telepresence

Telepresence, HD, 4K and managed video networks - where's the customer in all this?

We're now into 2014. I am sure that this is going to be the year of video.

When I joined RADVISION some 15 years ago, it was the year of video.

The next year? That was the year of video.

It continues until today with no real uptake of video conferencing in the enterprise.

By now I think it is safe to say that video conferencing in the enterprise will never really be here. There is no year for that in our calendar.

In the first quarter of 2013, worldwide enterprise videoconferencing and telepresence equipment revenue reached $563.4 million, a drop of 13.2 percent year over year and 21.9 percent quarter over quarter. This is the worst result for the segment since the second quarter of 2010, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

Last week, the UCStrategies group did its look-ahead podcast, and with so many analysts and consultants eager to share their crystal ball, we didn't each get much air time. If you've checked out the podcast, you'll know there many strong themes that will impact the UC space in 2013, and I could easily have picked any one of them to focus my year-end/year-ahead post on.

Telepresence is becoming more dynamic these days in an attempt to meet the increasing demand of enterprise users. No longer satisfied with poor quality sound and video, companies want a crisp resolution, flexible manipulation and content sharing, along with the ability to connect with users from a range of mobile devices. For the next generation of telepresence, emphasis will shift from the meeting itself to the quality of collaborative user experience.

As video conferencing systems become more widely installed, there are often questions about what size monitors and how many are required. While fixed Telepresence systems make this choice easy, most video conferencing systems come as a base unit (generally a small box the size of a mini-PC), and a camera and a table-top speaker. The selection the video displays and mounting/positioning is generally left to the customer or an integrator. The challenge is that often the resulting placement and room set-up leave much to be desired.

Cisco, at Enterprise Connect, has introduced new innovations designed for easier collaboration at anytime, anywhere. Included in these new solutions are new Cisco Jabber collaboration applications and Cisco TelePresence systems, providing customers with new mobility options.

LifeSize, a division of Logitech, has plugged its business-class video conferencing solution, LifeSize Passport, into Skype. With it, LifeSize Passport users can create Skype-based video calls worldwide, bringing Skype into the room-based enterprise video conference market.

HP has announced that new visual collaboration products have been made available. They can work for desktop and conference rooms, providing a high-definition video experience anywhere and at any time.

The HP Visual Collaboration offerings are software-based, and are designed to reduce the need for travel, thus saving expenses and reducing carbon emissions that come from transportation. Expanding upon HP Halo high-end studios, the solutions let customers run video conferencing over a managed network or their own for flexible collaboration.