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Get Ready for IP Videomail

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Get Ready for IP Videomail

 
May 01, 2014

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  By Mae Kowalke, TMCnet Contributor

We all know and use voicemail. But with the rise of ubiquitous video recording and the bandwidth to share it thanks to smartphone adoption, will videomail join voicemail as a daily communications medium?

The videomail concept sounds promising: Instead of scheduling a time when two business colleagues can meet over videoconferencing, workers can send a quick video message or demonstration asynchronously like leaving a voice message.

The advantage of videomail is not just that is skips the hassle of having to corral two busy people at the same time, but that it also encourages brevity. A fair amount of time spent on video conferencing actually is spent with formalities and discussion about the quality of the video conference, but in a videomail environment this can all be skipped (or fast-forwarded in the case of rambling videomails).


It also is increasingly technically possible thanks to the move from 3G to 4G LTE (News - Alert) mobile broadband speeds. With smartphone adoption running at about 70 percent in the U.S., according to telecom business enable firm, Converse, most business users can now both send and receive videomails without it being a strain.

The biggest advantage of videomail, however, is that it avoids the trap that besets most impromptu video calls: since the messages are asynchronous, participants have the time to primp their hair and adjust their tie before a video message takes place; far too often, video calls are quietly stymied by participants who are not ready to be on camera. But that is less of an issue when the person can press record when ready, which is the case with videomail.

Will videomail find adoption with business users and the public at large, however? Or, is the technology just a novelty that sounds good on paper?

My prediction is that videomail does have a shot at establishing itself. Eventually.

Many people in their 30s or above might see it as unnecessary or not worth the effort, but the younger generations will take to it because in essence they already have.

Over-the-top unified communications services such as WhatsApp already offer short video messaging as part of their offerings, and there’s no sign that these features are going away.

Social networks that traffic in short videos also are on the verge of becoming the next big thing, if pundits such as social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk are to be believed. Twitter (News - Alert) has launched a new service called Vine, for instance, that focuses on short video clips that look remarkably similar to videomail.

Even if older generations do not adopt videomail, younger users will use it as a way to communicate more richly than with voicemail or text.

Videomail already is here. We just don’t know it yet.




Edited by Alisen Downey
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