With big communications companies buying small video teleconferencing startups, to startups expanding on their own, the future of the industry looks great for enterprises of all sizes.
Although many companies offer video conferencing solutions, not all have the same capabilities.
Finding Common Language
Nowadays, many video conferencing network providers are compatible with high-end hardware found in dedicated video conferencing rooms. The standards for video compression seem to increase every year. Currently, H.264 High-Profile is considered a prime codec, but H.264 SVC is gaining popularity.
But the high-end international standard codec for video telecommunication over the Internet is H.323. Unfortunately, not all companies can afford high-end equipment for conference rooms or for their employees in the form of mobile devices.
This is where the video conferencing buzzword “interoperability” comes in.Network providers that can bridge connections among various equipment standards such as Cisco equipment to iPhones have a huge advantage in the video conferencing market.
Messaging Convenience
Instant messaging has evolved quite a bit since the AOL days of the 1990s.Now, users have a choice among several richly featured programs. One of those features is video conferencing. Skype for Business is probably the most widely used IM software at enterprises simply because most companies use Microsoft Office for productivity. The only hardware required beyond the basic office workstation is a microphone and a webcam.
Another IM program getting a lot of attention nowadays is Slack. It’s what the cool kids are using, and it works well as a collaboration tool, says Jill Duffy of PCMag.com. Slack has replaced Facebook as the popular backchannel at work.
Although it does not have video conferencing capabilities built in, Slack offers tons of plugins. Probably for marketing purposes, Slack calls them integrations. If a user is working in Slack, he can connect with Blue Jeans, a cloud-based video teleconferencing network. This type of solution seems to be where the market is headed. Users don’t want to leave their IM program if they don’t have to, so some companies are fighting to catch up to Blue Jeans and Slack.
Not only can Blue Jeans work with Slack, it works with Skype for Business. The network also is interoperable with Google Hangouts, Polycom, Cisco, iPhone devices and Android devices. Most cellphones, tablets and laptops come with webcams and mics, nowadays. So if employees are out of the office but have access to a mobile device or laptop, they just need an Internet connection to use the Blue Jeans app or website to connect with a videoconference.
Apparently, Cisco is picking a fight with Slack and sparks are flying, according to Jeremy C. Owens of MarketWatch. Instead of wondering when the next cloud war will end and suffering through the bugs of new software, businesses can use Blue Jeans and work with just about any third-party video conferencing software.
Recently, Blue Jeans, which was founded in 2009, passed a high-profile test with baseball legend David Oritiz, according to Julie Bort of Business Insider. The Boston Red Sox player announced his retirement to an international audience via a video conference over the Blue Jeans network.
Better Than Phone Calls?
Sure instant messaging has reduced the number phone calls and emails employees send during a business day, but can video conferencing become a superior form of communication to phone calls? It definitely can eliminate a lot of meetings, says Simon Dudley of TechTarget.
One of the many drawbacks of the traditional conference call was the lack of visuals. Participants had to describe concepts with words, which led to huge gaps in communication. With modern video conferencing, participants cannot only see each other, they can share all kinds of visuals, such as:
- Video clips
- PowerPoint presentations
- Graphics
- Computer screens
This visual advantage cuts down on the confusion and misunderstandings people normally face with instant messages, emails or phone calls.
Expanding Markets
Even Santa Claus has adopted video conferencing for some of his business communications, according to Chris Larson of KSL.com. Meanwhile Shriners Hospital for Children and other medical organizations are using video conferencing for telemedicine.
With affordable and accessible video conferencing solutions, businesses of all sizes can take advantage of decreased overhead and increased productivity while becoming more agile and reaching new customers more efficiently.
Be Safe
As with any software that accesses the Internet, businesses should be wary of security. New threats appear all the time. Recently, the Dorkbot worm stated claiming victims, according to an alert from TruShield Inc. A secure cloud-based network can go a long way to toward keeping videoconferences private when needed.
Blue Jeans has quite an elaborate security setup. The physical locations of the Blue Jeans servers are guarded 24/7, and the buildings have biometric access controls. At the cloud level, the network is protected by firewalls, proxy servers, and load balancers. The Blue Jeans application is password protected, and individual meetings can have additional protection if necessary.
