ee drivers have been changing the entire IT industry: development of the Internet, the growing power of PC processors, and the deployment of new high-bandwidth networks. Dr. Gaut defined four waves of visual communication. Respectively, the first and second are dial-up room conferencing, and ISDN-based desktop conferencing. The third wave is video communication over LANs (including LAN-multicast in which multiple users receive a broadcast signal over a single channel). The last wave is videoconferencing over the Internet (we respectfully submit that the fifth wave is video communications over converged mobile devices). PCs have long-since integrated video communication- ready packages that include H.323 LAN-based video, H.324 codecs, video-ready modems, speakers, cameras, and microphones. These multimedia PCs are capable of video communication, Web surfing, DVD recording and playback, and interactive games. The technology works and it is ubiquitous; that does not mean that people are integrating it into their daily lives. The challenge now is threefold: to reduce significantly the complexity of video communication, to improve the network so that the quality of the video communication experience compares with that of the telephone, and to change people's habits to include video communication as an alternative to conventional voice communication or travel. Rather than a complex process of pre-scheduling a Video Communications: The Whole Picture call with an administrator or operator, one must be able to initiate video communication on the fly with anyone easily and spontaneously over the Internet. Internet-mediated video communications portend interactivity, multimedia, security, manageability, telephone functionality, and low cost. It is especially attractive in an environment of mergers and acquisitions, corporate downsizing, geographically- dispersed teams, global price competition, and the need to decrease response times. The Internet is finally becoming as mature and reliable as the technologies that people wo