Intel Press Release

Intel Introduces Desktop Video Conferencing Product at New Low Price

Intel® ProShare® Video System 500 Offers Business-quality Performance for $799

HILLSBORO, Ore., Aug. 31, 1998 — Intel Corporation introduced a new desktop video conferencing system at a price never before available for business-quality video conferencing performance.

Intel® ProShare® Video System 500 is priced at $799 (U.S. dollars) MSRP, which reflects a 33 percent price drop from Intel's previous desktop video conferencing product. Designed to take advantage of high-performance PCs used most often by businesses today, Intel ProShare Video System 500 provides excellent audio and video quality over both ISDN and LAN transports. The standards-compliant product delivers up to 30 frames per second video performance as well as integrated data sharing via Microsoft NetMeeting*.

Easy to Install and Use
With its single PCI board design, the Intel ProShare Video System 500 can be installed in approximately 30 minutes. Additionally, the audio and video cables are color-coded for simpler and faster connections. The product is certified with the generic ISDN Ordering Code packages used by most telephone service providers to take the complexity out of requesting ISDN telephone lines.

The user interface gives clear, easy-to-understand access to all conferencing tools. The product includes a Conference Connection Indicator that gives details about an active video conference call, including frame rate, data rate, and audio and video algorithms. Also included are ISDN indicators that appear on the screen to help users quickly troubleshoot issues such as whether an ISDN line is plugged into the system correctly.

"Intel ProShare Video System 500 breaks the barriers of price, performance and simplicity, making desktop video conferencing an easier technology for businesses to acquire and deploy broadly," said Scott Darling, general manger of Intel Business Communication Products Operation. "It also offers businesses greater flexibility to use both ISDN and their corporate LANs for call transport, protecting them from investing and reinvesting in products as their communications networks evolve."

LAN Deployment
One of the nation's largest uses of videoconferencing over LAN is based in Oklahoma City, where Western Heights School District uses 200 units of Intel ProShare Video System 500. The videoconferencing network is used by 230 teachers and 3,100 students for distance learning. School administrators use the technology to help manage the district's day-to-day operations.

"Intel desktop videoconferencing has become critical to education in Oklahoma City," said Joe Kitchens, Western Heights School District superintendent. "Intel ProShare Conferencing lets us bring in experts to help us develop more effective services, better prepare students for employment and arrange parent conferences."

Intel's integration of ISDN (H.320) and LAN (H.323) transmission capabilities into a single product was critical to the school district's decision to deploy desktop videoconferencing. By using its LAN, the school district has been able to expand its use of technology without substantially adding expense to its existing communications infrastructure.

Intel Family of Products
The debut of Intel ProShare Video System 500 follows the April introduction of the Intel TeamStation™ System 4.0, a conference room workstation that combines video conferencing, Internet access, corporate network access, and PC applications in one convenient system. The two systems integrate easily so that people working at a desktop can hold a video conference with colleagues working in a conference room. In addition to being PC-based, both Intel ProShare Video System 500 and the Intel TeamStation system are fully interoperable and standards compliant over H.320 (ISDN) and H.323 (LAN)**. The user interfaces for both products are easy-to-use, and the data tools are integrated for easy access to whiteboards, application sharing, and file transfer.

The Intel ProShare Video System 500 includes:

  • Intel ProShare software with integrated Microsoft* NetMeeting and Photo Exchange
  • Language Installation Options: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish
  • One PCI ISDN/audio/video capture card
  • Headset with microphone
  • Composite color video camera
  • Boom microphone
  • Dual video input cable for two camera inputs
  • Quick install guide
  • NT-1 (optional)

System Requirements: The minimum system requirement is an Intel Pentium® II processor, 80 MB of hard disk space with Microsoft Windows* 95 or Windows NT*. A free Windows '98 software upgrade will be available in late 1998 for those Intel ProShare Video System 500 units purchased prior to that date.

The product is available in North America and Europe through computer product resellers. For more information on the Intel ProShare Conferencing Video System 500, visit www.intel.com/proshare/.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.