Videoconferencing: The World On Your Screen

Picture this. You meet a key and influential corporate client, and the moment
the discussion is over, you exchange cards with him. Usually on a visiting card,
you may find details like name, designation and contacts. For obvious reasons,
contacts is one section on the card that is of greater relevance to you, and
includes details like mobile, e-mail, fax number, telephone number and website.

So while you run through the details very quickly, you get stuck at one
point. Reason, this card carries a 'video' number as well. And you have no clue
what it means and how you can get in touch with your client on the video.

That is the power of videocon­ferencing (VC) and one area where vendors like
Tandberg, Polycom, LifeSize and Sony are making significant contribution through
their array of products in bringing the world to your client's desk.

Staying connected under all circumstances is one challenge that an
organization faces day in and day out. Given the contemporary scenario, where
the growth of an organization and an individual directly depends upon their
ability to communicate with customers in real time, VC has emerged as the most
efficient tool.

Whether it is an annual meet, conference, media interaction or planning
session, VC serves as the best platform to make communication naturally, without
the need to be in one location at the same time. This was also the message
Tandberg conveyed during its Now-A series of interactive visual communication
seminars across India.

So, as we sat inside the lobby with two wide screens displayed before us, we
found ourselves interacting with Johan Gjesdahl, VP-M&A and Business
Development, Tandenberg, and Jeanne Lim, Director-Marketing for Asia Pacific,
Tandenberg.

Not only could we hear and see these people, it was interesting to interact
with them as well, despite the miles separating us, in real time face to face.
They were also able to share presentations and documents to give us an insight
into their ventures so far.

Adding to it, at any given point of time, they could concentrate on any
individual who wished to ask a question or state his ideas, and it was vice
versa for us. In spite of sitting at remote locations, we were accessible to
each other and discussing as if the other people sitting right across the table.

Why it makes sense

VC products can be used as a productivity tool and a viable communication
option. In order to keep the business momentum growing, organizations need to
conduct meetings and hold conferences on a regular basis. This also implies that
the key decision makers and enterprise managers will have to travel all the way
to stay connected and deliver the message across to individuals at all levels
within the organization.

The immediate impact of this is that the companies will have to shell out
money as part of their traveling expense. Thus, these VC products enable the
organiza­tions to avoid the traveling cost, and hence accelerate the decision
making, scale knowledge, unify the organization and enhance work/life balance as
it creates opportunities for employees to work from home.

Dinesh Sehgal, Regional Director-India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Tandberg said,
“Business drivers across the globe are grappling with these issues and need to
send information across to the people on a regular basis. Hence, VC is the
perfect solution to these problems.”

Given that the technology is user-friendly and widely accepted, there is no
need to push the products. Therefore India, which is being viewed as the most
potential destination to further the concept, will see companies like Tandberg
holding seminars and demonstrations. It will also provide education on the
advantages of installing the facility within the organization.

On the other hand, Pooja Sharma, Marketing Manager-India, Tandberg was of the
view that people are aware of the concept of VC within India, and there is no
need for them to create any further awareness.

“At present, Tandberg has a marketshare of 30-35 percent within India. Since
the channel partners in India are capable enough, Tandberg will concen­trate on
organizing dedicated partner development programs and address multiple issues
through the same,” added Sharma. As of now, the company has partners like HCL
and Godrej, among others in the pipeline.

User-friendly VC

So how are these products user-friendly? In the first place, the technology
itself is transparent. Secondly, in order to hold a videoconference, one need
not remember the entire IP address and numbers. The user just needs to dial the
name of the person to get connected. Apart from this, Tandberg's movie scanner
enables PC users with a webcam to join an enterprise-wide video-conferencing
network and communicate visually with colleagues for enhanced produc­ti­vity
from anywhere they need to work. Thus, all one needs to do is click on the
directory and get in touch with the desired person.

Environment is a concern

Installing these products related to VC also helps save the environment.
Since it requires less traveling by air, it helps in the reduction of energy
consump­tion, carbon dioxide emission and traffic congestion. It also saves on
traveling cost, which is good for both employees and the company.

VC is gaining popularity

According to Yugal Sharma, Country Manager, Polycom India, VC is the gaining
popularity because it has simple applications, and in a global scenario,
organizations face a major problem of distance and time barrier. Since they want
to enhance the decision making process, and are looking for high performance and
are becoming more competitive, VC gives them greater return on investment (RoI)
if they deploy the solution.

