Suppose your five offices in five different Western states want to meet with your three Midwestern branches, your headquarters in Toronto and your four Eastern seaboard locations. Your options for this meeting seem to be limited to two: either everyone agrees to travel to a single location, or several groups come together to form three or four larger groups that are then patched together via a traditional video conferencing system. While the first option will incur the costly travel and lodging expenses of business travel, it does allow for the spontaneity and the thoroughness that face-to-face meetings offer; and while the second option may be more cost effective, it runs the risk of falling victim to the failures of typical video conferencing bridges and the complexities of tying together digital and IP lines. Further, this second option is certain to lack the interactivity and reach offered by in-person communications.

The IG can be operated from an operator's station (above) or from the wall (top image),which assumes the responsibilities of the desktop

With the IG, however, a full suite of advanced IP-based conferencing and collaboration applications are incorporated into a media-rich, bridge-less platform that supports instant, immersive, and exceptionally dynamic, life-like, and scaleable communications among up to 30 locations —an architecture that drives travel and frustration down while increasing reach, efficiency, productivity, and personal interaction.

So how would the IG facilitate your five offices in five different Western states meeting with your three Midwestern branches, your headquarters in Toronto and your four Eastern seaboard locations? First, each of these 13 locations would gather its participants in an on-site conference room; second, each conference room would open a browser window and type a single URL; and third, each conference room would enter a company-specific user-name and password. Each of the 13 locations would then simply click on the name of a virtual room, which is configurable, can be locked, and, like a physical room, can be optimized for different tasks and activities. And instantaneously, all participants in each of the 13 locations would hear, see, and share data with all other groups as if they were all together in a single location. It's that easy.

The process of gaining instant and immersive communications between multiple locations is as easy as opening a browser window, pointing to a company-specific URL, and clicking on a link that creates a virtual environment for complete audio, video, and data-sharing interaction for 100s of participants in up to 30 locations. The inSORS Grid platform is the future of media-rich interactive communications —and it's all at your fingertips, all the time.