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Regular readers of this site already know about Viack's VIA3, a videoconferencing tool that takes the hassle out of organizing a videoconference and provides a high level of security to meet even the strictest standards.

Last month, Viack released the latest version of VIA3, with more conference-ready features and an important security certification. Some recent contracts with government agencies show that the company's efforts are paying off.

If you haven't seen VIA3 before, you're in for a treat — especially if you've gone through the trouble of organizing videoconferences before. Without VIA3, you need to book the videoconferencing room in your company, gather all your team together, initiate the conference call, and then pray that the technology works as it should. VIA3, however, brings videoconferencing to the desktop and makes it easy to initiate. You simply connect any webcam with a headset to your computer and load the VIA3 software. With its system tray status icon, you can easily see which of your co-workers is online and invite them to videoconference whenever you need to speak. VIA3 makes videoconferencing as easy as picking up the phone.

New Features

With this latest release of VIA3 (this is actually version 4; don't let the "3" in the product's name confuse you), users will gain some important productivity tools for their videoconferences. One new addition is called Live View and it lets you open a window on your desktop so that others in the videoconference can see any application you want. You can even share a streaming video feed. Open an app, put a Live View window around it, and the others in the conference will be able to watch your every mouse click.

Instant messaging was already a part of VIA3, but now the transcripts of your IMs can be archived. This is an important feature for financial companies that stipulate that all outside communications be saved. As before, you can send IMs to the entire group in a meeting, or just chat one-on-one with a specific person. A Viack representative told us that some companies keep minutes of a meeting in an IM window so latecomers can read them and quickly get up to speed.

Finally, VIA3 has recently received FIPS 140-2 security certification, which confirms something that Viack employees and VIA3 devotees already knew: this is an extremely secure product, with every component fully encrypted with AES architecture. This certification was created by the government to govern the implementation of cryptographic modules, and is required for products handling material that is deemed sensitive but isn't classified.

A few other recent improvements, ones that were put into place just before this release, are also worth noting. VIA3 has an improved interface, with its various components now existing as separate windows on your screen. This allows you to move and reposition them as you wish. Once you have them arranged to your liking, you can save the layout for future videoconferences.

Another recent change is that VIA3 now works with Microsoft Excel. Previously, it worked with Word and PowerPoint, but now Excel is added to the list. This means you can share a Word, PowerPoint, or Excel document in a videoconference and have everyone involved edit or contribute to it simultaneously. The document's owner has the final say to accept or reject changes.

The VIA3 Experience

VIA3 makes videoconferencing so easy, you'll certainly find that you do it more. When you start up your computer, the VIA3 system tray app keeps track of your contacts, and can always tell you who is at their desk, who has stepped away (showing no recent activity), and who is offline. Starting a videoconference is as easy as selecting a contact. Whether you're speaking to someone across the street or across the world, there's only a slight half-second pause for your image and voice to carry over, so it's barely noticeable in a meeting. Video and audio are, of course, synched perfectly. VIA3 provides phone quality audio over an Internet connection, with full duplex VoIP.

Besides the previously mentioned features, VIA3 also has a whiteboard that allows all meeting participants to contribute. When you're finished with your videoconference, you can save all the conference records in VIA3's secure file storage system. A company representative told us that a future version will be able to archive the video streams, as well, although that feature is still being developed.

With Viack's VIA3 you can collaborate on Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents in a videoconference, with all of the participants able to make changes.

Good Enough for Government Work

While VIA3's ease of use has made it a hit with those that have tried it, it's often the unparalleled security features that get it in the door in the first place. One person who's been won over by VIA3 is Chris Barr, a business development executive with the videoconferencing group for GTSI. The largest federal IT reseller, GTSI is a billion dollar private company that provides IT products and services to federal and state governments.

"Security is important for our customers, not only in the post 9/11 world, but literally every federal agency has some kind of information security mandate," Barr says. "We're always looking for innovative new partners for the videoconference group," he adds.

Due in part to Barr's efforts, Viack signed an agreement with GTSI to provide VIA3 to GTSI's government clients. Viack also recently signed a blanket purchase agreement with another reseller, FedSource, to supply VIA3 to the Department of Treasury and the Department of Energy.

What drew Barr to VIA3 is the security the product offers. "VIA3 is more secure because it's inherently secure with AES encryptions throughout the product," he says. He adds that he himself was skeptical about VIA3's claims at first, but now counts himself as one of its believers and uses it "half the day every day" to talk with company sales reps as far-flung as Germany and Kuwait.

"Its impromptu nature is really what people love. If you want to meet with somebody, you can just instantly meet with them," Barr says. VIA3 is now being testing for other government agencies.

Visit Viack's site to learn more about VIA3 and request a demo.