posted by: Mark Cortner
The interest level in videoconferencing by enterprises is accelerating, with many organizations citing reductions in business travel expenditures and improved team collaboration as key benefits they are seeking. The customer expectations are shifting from a simple correlation to reduced travel budgets to include the softer, but potentially more rewarding, benefits of improved communication and collaboration between individuals and groups.
In the past, the use of videoconferencing in enterprise has typically been limited to room-based systems. The systems have required dedicated network connectivity and been limited to intracompany sessions within properly equipped conference rooms. In general, many users of past systems did not perceive videoconferencing to deliver a sufficiently high quality and usable experience to justify additional investment beyond select conference rooms. The transition that started several years ago from ISDN to IP-based videoconferencing systems did little to change these perceptions and merely aligned with networking trends.
But today, several influences beyond the current economic environment are having a significant effect on customer perceptions and interest in videoconferencing. First, the application of high-definition technology combined with improved management and administration capabilities within the systems themselves is addressing past usability concerns. Secondly, senior management has an increasing level of appreciation for the business value of visual collaboration—thanks to the marketing efforts targeted at executives on the collaborative experience possible through high-end solutions such as telepresence.
The final key influence is the impact of UC. As many enterprise organizations develop a strategy and roadmap for UC, videoconferencing is rapidly becoming a more valuable collaborative application that is enabled by UC initiatives. As a result, many businesses are looking to expand their use of videoconferencing beyond select or purpose-built conference rooms and extend multiparty capabilities to users’ desktops. If considered in the context of mobility trends, corporate green initiatives, and the benefits of presence-based UC, videoconferencing is coming of age and will grow beyond its traditional boundaries.
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