Mobile Video

If you asked a group of network operators and mobile device manufacturers to identify the biggest driver of innovation in the communications space today, the majority would probably point to mobile video.

The demand for mobile video content and communications has helped inspire next-generation networks and more advanced smartphones and tablets, not to mention a host of new integrated video applications.

As one of the hottest spaces in the market, mobile video will be a dominant topic of discussion at ITEXPO East 2012, set to kick off on Feb. 1 at the Miami Convention Center. To get the juices flowing, TMC CEO Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) reached out to Anatoli Levine, Sr. Director of Product Management at video conferencing and communication specialist RADVISION.

Levine will be taking part in one of ITEXPO's most highly anticipated presentations, The Realities of Mobile Videoconferencing, which will also feature executives from RadiSys, Hookflash and Dialogic (News - Alert).

In the interview with Tehrani, Levine points out that the mobile market has now progressed to the point that video communications is both device and network-agnostic. You don't need to have an iPhone and be with AT&T to video chat; mobile video is everywhere – consumers can now pick the network and device that suits their needs, he says.

Still, challenges remain. Most notably: how do service providers and content developers monetize mobile video – an expensive medium that consumers have shown reluctance to pay for. Finding the right business model to effectively deliver mobile video will be an end goal that will be discussed openly at ITEXPO.

Read below to check out the rest of the conversation – including Levine's thoughts on social media, Microsoft's (News - Alert) future in the mobile OS market and his big tech prediction for 2012 – or head to ITEXPO to hear from him directly.

What was the most significant technological advancement in the past 12 months and why?

In my opinion, the iPad stays the most significant technological advancement of the past 12 months. The reason is simple – it changed the way we communicate and consume information and the interface with which we do this. It also revolutionized the industry and led to creation of tablets from most of Apple’s (News - Alert) competitors, which will, in turn, facilitate the growth of the tablet market.

What has been the biggest trend in your market segment and how is it impacting your customers?

Video communication (end–to-end video communications is what RADVISION does) is becoming network and device-agnostic. Availability of the 4G networks (including LTE, WiMax and WiFi) makes high quality video communication possible on mobile devices and creates demand – but there will also always be a need for a high-quality experience. The ability to access video with the device and over the network that best meets your needs at any given time is what will help propel this industry forward.

What is the biggest challenge facing your customers today and how is your company helping address that challenge?

When it comes to mass-deployment of mobile video communications, monetization becomes one of the most challenging elements. It is neither simple nor cheap to deliver high quality video on mobile devices; however, by the sheer nature of the medium, users are not inclined to pay for the video communication.

Finding the right business model for mobile video communications is one of the biggest challenges for mobile video communications. RADVISION freely distributes its mobile app, and anyone invited to the a SCOPIA virtual room can instantly download the app and join the meeting – no licenses required – much like the WebEx and audio conferencing models. By simplifying the ability to join these meetings and making the user interface as intuitive as possible, we are helping drive adoption of mobile video.

How has the cloud impacted your business? How has it impacted your customers?

I feel like “the cloud” is more of a marketing term than anything else. Hosted services and client-server models have existed for many years – for instance, in 2001, the company called Telverse was delivering SIP-based hosted VoIP services to the clients. Dramatic increase in the network reliability, speed and bandwidth lead to the significant increase of the network based client-server solutions, which we like to call the cloud nowadays.

RADVISION as a business provider fully supports the cloud model for infrastructure (you don’t have to own conferencing bridge anymore, you can only own a few ports), and for the client (you can control your video clients from the cloud), which simplifies delivery of video communication business solutions for our partners and customers. To this end, we’ve offered cloud-based video conferencing for many years, and our mobile, desktop and room-based systems all take advantage of our cloud-based solution.

Will cloud-based communications expedite the end of the premises-based PBX market?

Not immediately – large enterprise still want to retain the control of certain IT and networking solutions. At some point – it may happen, but technological predictions often tend to be a bit dramatic for the purposes of creating lively discussions.

What approach has your business taken to social media? If you have implemented a social media program, have you been able to evaluate your program’s success?

As any other business today, RADVISION is taking full advantage of social media capabilities – we are active on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter (News - Alert), YouTube and to some extent, Google+. We are actively engaging with our audiences and growing our social media community. Facebook "Likes," Twitter’s re-tweets, Google’s +1s are essential methods of “branding” today, and they are definitely useful in keeping customers and community informed, and helping to keep conversations going.

Does every business need a social media presence? Why or why not?

It seems that in today’s world social media presence is an inevitable fact of business life. If your business doesn’t have social media presence, it literally means that you're missing out on an opportunity to truly engage with your customers. Social media facilitates conversation and provides opportunity to create ongoing dialog with the customer – and ability engage your customer is critical factor of the business success.

With Microsoft touting tight integration between its mobile and desktop OS, can it become a major competitor in the enterprise mobile market?

All players in enterprise mobile market offer a fair amount of integration today. With the "consumerization of IT," which essentially means that we’re bringing our personal devices into the enterprise and expecting them to integrate with our business applications, this integration is becoming a requirement. 

While Microsoft is joining its competitors a bit late according to some, it’s mobile OS integration will be welcome to users of Microsoft mobile devices, and since it’s Microsoft, which predominately owns the enterprise market, it will likely be a level of integration unmatched by its competitors.

What can attendees expect from your company at ITEXPO?

RADVISION was one of the founders of IP-based video conferencing. Today we continue to innovate across our product portfolio – from our infrastructure and core technologies like to our hardware and software-based video clients, we enable our customers to have the best possible video experience over unmanaged networks on the wide range of devices.

Make one technology prediction for 2012 and consider its impact.

Impossible. Can I instead predict things which will not happen in 2012? For instance, 3D and Holographic video-conferencing (or telepresence for that matter) will not become mass-phenomenon in 2012.

Okay, if you really insist on predictions, I would think that Natural Interfaces (like Microsoft Kinect, Prime Sense and similar) will make a big impact in the way we control and communicate with devices, and will continue impacting gaming industry on the big scale.

Want to learn more about business video? Then be sure to attend the Business Video Expo, collocated with TMC’s ITEXPO East 2012, happening NOW in Miami, FL. The Business Video Expo highlights the latest strategies and technologies available to executives who are serious about leveraging emerging video communications capabilities to build competitive advantage. By bringing together the industry’s most innovative video technology vendors with end-users who are pioneering the use of video in the corporate environment, the Business Video Expo mirrors a burgeoning market -- no longer just a corporate novelty -- with a growing appetite for learning the best practices in implementing video to make business communications more engaging and effective. For more information on registering for the Business Video Expo click here.

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Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Rich Steeves