Once restricted by resources and widespread acceptance, the visual collaboration services market is now on the rise as new technologies, coupled with the economic downturn and need to reduce spending, is making the technology a larger part of a company’s unified communications tools.

 

“A perfect storm of technological, economic, and environmental developments has brought visual collaboration to the forefront again,” Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) said in its latest research report.

to the forefront again.”

The report, “World Visual Collaboration Managed Services Markets,” found that the market earned $82.7 million in 2008. And it’s only going to grow. By 2015, it is projected to rise to $938.3 million, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 162.4 percent.

 

“A driver that is most likely [going] to contribute to the growth of the visual collaboration market is the reduction of travel required by a company,” Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Iwona Petruczynik said in a statement. “This can create significant cuts in business costs and help improve productivity levels; employees can conduct their businesses without the need to meet face-to-face with their clients or partners. New models offered by service providers that do not require up-front capital expenditure by customers are also adding to the widespread adoption of visual collaboration services globally.”

 

Travel isn’t the only driver. Employees are also concerned about their businesses’ environmental impact. With an eye on the so-called “green trend,” more companies are embracing eco-friendly solutions that don’t require a large investment.

 

Beyond that, companies are companies executives want to kept their dispersed workers in touch. Employees who are spread across different locations need to stay in contact with one another, as well as their clients. The recent swine flu pandemic, for example, proved that using online collaboration tools helped keep businesses functioning, Frost & Sullivan said.

 

Greg Plum (News - Alert), director of business development for The Conference Group, a provider of audio, video and Web conferencing services, said Frost & Sullivan is on target with its research.  The notion that video and Web conferencing tools are only going to grow is something The Conference Group (News - Alert) has been steadily emphasizing to its customers.

 

“This certainly adds validity to online collaboration of all genres,” Plum told TMCnet.

 

“With the decreasing cost of bandwidth and the ubiquity of endpoints, which are simply Internet browsers and webcams for many desktop videoconferencing services, the masses can now enjoy true video conferencing with no capital expense and nominal ongoing costs,” he said. “Many services are offered as a flat-rate for unlimited use, enabling the enterprise to easily control expenses.”

 

To capitalize on the market, Frost & Sullivan advises vendors to know customer applications and requirements and to develop products to fulfill their needs.