On the other hand, Abhimanyu Gupta, Director, Actis Technologies suggest,
“Commu­ni­cating at all levels, including body language, which plays a
significant role in effective communication which is very impor­tant. VC is fast
becoming one of the most extensively used modes of communication, especially
amongst the corporate. It also meets their need for multi-party conferencing in
high definition.”

K Shivasankar, Country Head, LifeSize Communications India agreed to Gupta
that facial expressions and gestures are important for communication across
cultures. “In addition, air travel is getting more expensive and time-consuming.
The desire to save time and money is universal, so the desire to communicate
frequently and effectively without traveling transcends all markets. A desire to
pollute less has also led to global boom in the VC market,” added Shivsankar.

If you look at businesses today and how they are changing, there is a whole
lot of pressure that is involved. One has to reach on time, negotiate on time,
and above all, be ahead of time. VC enables users to do all that immediately. So
be it negotiations, HR interviews, advice from doctors for telemedicine,
judiciary or police, VC caters to every segment.

Sony has an entire range of solutions to meet the end-customers'
requirements. In the education segment, Sony has a tracking camera, G-70, which
has a face and motion tracking element to it. For instance, in a class full of
students sitting at a remote location whenever and wherever the professor, who
is physically in another place, moves, the camera will focus in that direction.

According to industry estimates, the audio-VC industry in India stood at Rs
100 crore at the end of 2006-07, up from Rs 65 core in the preceding financial
year, and is likely to grow at a CAGR of 24.9 percent till 2011.

Challenges are immense

However, there are several challenges that the vendors have to face.
According to Sharma of Polycom, while the benefits are immense and companies
enjoy RoI in less than one year, cultural mindset of the people acts as the
biggest hindrance. While people acknowledge the idea of VC, convincing them
becomes a tough task, as they feel that the warmth we can share in a personal
meet cannot be replaced by the technology. However, since the last three to four
years, ever since stable networking came into place, and with increase in the
usage of ISDN and IP networks, the scenario is changing.

Secondly, people within an organization have a mindset, whereby they believe
that completely cutting down on traveling is not a good idea. People in the
sub-continent love to travel and keeping in mind the above situation, we tell
the customers that once their deal is through, then they can travel all the way
to shake hands, and for the rest of the process deploy VC tools.

Shivasankar also added that there is a need to educate customers about the
benefits of moving to the next generation of technology while buying VC
solutions. “Before LifeSize launched its products, the VC technology in use was
almost 15 years old. Hence, there is need to share with users and educate them
about the benefits of high-definition (HD) VC technology, it is not a product of
luxury but one that helps meet business requirements very effectively. Besides,
there is a myth in the market that HD VC means very high cost of owning,” said
Shivsankar.

One of Lifesize's central design philosophies is to deliver superior quality
at any band­width, and with IP networks now ubiquitous, most organizations have
the available bandwidth to handle high-definition video calls without
modification. Of course, we can work with customers who have ISDN lines
installed. But IP networks remove multiple barriers to entry, including the need
for separate wiring and services.

Trends in VC

VC has undergone various trends. In the first phase, there was the concept
of group conferencing, where 10 to 15 people used to walk down to the conference
room and have discussions. Then came the phase where people saw desktop
conferencing, whereby there was no requirement to move away from the desk, and
by merely connecting a webcam to the PC and laptop, one could use VC as per
their own requirements. This is one area where Polycom provides its products
like that of PVX client-based solution. While this one is for the masses, there
are other products for the classes as well, wherein a thin-film transistor (TFT)
panel, which is available in different sizes, is connected with a laptop and it
supports the executives to avail the benefits of VC. Thus, Polycom has products
like VSX-3000 and V7-100, which are made entirely for the classes.

The third trend is that people are now looking forward to broadcast quality
as far as the visual display is concerned. Today, different people have
different requirements, so the requirements of an exporter, architect, technical
companies and banks are different from each other. For example, an architect may
need to share his drawings, and thus he would look for the best of the broadcast
quality to show his drawings to the prospective customer and client.

Fourth wave has come in the form of high-definition, where people look for
true picture and sound quality, and user-friendly products to support their
business.

According to Gupta of Actis Technologies, “The emerging segments in VC are
that of telemedicine, tele-justice, distance learning, and HR and recruitment.”

Pooja Sharma

poojas@cybermedia.co.in