one-dimensional lessons and turn them into once in a lifetime educational experiences.

Although VTC is an effective way to deliver virtual fieldtrips and other educational opportunities to students, the technology could be used across many of the other “radical” ideas to help schools more effectively and efficiently execute on them. Here are some examples:

Radical idea #3: A new focus on music, art and dance – many schools are cutting their arts and music programs due to lack of funding. Although arts education is fundamental, it’s expensive. Instead of needing a specialized unit of art and music teachers, schools could instead pool and share art and music teachers and resources via VTC.

Radical idea #11: Every student meets daily with a tutor – the logistics and cost of pairing a student with a daily tutor makes this idea something that could only be executed with a spare $100 million in a school budget. However, enabling students to reach out to teachers or tutors for specific homework help via video from campus or home would be an inexpensive and effective way to ensure that after school academic assistance is available for struggling students.

Radical idea #4: Give parents time off for parent/teacher conferences – this concept was proposed to help strengthen the relationship between parents and teachers and make parents more invested in their children’s educations. However, it’s highly unlikely that parents would be able to get time off for conferences like they do for jury duty, even with $100 million. Instead, parents and teachers could be kept in more constant contact via VTC. No time off would be needed, and teachers and parents could interact much more frequently than they could in person.

When you look at the state of education in the United States today, there’s no question that some “radical” ideas are needed to get things on track and help us to better compete in our evolving global economy. However, it doesn’t take $100 million to start thinking radically. Maybe all that’s needed is a new way of working….and learning. Let’s break down the walls between our kids and a better education…and do it with VTC.

The detention camp has had a somewhat negative reputation during its use, and its future has been in doubt on multiple occasions. The Obama Administration has fought for the closure of the detainment camp and transfer of its detainees to prisons and other facilities within the United States on multiple occasions.

However, Congress has blocked the move in the past, and the President recently signed the 2011 Defense Authorization Bill which prevents its prisoners from being transferred to the mainland or other countries. This has effectively stopped the closure of the facility for the time being.

In addition to the uncertainty of the detention center, the futures of the prisoners within have also been in question. The Bush Administration claimed that as captured enemy combatants, they were not entitled to protections from the Geneva Convention. This was overruled by the Supreme Court. Later, it sounded as if some prisoners would be brought to the mainland to face trial, but Congress blocked the funding.

To connect detainees with their families, the International Committee of the Red Cross has been facilitating video teleconferencing (VTC) sessions. By enabling VTC sessions, the Red Cross is allowing these detainees, many who haven’t spoken with their families in a decade, to see wives and other loved ones without either party having to travel.

The VTC sessions are more than a simple humanitarian gesture, however. The ability to speak with their families has improved the mental health of the prisoners. It also has made the environment more secure for staff.

According to ABC News, the first of these calls began approximately one year ago. These calls were arranged for detainees who hailed from Afghanistan and Pakistan. The calls have recently been extended to detainees from Yemen, which represents the largest population of detainees.

The calls can last up to one hour in length, and are paid for by the Red Cross.

VTC is breaking down the walls separating these detainees and their loved ones at home, while simultaneously making the detention center at Guantanamo Bay safer for staff. Now that’s a new way of working.

The country’s location along major trade routes has lead to it being conquered on many occasions and by many different empires. From the empires of Persia and Macedonia, to modern day powers like Britain and Russia, Afghanistan has had claim staked to it by many different parties.

It was the last of these parties, an Islamic group called the Taliban, that took power in the late 1990’s and into the 21^st century, that shaped Afghanistan into the nation that many Americans think of when the country’s name is spoken today. They destroyed ancient Buddhist statues and other cultural artifacts in the country that they felt were blasphemous or un-Islamic. They also greatly discouraged education, especially the education of women, due to their fundamentalist views.

Now, with the Taliban no longer in control of the majority of the country and a new government in place, Afghanistan is looking to rebuild and establish a democratic system complete with educational opportunities and social services for its citizens. It’s slow going in many parts of the country, however, due to cultural roadblocks towards educating children, especially women.

In an effort to show a different culture to people in Afghanistan, one where education of both male and female students is the accepted norm, schools in the US are using video teleconferencing (VTC) to have their students interact with students in Afghanistan.

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, Students from the private Windward School in West Los Angeles have been interacting with students from the all-male Kodola Drab School.

The Kodola Drab School is in the Garmsir district of southern Afghanistan, in Helmand province, which was previously ruled by the Taliban. The Garmsir district has been the focal point of school rebuilding and restoration projects by US soldiers looking to undo the damage done by the Taliban and bring education back to Afghanistan’s children.

