SindEo Two Way Communication - Research Paper Example

SindEo: Two-Way Communication An integral part of the SindEo application is a two-way communication feature. This is fundamentally an audio and video transmission tool that will enable users to communicate with each other, regardless of the location and time variables. What this means is that family members who want to communicate with their loved ones in the nursing home, can simply access the audio-video functionality embedded within SindEo in order to see and talk with the elderly family member. This is the closest that one could get in terms of one-on-one personal communication but made more convenient as users could converse and see each other face to face even when they are far apart. This feature is especially important for those who do not merely want to keep track or monitor what is happening to their relatives in the nursing home but to see for themselves the circumstance of their loved ones in a platform that enable a real-time, two-way audio-visual feedback. This is also expected to play an important role in the well being of those admitted to the nursing home, especially the new ones who would understandably miss their families. The idea behind this SindEo component is that living in the nursing home is not a life in isolation. Rather, family members can still be a part of their elderly relative's lives. Two-Way Communication The audio-video communication application can be found in the main menu of SindEo. Since SindEo is compatible with mobile phones, the two-way communication can take place even when users are outdoors or on the move provided the mobile device has a camera. The application is available to all desktop computer systems as well as mobile devices such as tablet computers and cellular phones. The key difference between an audio-and video application from other two-way communication platforms such as Instant Messaging applications is that the conversation that transpires are automatic wherein the audio and video capture is beyond the control of the users. Also, audio-video communication requires an explicit connection to the audio-video modality before the application is able to use and access audio and video communication (Durzi and Greenlee 2011) Another important tool available in SindEo's audio-video communication application is the capability to share files. Both users could view the same file together; make annotations and other written or drawn marks. Finally, the software could be designed in order to include multipoint conferencing mode. Here, the participants may include the user, the elderly and the staff of the nursing home such as the nurse, caregiver or doctor. Family members could interact with the doctor and the person being cared for and discuss important issues, problems or simply leave instructions. Benefits There are a number of two-way audio-video communication applications available that can be used for the same purpose cited by this proposal. However, SindEo's audio-video capability has several advantages over these applications. First is that it is seamlessly integrated into the application system and could be accessed without having to download and install a separate application or navigate to another browser or window. It is embedded in the SindEo user interface, hence, all the needs of the users are conveniently within their reach. Secondly, there is the fact that video conferencing applications available over the web suffer from high traffic. The more people who use the application, the more the audio-video communication quality is degraded. The SindEo two-way communication platform preserves the time relationship between packets of session because of its limited users. As a result, the so-called "jitter", which is the delay between packets, are minimized in the process (Bagad 2009). SindEo complies with what Crowcroft called as "adaptive reservation", where the demand behavior of users performs according to physically reasonable user utility function and system adjustment (Crowcroft 2000). To further address the "delay" and "quality" issues, it is recommended for the nursing home to maintain at least 384k bandwidth for good performance (Sugano, 2004, p.360) However, most vendors suggest to double this bandwidth to solve connectivity issues. According to Sugano, for instance, the bandwidth would give the user some fault tolerance if the other Internet connection goes down. This is, however, is not a problem since the standard Internet bandwidth today are way over that figure. Even mobile phones run on LTE technology, which is tremendously fast. If the organization would require a high definition audio-video functionality, it can be setup provided that the Internet bandwidth in place is from 15 Mbps to 45 Mbps. Technical and Security Issues A critical issue in the two-way communication platform being offered in SindEo is security. If the system or the application is not configured properly, then the system is at risk of being hacked. This could lead to the two-way communication application to become a virtual entry for hackers and even criminals who could exploit the vulnerabilities in order to retrieve, destroy or modify the organization's files. The SindEo prevents this. The whole application architecture is designed for a secured usage. The SindEo Security Policy covers this issue comprehensively. The developers have built the application with strong data encryption capabilities. For this application, the technology used is the Advanced Encryption Standard, which is a specification for the encryption of electronic data. The technology is capable of using cryptographic keys of 128, 192 and 256 bits to encrypt and decrypt data in blocks of 128 bits. Moreover, the SindEo software developer would work closely with the organization's IT department in order to establish an optimized Internet service framework that is adaptive and secured. The technologies covered include Resource Reservation Protocol, Real-time Transport Protocol, Real-time Control Protocol, Real-time Streaming Protocol and Session Initiation Protocol, among others. These protocols are important because the audio-video communication transpires real-time. The two-way communication application will be subject to upgrades especially in areas of security and quality of the transmissions and would form part of the service contract entered into by the organization and the software developer. References Bagad, D. (2009). Computer Networks. New York: Technical Publications. Crowcroft, J. (2000). Quality of Future Internet Services: First COST 263 International Workshop, QofIS 2000, Berlin, Germany, September 25-26, 2000 : Proceedings, Volume 1. Berlin: Springer. Durzi, G. and Greenlee, M. (2011). Professional Unified Communications Development with Microsoft Lync Server 2010. Hoboken, NJ: John wily and sons. Sugano, A. (2004). Quality of Future Internet Services: First COST 263 International Workshop, QofIS 2000, Berlin, Germany, September 25-26, 2000 : Proceedings, Volume 1. New York: Cengage Learning. Read More