Many employees of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who tote tribal issued mobile devices are–or will be soon–getting more face time in with a video conferencing application.

The Eastern Band, which employs about 1,100 workers, began its deployment of ClearSea, a high-definition video conferencing product owned and marketed by LifeSize, in October 2012. ClearSea allows users to make video calls from more than 50 mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, as well as desktops. The solution is standards based, so, unlike services like Skype, it does not require users to log in. To date, about 50 Tribal employees are using ClearSea to meet face to face. Among them are Principal Chief Michell Hicks and seven deputies that oversee some 355 tribal programs...