The VTC connection between Windward and Kodola is opening a window and bringing students an unparalleled education opportunity to see what life is like for people in very different cultures and parts of the world. It’s also allowing students in Afghanistan to experience a culture where education is a prized and accepted part of life for all children.

The Windward School will be following up their VTC sessions with the Kodola Drab School by filling and sending book bags with supplies to help the students learn. These will most definitely be appreciated in a region where people are often without electricity, telephones or running water.

Afghanistan is a nation with a rich culture and a complicated past. By breaking down the walls that separate the US and Afghanistan, VTC is creating unique educational opportunities for students in both countries and providing a model for equal education that Afghanistan can work towards in the future.

It’s no surprise then that when it came time for Army Sgt. 1st Class, Scott Toshio Mitsuno, a parachute rigger with Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Afghanistan, to reenlist in the Army, he’d want his family there for the special occasion.

Unfortunately, Mitsuno’s family is from Fountain Valley, CA. Also, the individual he wanted to conduct the ceremony, Lieutenant Col. Eric Koji Terashima, his cousin and an intelligence officer in the Marines, was stationed at Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, NC.

To enable Terashima to conduct Mitsuno’s reenlistment ceremony, a three-way video teleconference was set up. During the teleconference, Mitsuno stood alone in a room in Afghanistan in front of a monitor and was sworn into the Army by his cousin while their family looked on in support.

Mitsuno wanted Terashima to conduct the ceremony since they were very close with each other growing up and relate to each other as servicemen.

This is a perfect example of ways that defense agencies are using video teleconferencing (VTC) and Telepresence. Although VTC and Telepresence technology can help to speed the delivery of information and orders between the battlefield and decision makers and help to improve the quality and amount of information coming through to military decision makers, it also has incredible applications in boosting morale and keeping soldiers connected with those waiting for them at home.

VTC and Telepresence are breaking down the walls separating our soldiers and the families that love and support them back here in the states. Now that’s a new way of working – and serving.

The fact is, for patients who don’t speak English or speak English as a second language, this is a reality anytime they need to receive medical attention.

It’s for this reason that the federal government included the right to medical interpreting in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act was bolstered by a presidential order in 2000 that mandated all hospitals receiving federal funds to make medical interpreting available to patients that needed it.

Unfortunately for many hospitals and other healthcare organizations, the logistics and costs of keeping a staff of interpreters is difficult. In some cases, using family members or hospital employees as translators is necessary and can be problematic if they don’t have the medical background to accurately interpret.

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, a 2002 study funded by the Commonwealth Fund found, on average, 31 mistakes in each encounter of medical interpreting in 13 sessions. When the topic of conversation is life or death, shouldn’t we be shooting for zero mistakes in each encounter?

But how can hospitals feasibly keep a staff of interpreters that are skilled in foreign languages and capable of interpreting medical conversations? This is where video teleconferencing (VTC) and Telepresence are making a difference.

Organizations like the Health Care Interpreter Network, a cooperative of hospitals that share trained healthcare interpreters, are being founded to help battle this problem. The network gives hospital staff access to trained and filtered interpreters via VTC if one isn’t available. This makes interpreters that speak Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Thai, Russian, Farsi, Tongan, Hindi and American Sign Language all available right in the examination room – instantly.

VTC and Telepresence are breaking down the walls separating patients from the medical advice and treatment they need. Now that’s a new way of caring.

With arts and extracurricular programs being cut or eliminated and other resources shortages, it has made it increasingly difficult for educators to provide an interesting educational opportunity for students outside the classroom walls. Seriously, how can you propose spending budget dollars to send students to the local planetarium when if you can’t afford enough textbooks?

Schools that have invested in video teleconferencing (VTC) and Telepresence solutions are finding virtual fieldtrips to be excellent alternatives. Take Capshaw Elementary School in Cookeville, Tennessee, as an example.

According to a recent article in their local paper, The Herald-Citizen, the third grade students at Capshaw were studying a unit about factories. The third grade teachers decided that a field trip to nearby Calsonic Kansei‘s manufacturing plant in Shelbyville would be perfect to help bring the lessons to life for the students. Unfortunately, the funding just wasn’t there to take the 100 mile trip.

So, the students were brought to Upperman High School’s distance learning lab, where they connected live via video with the Calsonic Kansei’s manufacturing plant. They received a history lesson about the company and tour of the facility. Best of all, they got to experience three different production processes and then ask questions about each.

This was the first time a virtual fieldtrip was done for students in Putnam County. Based on the results, it won’t be the last. Student questions were indicative of a true understanding of the concepts they were learning in the classroom.

VTC and Telepresence are breaking down the walls between students and high level educational opportunities outside of the classroom. Now that’s a new way of teaching….and learning!

