Since video conferencing technology was first introduced in the sixties, it has made significant advances while becoming more affordable. We have seen a rapid uptake of video across all business segments driven by insistence on open standards, integration of best-of-breed communication solutions and the widespread availability of bandwidth. Coupled with the fact that we are fast becoming a visual society, mainstream adoption is not far off.In today’s global economy, video communication or ‘telepresence’ as it’s also known, creates true location liberation, enabling engaging conversations that defy distance, cost, time and significant business disruption. But how does this translate into measurable business benefits?Value through collaborationWhile the video conferencing market is growing, clarity is still needed around the strategic business benefits it provides.One of the biggest myths relates to cost being the only measurable benefit. While it’s important and immediate, companies should take a broader view. Measuring operational workflows and evaluating creative financing options will drive a more compelling ROI and create business value and need. According to Wainhouse Research, while companies using video solutions are saving approximately 30% on travel, they see benefits in other areas.These can include, but are not limited to:
- Time-to-market reduced by up to 24%
- Downtime is minimised by 27% on average
- Training costs drop by 25%;
- HR recruitment times shrink by nearly 19%
- Sales-related savings are roughly 24%
How does this translate in real world terms? Outlined are just a few examples. Support teams use video conferencing to create more personal relationships and build customer loyalty versus traditional call centre models. Manufacturers are using video to verify product quality, making changes and to ensure supply chain accuracy, while competitors rely on next day delivery services.Closer to home, Polycom quarterly Asia Pacific management meetings are held using video and telepresence, accruing annualised savings of US$1M. Add recruitment processes and workforce collaborations and this figure rises exponentially. Many of our customers achieve complete ROI on their investments in one to six months.Conferencing evolutionTo be competitive, video conferencing providers must stay ahead of the technological curve. One of the biggest evolutions in our industry has been taking video conferencing out of the boardroom as part of a broader unified communications (UC) strategy - allowing people to communicate and collaborate anywhere, at any time, and on multiple devices.We are seeing an increase in virtualisation and hosted cloud offerings, the pervasiveness of ‘video everywhere’ and a growing number of mobile applications entering the business space that enable on-demand real-time video communication. So what does this mean?The perception of video conferencing being synonymous with boardrooms is fast becoming redundant. Workers today are demanding more flexibility from their communications tools, with organisations using desktop video solutions as a way to not only complement existing telepresence deployments, but to satisfy increased demand to go beyond the boardroom. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2015, over 200 million workers globally will run corporate-supplied video conferencing from their desktops.The trend toward cloud services is having a powerful impact on voice and video communications. Cloud services call for reduced complexity in video infrastructure, so that scalable and inexpensive video networks can be built by service providers. This 'pay only for what you use' service model is a very attractive proposition for businesses looking to expand their UC solution in a cost-effective way, especially for SMBs that do not have large IT departments to support on-premise systems, whether that's voice or video.When it comes to a mobile telepresence strategy, organisations demand two things: to be able to extend the reach of telepresence to external customer locations and mobile devices and create the best experience possible through simple click-to-call functionality and tight integration with multiple devices and solution sets.With the influx of new tablet devices and smartphones, which are faster and more capable of handling the demands of enterprise communications, coupled with standards-based HD video and telepresence solutions, it is becoming much easier to incorporate mobile into the telepresence environment.One of the commonly held myths about video conferencing is that it requires too much bandwidth. This is no longer true. Since the arrival of H.264 High Profile compression standard, bandwidth requirements for telepresence have been reduced by up to 50 percent. The benefit to companies is obvious with decreased network costs, expanded usage options and improved user experience. Video conferencing and telepresence can be used more cost effectively to more people and overcomes a major barrier to entry.Looking to the futureThe widespread adoption and competitive advantage of companies using video as part of a broader unified Communications solution is fast becoming reality with more powerful networks, widespread availability of bandwidth and open operating standards.Looking ahead, we will continue to see video communications moving beyond the boardroom, extending to business-to-business applications as organisations seek to leverage unified communication investments to collaborate with customers and partners.The growing demand, emerging markets and evolving applications require new solutions and services to meet broader customer requirements for acquiring, using and managing unified communications. A future where we are truly a visual society is not as far away as you think.
