The concept of the channel is to open up opportunities for NAC’s collaboration software, self-developed tele-medicine platforms and Vidyo’s entire range of products – Vidyo are being heralded as disruptive technology in a market dominated by Cisco, PolyCom and LifeSize. Recent reports have suggested that due to this technology, Cisco and PolyCom may be heading for some trouble.

“We want as many people as possible to benefit from this unique suite of products. We chose to partner up with the smaller Scottish tech firms rather than the larger companies for a very simple reason. Our solutions are pretty different from what’s in the market just now, and it’s easier for the smaller guys to adopt this new tech and to quickly introduce it into their portfolio.” says John Wilson, Director of NAC.

Since starting the channel 3 weeks ago, NAC have partnered up with Cameron Communications, an AV consultancy firm with substantial relationships within the UK engineering sector in addition to other Scottish technology partners already on board.

To enquire about becoming a partner of NAC, contact Gavin, EMEA Channel Manager – gavin@naces.co.uk

“Before choosing Vidyo, we had reviewed numerous video conferencing options, but they had problems; they were difficult to use and offered disappointing quality,” said John Brogan, IT Manager, Four Seasons Health Care. “Vidyo was a breath of fresh air; from the first meeting, when they simply connected my Laptop PC to their guest network and placed HD calls to colleagues around Europe via the Internet, we were sold. In subsequent trials of the Vidyo product, its quality and ease-of-use was exceptional. Through Vidyo, NAC has dramatically reduced our overhead by allowing us to conduct our numerous administrative meetings via clear and smooth video interactions over the Internet. The time and money we’re now saving means an increased investment in the people who depend on our care. We anticipate that through the use of Vidyo, we will significantly reduce our travel expenses, allowing us to use our existing desktop and laptop PCs, and not having to deploy costly specialized networks to achieve stellar video conferencing.”

Vidyo’s unique, patented architecture, built from the ground up, is the first in a new generation of software solutions that leverages the H.264 Scalable Video Coding (SVC) video compression standard. H.264 SVC enables a video stream to be broken into multiple resolutions, quality levels and bit rates. Utilizing this capability and Vidyo´s intellectual property, the VidyoRouter™ offers unprecedented error resiliency, eliminating the central component of legacy video conferencing the Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) and replacing it with a distributed architecture using an application layer router. Because Vidyo’s solution is based on software, it can easily be expanded, upgraded, and customised for customers’ individual Enterprise and vertical market video conferencing needs. Vidyo’s product line spans a full range of potential applications, from the VidyoDesktop™ with personal telepresence capabilities on a PC or a Mac to the VidyoRoom™ that encodes and decodes HD-quality video at up to 60 frames per second. Vidyo solutions can be used by everyone in a company, whether from the office, home or while travelling, via general IP networks, including the Internet, 3G, 4G and WiFi networks at a fraction of the cost of MCU-based solutions.

About Four Seasons Healthcare

Four Seasons Health Care owns and operates over 400 Nursing and Care Homes and Specialised Care Centres in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Jersey and the Isle of Man. It is one of the largest independent providers of care services in the United Kingdom.
 Four Seasons’ origins date back to the late 1980′s. The company has developed through both the acquisition and construction of care facilities and has firmly established a reputation for professionalism in all aspects of its care operations. Four Seasons cares for over 17,500 people in its care and nursing homes and specialist units and employs over 21,000 staff. The senior management of the company share a wealth of experience of delivering care services, in many cases due to lengthy and pre-eminent positions in the caring sector.

Commenting on the report findings, Professor Branine, an expert in international human resource management at the University of Abertay, suggests that ‘new technologies have played a factor in people working longer hours with email instantly available from mobile phones but new technology can also play a part in increasing productivity. Management and employers should look at how they can effectively use new technology to manage and reduce their workloads not continually overburden themselves.’

Using this and other enabling technologies, managers and employers can increase general productivity as well as creating more effective business management and communication between fewer team employees, assisting in the soaking up any shortfall a company may experience by losing staff members to longer parental breaks.

While not being the panacea to the more fundamental issues of parental breakdown raised by the Demos Report, the utilisation of new technologies, such as ever the cheapening video technology produced by Vidyo Inc, is perhaps one method for working more effectively and creatively. It may also assist in bridging the gap between parents staying in touch with the business, working fewer hours and being there for the new addition to the family.

For the duration of this snow period, NAC provided free access to their Vidyo portal, via a desktop login, enabling people to keep in contact with colleagues and share documents whilst working from the comfort of their own home.

In comparison to other Video Conferencing vendors, using their unique patented architecture, Vidyo provides high definition video and voice not just to the boardroom, but to the desktop PC over general purpose networks.

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NAC has secured a three-year contract to provide e-learning services for health care giant, Four Seasons.

The agreement will underpin the online training provided to more than 18,000 staff working for the private health care group. The Care Shield e-learning portal provided by renowned UK company, Access Academy will allow Four Seasons staff at more than 400 care centres and nursing homes in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man to further their professional training.

John Wilson, NAC’s Sales and Marketing Director, said:

“In a time of economic uncertainty, NAC has proven there are opportunities out there for flexible, forward-thinking businesses with a can-do attitude and the willingness to go the extra mile for their clients.

The contract win with Four Seasons is our biggest single contract to date, and will take us past the £2 million turnover mark, which is an incredible achievement considering we posted turnover of just £100,000 three years ago.”

John Brogan, IT Manager of Four Seasons Health Care, added:

“NAC provide the best service we have ever experienced. They give 100 per cent every time. When we have a problem they solve it.”

NAC expects to report turnover of more than £2 million for the 2010 year up from £700,000 posted for 2009. The company currently has eight full-time staff at its Edinburgh base, and has grown its bank of sub-contract engineers across the UK and Ireland from 150 in January to 250 now.

“NAC’s experience and reputation within the demanding private healthcare sector, as well as its extensive UK wide engineering support network, make them an obvious choice of business partner.”

Internet videoconferencing has been around for a few years, but the calls typically are characterised by jerky, low-resolution video.

More-realistic, high-resolution videoconferencing systems generally require dedicated communications lines and expensive equipment, limiting their use.

Vidyo uses a new video-compression standard to produce a high-definition videoconferencing product that can work on desktop or laptop computers, tablets and smart phones and travel over the Internet or 3G and 4G cellular networks.

The company introduced its systems, which can include routers and other hardware in addition to software, in 2007. This summer, it licensed software to Hewlett-Packard Co., which will use the technology to extend its Halo telepresence service to desktop computers and to conference rooms not already set up with dedicated systems.