AV Conferencing: In Collaboration We Trust

Communication is no longer limited to the telephone or email. It
has evolved into Web-based communications where technology has become more
complex and is advancing at a rapid pace. Today most enterprises are enabling
videoconferencing as a routine means to collaborate, making it possible for
teams and workers to communicate and collaborate effectively through this means.

This new class of value-added online services has today become a
powerful enabler for efficient communication between groups of distantly located
people, without requiring huge investments in complex and expensive
infrastructure.

Emerging Technology

Although videoconferencing as a technology has been in the market place for
several years, it is only lately that it has come into its own with many local
players as well as multinational companies fighting aggressively for market
share. Earlier, there were hardly any takers in the Asia Pacific region but the
number of local videoconferencing solutions that have mushroomed all over this
region and the interest shown by leading MNCs clearly shows that the market has
matured with the technology delivering a better output.

"Web-based collaboration services integrate
tried-and-tested forms of collaboration such as webconferencing and instant
messaging with newer technologies such as desktops, workspaces, wikis, and
podcasts," says Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Dominic Dodd
in a report titled Web-based collaboration services take online collaboration
to the next level. "They form a core component of the growing Software
as a Service (SaaS) market."

Frost & Sullivan says the Global Web-based Collaboration
Services Market generated revenues of $682.7 mn in 2005, and estimates this to
reach $2,644.5 mn in 2010.

Currently, webconferencing contributes a significant portion of
these revenues. However, this is likely to change over the forecast period, as
synchronous or real-time and asynchronous collaboration service technology
increasingly merge due to the growing need for tools such as shared virtual
workspaces and online collaborative authoring of documents, says the report
released a few months ago.

Broadband penetration is fuelling this drive toward Web-based
collaboration services. With start-ups coming up and globalization becoming the
norm, there is an additional boost to the videoconferencing market.

Although larger enterprises would have the means to use complex
technologies or just simply allow their executives to travel more often, it is
the small and medium businesses (SMBs) which are being wooed by
videoconferencing techniques.

"They represent a particularly attractive target group
since they need to access and harness the power of collaboration services but
are unable to invest substantial amounts in complex technology or the skills to
support it. For large global businesses, the key driving force is the need to
communicate effectively across company boundaries and firewalls. These
organizations require practical and secure collaboration solutions that can
sidestep the constraints imposed by local IT departments," the report adds.

While there is a number of large and small players in this
market now, it is the solutions offered by major global software vendors and
enterprise communication systems manufacturers that dominate the market.
According to the report, this could limit growth opportunities for
Internet-based business communications and collaboration services. Thus, the
battle for the desktops of workers who need to collaborate is gathering pace,
with Web-based collaboration services posing a distinct challenge to the
prevailing dominance of on-premise software solutions of major manufacturers.

"Web-based collaboration service providers are well-placed
to use Web 2.0 technologies such as mash-ups to rapidly develop and deploy new
services to meet changing markets needs," says Frost & Sullivans
Dodd. "This agility, coupled with the use of viral marketing to get across
its message, will enable the growing band of companies in this space to compete
effectively," he adds.

Multiple Selling Proposition

Undoubtedly, the Internet has changed the way we do business and the way we
live. The all-pervasive power of the Internet has created a virtual world out
there, and created hitherto unknown dimensions in communication have emerged.
There was a time when the quality of videoconferencing technology was so low
that there were no takersit never could replace telephone-based conferences
nor could it ever replace face-to-face meetings. But now, with superior
technology having invaded this domain, webconferencing and Web-based seminars
have become quite a common place in the business environment.

Today, there is a much higher level of convergence, and
videoconferences are being used right from tutoring K-12 students online to
conducting top management meetingseven annual general meetings with
participation from overseas board members.

While Web-based collaboration, videoconferencing, and seminars
have become an effective way for companies to address an audience of say 50-100
people it is also an extremely effective method for communicating to a much
smaller audienceespecially if its a project management team in software
development where they run through all the finer details of the application or
solution that is being collaboratively developed.

Another interesting application is when participants can not
only view updates to spreadsheets simultaneously, but also input changes in real
time. Apart from this it has also become effective for sales and marketing
activities, and is quite reliable as a training tool as well. Other applications
include providing information to shareholders, or to end-users through help
desks.

Cost-effective Connection

From a cost perspective, Web marketing is a much more effective way to go.
The challenge for companies is to make the presentations sufficiently warm and
interactive to create a near touch-and-feel effect. The use of two-way video,
instant messaging, and Web-based conferencing effectively counter that
challenge.

