Avistar, a provider of video communication systems has teamed with Virtela, a provider of managed VPN services, to build an IP-based network dedicated to desktop-to-desktop video conferencing for the global financial services community.
The network has more than 2000 video endpoints connected throughout Asia, Europe and the US and is currently handling an average of 30,000 user calls per month.
Avistar says the combination of its desktop video platform with Virtela's managed VPN network provides financial services professionals with fast, TV-quality video connections across company locations and to customers and suppliers across the globe.
Furthermore, VPN video calls are completed in approximately one-tenth the time it takes to complete an ISDN call. Available for a monthly fee, Avistar says the network is also less expensive than the per-minute, usage-based cost of ISDN calls.
Virtela will provide firms signing up to use the network with an upfront service level assessment, end-to-end management on a 24x7 basis and video performance monitoring and reporting.
Vab Goel, Virtela's chairman and a partner at Norwest Venture Partners, says: "Customers can now benefit from Avistar's extensive suite of video applications and Virtela's video network implementation and management to improve business communications globally."
The video VPN is continually being expanded and current cities include Bangalore, Moscow, Singapore, Seoul, Sydney, Milan, Edinburgh, New York and San Francisco.