Video conferencing uses of the Pointmaker include both corporate and government users. Willbros Engineers Inc., a multi-office engineering firm that specializes in the design of pipeline and fuel storage solutions, set up a video conferencing system in 1997 as an efficient means to plan and review major designs with their remote office and with fuel clients as large as Exxon. Bill Faulkner, manager of design applications for the Tulsa-based company, said his company needed the ability to annotate engineering designs and review computer spreadsheets that play a major role in the design process. The detailed nature of these types of graphic images included everything from CAD drawings to informal sketches on paper. For the annotation solution, a Pointmaker multiple-sync video marker was selected and installed in 1998. Using the RS-232 port, the video marker was connected to the data port of the codec at both the local and remote sites. Using the video marker's drawing tablet, each side could draw, point, or write over details of the shared image, and site would use a unique color. Faulkner said that the video marker has greatly increased the communication level and teamwork between offices, and engineers are also able to have very productive meetings with their clients.