The act requires agencies to determine telework-eligible employees, establish telework policies and establish programs to communicate these telework policies to their employees. The Act also requires agencies to name an official to oversee their telework program and incorporate telework into continuity of operations planning.

The act is a solid first step in the government embracing telework which is not only greener, but also has significant potential to cut costs for a government that is looking to tighten its belt during difficult financial times.

However, a recent article that surfaced over the holidays in Newsweek got us doing a bit of thinking. In the article, Mickey Kaus argues without particular protections being put in place for teleworking government employees, there’s a good chance that they could start to be overlooked for promotions, slammed in performance reviews and see other problems from management. He then goes on to ask questions about just how much money telework will save the government and just how productive teleworking employees can possibly be.

The tone of the article suggests that it’s written by someone who doesn’t personally believe that government employees are as dedicated to their mission as we know they are. In fact, he comes out and says that if they’re in the office, things will at least get done because “there’s nothing else to do.”

We disagree whole-heartedly with Mr. Kaus on this one. We believe that the increased adoption of telework will result in significant savings for the government. How? Because it’s already being used in some government agencies and private sector organizations to help address many of the problems facing the government today.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) currently sees over 80 percent of its eligible workforce telework. As a result, the USPTO is currently a very hot place to work and having no problems recruiting despite the rest of the government struggling to fill tens of thousands of federal vacancies. And, although it’s a private sector organization, Microsoft recently saved $90 million in one year by substituting teleconferencing for travel.

As far as teleworking discrimination goes, we can only speculate since teleworking across the federal government is still in its infancy. However, with organizations like the USPTO already embracing telework with no reported problems, it would seem somewhat far fetched. And with a generation of mobile workers coming up through the schools, teleworking will be expected by the best and brightest when they hit the job market – which would mean the government losing them to private enterprises and agencies that DO promote telework.

In fact, if promotions and performance reviews are still based on getting the mission accomplished and being productive, perceived discrimination against employees who DON’T telework could become an issue. By eliminating commutes and allowing employees to work from anywhere, the government is making their workforce more productive and effective. They’re also ensuring that they can do their work and accomplish their mission even when they can’t get to the office due to weather, disaster, etc.

To us, it seems the article is way off base. This is the first we’ve heard that telework could possibly make the government less productive. In fact, all signs point to the opposite. And if telework helps make government employees work better and smarter, wouldn’t they be the ones with the advantage?

In the past year, video teleconferencing (VTC) and Telepresence technologies were being embraced by federal agencies, state governments, police departments, criminal justice systems, school districts, institutions of higher education, hospitals and healthcare providers across the nation at an incredible rate.

There’s a reason for this.

VTC and Telepresence are connecting people who are thousands of miles away and allowing them to have face-to-face interaction as if they were in the same room. The potential for what this kind of increased collaboration and communication can do is almost limitless. The ability to help organizations save money, operate more effectively and efficiently and remove geographic barriers is breaking down walls for a wide variety of new and innovative uses of VTC.

Because of the power of VTC and Telepresence, in the past year we’ve seen:

• The federal government push employees to use VTC and Telepresence technologies over business travel to help cut down on the over $1.3 trillion national debt.

• Schools use VTC and Telepresence to provide previously unheard of educational content to students, such as conversations with NFL Hall of Famers or lectures from NASA scientists.

• Criminal justice systems use VTC and Telepresence to provide visitation for children with incarcerated parents, healthcare to inmates and a faster and less expensive way to deliver prisoners to courtrooms.

• Hospitals use VTC and Telepresence to deliver specialists, drug councilors, psychiatrists and interpreters to patients.

• School districts use VTC and Telepresence to bring previously unavailable classes and curriculum to students, and experienced teachers and therapists to special needs students.

• Police departments use VTC and Telepresence to cut down the time it takes to issue a warrant.

We’ve written about all of these implementations of VTC and Telepresence in the last year on Break Down the Walls, and we haven’t even scratched the surface. What’s even better is that VTC and Telepresence is poised to make an even bigger splash in 2011.

As you may have read here, President Obama recently signed the Telework Enhancement Bill, which is going to have a significant positive impact on the amount of federal government employees that are allowed to telework. With VTC being such an integral part of keeping communication and collaboration between distributed employees, there is no doubt that video will begin to see even more use as agencies begin to define their telework policies.

Also, Cisco recently unveiled the Umi, a solution for the home that brings all of the benefits of VTC into the living room. Soon, the doctor’s office, classroom, office and loved ones will be available simply by walking into the next room. Even Oprah has been getting into the act with the Umi (video below).

2010 was an amazing year for the adoption of VTC and Telepresence for a wide range of uses. But if you think that’s impressive…wait until you see what 2011 brings!