To describe the state of visual communications in the U.S., two words come to mind: digital and anticipation. Although compressed, digital video has been used in teleconferencing systems for at least ten years, it is only recently that a broad consensus has developed among diverse industries anticipating business opportunities, value, or both in digital video. The drivers for this turning point are: advances in digital signal processing, continued improvement in the cost, complexity, and speed of VLSI, maturing international standards and their adoption by vendors and end users, and a seemingly insatiable consumer demand for greater diversity, accessibility, and control of communication systems.