WebAlive: A Virtual World that Means Business

The campus with its tapered lawns, water fountains, and post-modern styled buildings, were typical of any professional campus. Only this wasn’t just any campus. It was Nortel’s virtual online campus in WebAlive, its new virtual world service.

I was just given a preview of the new service as a follow on to a meeting with the WebAlive, then Project Chainsaw, team earlier in the year. The service is due for release this quarter and will be available as a product for running behind a firewall or as a hosted offer from Nortel.  Three applications are being targeted for the technology -- Internet-based media, training, and general business collaboration.

BETTER THAN VOICE

In this Web Alive is hardly unique. Other virtual world platforms, such as Forterra, ProtonMedia and Qwaq not to mention SecondLIfe  target training and business collaboration. Altadyn's 3DXplorer is a thin-cilent platform that has  tried to break into the Internet-based media bsuiness. WebAlive distinguishes itself, however, in that it blends a high-quality audio with a thin-client architecture for easy installation.

The voice engine, acquired from Diamondware, underlies WebAlive and gives the experience incredible fidelity. You not only hear individuals speaking clearly, but can place them based on their distance and position in the virtual world.  As I listen to someone speaking on my left, I hear his voice coming from my left hand speaker. As individuals move further away the voice becomes fainter as one would be expected in real life. Step inside a building and although you may be just outside of the separating wall the conversation can’t be heard.

What this means is that audio conferences and interaction within WebAlive are far easier to follow than they are on a regular conference call. There’s no longer a question as to who’s speaking during the conference and big problem when you get into conferences over four or five callers. WebAlive further offers visual indicators of who’s speaking.

Call recording has an interesting twist. Nortel allows all individuals to record their own audio channels and provides a service that will mix together the audio files for users who want a complete recording of a conference. This way users gain the privacy they

Now add in capabilities of the virtual worlds and communication is richer in-world in a way that will matter to business.  WebAlive allows companies to share PowerPoint presentations. Nortel says that it can integrate with external applications, like whiteboards or screen sharing tools. Different media types can be supported in world. A video clip of a telepresence session, for example, played in-world played well.

Nortel has also thought through some of the more perplexing components that’s held back deployment of the technology. Navigation is extremely simple and intuitive - one key for the gas, mouse for direction.  Installation is a matter of loading thin-Java client. No other external application is needed at the desktop.  LDAP integration simplifies user identification and authentication.  Security provisions allow for complete privacy so organizations can make the platform available for multiple business units while complying with regulatory requirements.

QUIRKS AND ALL

There were some quirks in the trial. Performance was atrocious when I ran the application on my secondary screen. I run a dual-screen configuration with an Nvidia card. But moving the window onto my primary screen addressed that problem.

There is also no IM facility currently provided in the platform. The group is looking at incorporating an external IM platform, such as Meebo, to allow for in world and external IM conversations. Using an external IM app shows your avatar as inactive, a tell-tale sign that you’re multitasking.

For that matter, the integration with Nortel’s broader UC platform was strangely absent. Nortel says its a feature that they're going to address and the team claims to offer telephony integration today. Out-of-world individuals can can be conferenced into WebAlive through a standard phone connection. Nortel did demonstrate the ability to hook into external applications, such as Facebook whose information was shown in the user profile.

Finally, there’s also no way for a leader to lead another avatar so that the new visitor or visitors don’t have to immediately learn in world navigation. It’s a small detail, but a feature that would help new entrants navigate a world that they may not want to have to otherwise learn.

BOTTOM LINE

Nortel has put together a platform that may not be the most feature loaded virtual world, but one that addresses business concerns today. The SAAS delivery model, voice quality, and easy interface makes this a platform that should be closely considered by today’s large companies.

For Nortel, WebAlive is a significant introduction. More than the sales of the actual platform, the potential for integration services built on top of WebAlive should provide an additional revenue stream. Establish virtual world players will need to find their differentiation vis-à-vis the WebAlive solution. Competitive points include the lack of application services, product immaturity, and broader questions around Nortel financial viability