Video conferencing has greatly evolved, according to Tandberg, the global provider of telepresence, high-definition video conferencing and mobile video products and services.
Today's IT suppliers offer a bewildering array of solutions that promise to help companies achieve tighter communication cost control, the company says, but can video communications provide cost reductions and productivity improvements?
“Gone are prohibitive equipment costs, lengthy set-up times and the frustrations of delays and 'jitter' that hamper sound and picture quality. These days, a new breed of video communications systems offers unprecedented ease of use at a wide range of price points,” says Bryan Thompson, Tandberg area manager for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Alfred Pordan, service head of the multimedia department at steel giant Arcelor Mittal, which uses Tandberg video communications widely throughout its global operations, says seeing people at actual size and being able to read their body language helps them better understand each other and enables everyone to emphasise their points more fully. “Furthermore, individuals can consult, modify and exchange documents in real-time from one side of the conference table to the other,” he adds.
Many of the bandwidth issues that dogged earlier-generation systems, notes the company, have been overcome. Video communications vendors have also refined their data compression techniques - reducing the bandwidth requirements of their systems - and set the scene for unified communications.
The adoption of SIP, says Thompson, means video conferencing systems can be integrated with desktop collaboration environments such as Microsoft Office Communications Server, allowing participants in a conference to co-author documents, share presentations and amend spreadsheets together.
“These days, video communications aren't elitist tools for the upper echelons of management - they're relevant to everyone in the business,” Thompson says.
“What we see in video communications right now is a 'perfect storm' - the convergence of mature networks, quality technology and accessible prices with current business concerns: the need to reduce unnecessary travel, to meet environmental obligations and to achieve better rates of productivity,” ends Dominic Dodds, analyst with research company Frost & Sullivan.
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