The market for videoconferencing and online meeting productsand services is heating up. This week, Polycom Inc. willintroduce a low-cost videoconferencing product aimed atsmall companies.

ViewStation SP, priced at $3,999, provides video at 15frames per second over a 128-Kbps ISDN line. It uses theH.263 standard for video transmission. The product includeshigh-end features contained in other Polycom systems, suchas an embedded Web server, remote system management anddiagnostics, and software upgrades available via the LAN orISDN.

The BYL Bank Group in Orange, Calif., uses videoconferencingto make its high-paid, high-level employees more efficient."When somebody brings in thousands of dollars a month foryour company, you don't want them sitting in traffic on thefreeway," says Roger Garvin, the company's IT manager.Garvin adds that BYL is considering the new Polycom systembecause it's less expensive than what the bank is using.