There have been marked changes in consumer preferences. While IT
purchasers still place strong emphasis on cost minimization, today, there exists
a bigger need among end-users to seek solutions that unify different forms of
communications and help solve specific business problems.

Enterprises require an interactive tool that can incorporate
communications, computing and audio/videoconferencing. This would comprise
technologies that allow people in remote locations to collaborate electronically
via voice or face-to-face, and in real time, and share all types of information,
including data, documents, sounds, and images.

Audio, video, and webconferencing have resulted in huge cost
reductions in travel across geographical boundaries. These benefits come in
various forms: allowing multipoint meetings across time zones and international
borders; reduction in costs of travel and executive time; reduced communication
costs; archiving, whereby conferences could be tapped for future reference;
real-time sharing of files and presentations; improved effectiveness of meetings
with enhanced fluency and focus; bringing together dispersed groups at short
notice; savings on infrastructure costs by opening offices at remote locations,
etc.

Conferencing solutions release the business potential via
attractive economic benefits based on usage of converged resources. It brings
about the organizational agility and the flexibility to work from remote
locations as well, besides providing applications that increase productivity and
efficiency. IP telephony sales are thus likely to grow from 7% in 2002 to 46% by
the end of 2007.

There has been growing demand for managed/hosted solutions as
well. The reasons being the need for reducing capital expenditure, optimizing
internal operations and bringing down operating expenses, enabling rapid
deployment of new applications and services, and leveraging on the specialized
expertise of the vendors, channels, and service providers in managing complex
networks.

Videoconferencing is a significant breakthrough in
communications technology. It has been adopted globally and is being used in
various fields and facets of life, as people are now aware of its innumerable
tangible and intangible benefits. One of the many advantages of
videoconferencing is the possibility to communicate at all levels, including
making use of body language, which plays a significant role in effective
communication.

Schools, Telemedicine, and More

Interestingly, schools and colleges have gradually started adopting
videoconferencing techniques for interacting with other schools and universities
across the globe to make learning a more exciting and an international
experience. These techniques are also helpful in broadening the horizons of
conventional education. With the advent of videoconferencing in education, it is
now possible to promote higher education in smaller towns and rural areas, thus
uplifting the socially and economically backward classes.

Telemedicine generally refers to the use of videoconferencing
and information technologies for the delivery of clinical care. Telemedicine may
be as simple as two health professionals discussing the case history of a
patient or as complex as using videoconferencing to conduct real-time operations
between medical specialists in two or more globally dispersed locations.
Telemedicine can thereby avoid unnecessary travel and other associated costs.

Telemedicine also assists developing countries where the
concentration of medical specialists and surgeons is restricted to big cities
and metros, resulting in a dearth of healthcare services in smaller towns and
rural districts. Videoconferencing plays a vital role in bridging this gap.
Apart from this, videoconferencing aims to benefit the field of medicine in
terms of lectures, discourses, meetings and other important events.

Other than in medicine, videoconferencing is gaining popularity
in other areas and functions as well. A few examples include press conferences,
movie or music releases, interviews, surveillance, security, emergency response,
and court hearings. And, of course it is also becoming a popular mode of
communication with family and friends in real time.

And SMEs Too

Its not just large corporates but even SMEs which are now looking at
videoconferencing to save time, costs, and the hassles of traveling. Traveling
costs would include commuting, accommodation, car rentals, meals, entertainment,
etc. Other hidden costs that can be avoided include travel insurance premiums,
hiring a temporary replacement or the overtime to cover for an absentee, as well
as the costs towards debriefing meetings. Also, the risk of leaving behind
important files and data is eliminated; the workflow is much smoother, and
sharing of information is much quicker and comfortable from your own office.

According to industry watchers, the RoI for deploying
videoconferencing is generally 6 to 12 months depending upon the type of
videoconferencing equipment, the usage, and other factors such as the total
number of days spent traveling in a month, etc. Wider the adoption, faster is
the RoI. Videoconferencing is increasingly being used for interviews, product
training, board meetings, consultation, and business meetings.

Today while distances are bridged faster than ever before,
challenges of providing seamless learning experience across different
geographical locations is being met through videoconferencing. It facilitates
distance learning in a big way by making seamless interaction possible between
end-users.

