Adoption of IP Communications Driving Video Conferencing Growth

Several key vendors have been promoting video conferencing solutions for several years, but with only limited traction, though the proliferation of high definition video capabilities and an increased number of available solutions have started helped increase adoption of late.

 

Widespread business trends have also helped drive video conferencing and telepresence solutions, including globalization, cost consciousness, and a growing emphasis on “going green.” And of course, the current economy may be the biggest driver yet, as more and more businesses are looking for ways to cut travel costs, without sacrificing collaboration and face to face meeting capabilities.

 

Wainhouse Research recently conducted it annual survey of video conferencing end users, and found that the two greatest drivers of visual collaboration and communications solutions are, in fact, travel reduction and improved decision making.

 

The survey, which included 247 video conferencing users, indicates that 23 percent of respondents either have deployed or are planning on deploying telepresence solutions within a year. That figure may climb as businesses increasingly look to succeed in a struggling economy.

 

Of the deployed systems, a third support at least 720p high definition video, a result of the lower cost of acquiring the large monitors required for room videoconferencing systems. There are several vendors, in fact, which provide the enabling technology and network connectivity, but allow users to select their own HD monitors, allowing them to make the most economical decisions possible.

 

Likewise, to support higher quality conferencing solutions, Wainhouse reports that 76 percent of video calls now run on IP networks, and increase of 9 percent from a year ago. This is in line with commonly held assertions that IP communications adoption is steadily increasing. In fact, Wainhouse also says it is seeing increased interest in integrating video conferencing solutions to Unified Communications (News - Alert) platforms — again not surprising, as adoption of UC solutions is also on the rise after a lengthy period of slow uptake.

 

With the increased adoption of IP communications networks, the next logical step is, in fact, the addition of video conferencing, which allows businesses to leverage their networking investments to deploy video solutions that deliver higher quality and reliability than ever before.

 

Companies like Polycom, Cisco, LifeSize, Tandberg, Vidyo, Telanetix and others are all benefiting from the growing interest on video communications. Polycom (News - Alert), in fact, has made the bet that desktop video conferencing will become widely adopted in the business world — it’s already becoming popular in both business and personal communications thanks to Skype (News - Alert), which requires merely an inexpensive Webcam. 

Polycom, earlier this year, announced its new VC2 vision, which is meant to make video communications as intuitive as dialing a phone. The first stage was its introduction of its Polycom Converged Management Application (CMA), which can deliver desktop video conferencing to as many as 5,000 devices — in addition to integrating room telepresence solutions.

 

How personal video solutions gain traction remains to be seen, but it is certainly the next logical step in the evolution of business communications. What is certain, however, is that, regardless of how quickly the economy improves, room video solutions will continue to grow, simply because of the benefits and convenience they instill in business environments.