Despite the benefits of video conferencing (VC) being widely acknowledged, the technology has also had very limited application in most organisations.
According to Divesh Nathoo, pre-sales manager at Kathea, this is because VC services were difficult to use, meaning organisations were faced with many challenges. "This has reduced the uptake of video-based solutions, as organisations have been unable to derive maximum value from their VC."
In the past, VC uptake was hampered by various limitations, he says, citing bandwidth and reliability on an ISDN-based network as longstanding problems. "VC solutions have also been viewed as complex, difficult to use, and in general, not worth the hassle," says Nathoo, in addition to them typically being used for internal communication.
Today, advancements in cloud computing and developments in VC technology allow organisations to leverage all of the benefits of VC with none of the drawbacks, he notes. "The growth of mobility and the popularity of the bring your own device (BYOD) trend have further pushed the boundaries of VC technology, with increased demand to make these services available on mobile devices."
According to Nathoo, the cloud acts as an enabler for delivering additional capabilities to VC, extending it outside of the organisation to enhance usability. "Cloud-based VC solutions also enable users on mobile devices such as laptops, tablets or smartphones to participate in a video conference in a secure manner, irrespective of where they are or the device they use. This opens up the VC market for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) communication, and extends VC to many more applications than ever before."
Cloud has moved VC beyond a room-based technology, he says. "For organisations wishing to adopt VC, the cloud also removes the barrier to entry resulting from the need to invest in expensive infrastructure - a hosted service in a neutral data centre on shared infrastructure allows for a flexible, fully scalable, pay-per-use model that makes VC affordable, not only for large enterprises, but for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well."
He describes the possibilities for VC as a result of cloud as being "practically endless". "By removing the technical barriers, cloud-based VC enables video to be used easily and intuitively by anyone with an Internet connection and a video-enabled device," notes Nathoo.
Kathea's first annual VISCOM event takes place on 16 July at Summer Place, in Johannesburg. To register to attend this event, click here.
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