cations. In all cases, we want the reader to understand the business implications of interactive multimedia, and videoconferencing. Selling a solution, even if it is in an organization's best interest, requires that. It is our position that the purpose of technology, as fascinating as it is, is no more than to serve humanity's and nature's needs. For those who are new to the topic, this book serves as an introduction to the various forms of video communication. For the technically advanced, it provides information for understanding and assessing new products, staying abreast of standards, and refining expertise. In any case, we encourage the reader to explore ways to implement video communication to enhance collaboration, facilitate competitive strategy, improve information delivery, and increase efficiency. Interactive video communication strategies can be significant enablers for applications that span geographic and organizational boundaries. Such applications include group-to-group meetings, person-to-person desktop, videophone, one-to- many broadcasts, point-to-point and multipoint data collaboration, and variations thereof. A specific organizational or personal need is likely to warrant creativity in combining and implementing these applications. Some of the more successful application categories include telemedicine, distance learning, banking, legal and judicial, and joint engineering. Thorough needs-analysis, ingenuity, and senior management support will generally be necessary to ensure success. For video communication to deliver on its promise, a strong interoperability model is required. With the adoption of numerous global standards, video communication applications can traverse a wide variety of networks including analog POTS, circuit- switched digital (ISDN, T-1), and IP-based networks. Interoperability is nearly universal, and the level of cooperation between industry leaders is unprecedented. This is a welcome development, given the industry's earlier tendency toward competing proprietary implemen