Its all IP Now

Conferencing systems traditionally comprise discrete PBX phone systems,
audio and videoconferencing bridges, plus data collaboration and IM servers.
Except data collaboration and IM, these systems are based mostly on the
traditional circuit-switched telephone network with little or no integration
between them.

Today, conferencing capabilities are at the threshold of a
dramatic transformation, as all discrete forms of conferencing mediavoice,
video, and dataare merging on IP infrastructure. The future is a single IP
conferencing system that will provide all forms of conferencing, including
voice, video and data.

Enterprises today are looking forward to leading edge technology
that enables flexible conferences, common management suites, highly scalable
solutions, secure VoIP features, and embedded multipoint options.

The world of communications is gradually but steadily
transitioning to IP networks. As this happens, videoconferencing will converge
with all these popular IP-based applications, such as instant messaging,
streaming, and Web collaboration. The rise of IP for video not only enables more
cost-effective room-based solutions but also the delivery of video
communications to the enterprise desktop. Instant messaging, with the added
value of presence detection, is another extremely popular consumer application
and is now making serious inroads into the enterprise.

As this trend continues to produce converging conferencing
technologies, business professionals will be able to adopt single conferencing
platforms to use audio, video or Web-based solutions to communicate using means
according to their needs. These systems will play a crucial role in enhancing
productivity, swift analysis and decision-making, bringing products to the
market, and gaining an edge over competitors. Enterprises need seamless and
integrated networks and real-time information gathering and processing systems
to maintain an edge. Superior connectivity with customers will also permit
alteration of channels that favor enhanced customer retention.

As mentioned earlier IP telephony sales grew 46% in 2006. The
telecommunications market is changing and this calls for scalable and
interoperable solutions. The growing numbers of optimized packet platforms are
replacing circuit-switched platforms. This is a clear indication that IP
networks are a significant factor in the telephony carrier marketplace. IP for
voice and visual communications enable service providers and telcos to offer a
variety of features and services with rapid time-to-market and at significantly
lower costs.

Users are Loving it

Apart from convenience and cost saving factors, the key technology drivers
for Web-based conferencing are the last-mile connectivity and availability of
dependable broadband bandwidth. The webconferencing market in India is said to
be maturing, as broadband availability goes up and prices come down. It can be
said that this market has reached the point of inflexion.

Today, users are demanding collaborative communications that are
user friendly and relevant in their everyday lives. And that goes for certain
domestic users as well. Accessing and sharing of information plays a vital role
in corporate meetings, and collaboration enables an easy sharing of any type of
information, thus instantly arming the participants with necessary knowledge and
skills.

Collaboration has been happening online for a long time through
email, Usenet, etc. But it is getting dramatically easier, more prevalent, and
powerful. The software enabling collaboration is fast improving and at the same
time Web users are getting to be more familiar in terms of using collaborative
tools. While the telephone and email continue to be effective communications
tools, e-collaboration technology reduces non-productive expenses, and
accelerates work cycles. Web collaboration is proving its value in terms of
productivity increase and cost reductions right across the enterprise. More and
more enterprises are realizing how much e-collaboration is re-shaping the way
work is done and the significant value it delivers.

Towards Unified Conferencing

Organizations are looking for a converged solution that provides effective
voice and videoconferencing services. The answer lies in unified conferencing.
The limitations of separate conferencing solutions come in the form of
substantive differences in connectivity, features, and interfaces. Technical
barriers must be overcome to be able to connect from anywhere, anytime to a
unified, feature rich, highly productive meeting involving people located
remotely. Flexibility to support voice, video or unified conference that is most
appropriate for the customer application with a uniform set of features and
interfaces is also important. A unified conference seamlessly connects a mix of
voice and video endpoints on different networks to one conference, and on one
platform that provides each conference participant with the same conference
experience.

Unified conferencing supports ISDN video, IP video, PSTN voice,
VoIP, and mixed voice/video conferences simultaneously on one platform, with the
same set of conferencing features, one set of end-user interfaces, and one
management application.

The webconferencing market is expected to grow significantly as
it migrates from standalone conferencing to fully integrated suites of
collaborative communications. While the adoption and usage of webconferencing is
expected to gain momentum over the next several years, the integration of
discrete communication applications into unified communication and collaboration
products are likely to blur the lines between webconferencing and other
technologies, such as audio and videoconferencing, instant messaging, unified
messaging, on-line shared workspaces, and document management solutions.

Sufia Tippu


maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in