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Towards convergence

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VoicenData Bureau
New Update

Technologies that would be the building blocks of a converged

conferencing system of the future

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Enterprises

are growing continuously, and expanding to make their presence felt

globally-exposing themselves to a geographically diverse set of competitors.

This requires them to continuously stay connected with multiple locations, which

is a challenging task. It is practically impossible for a professional to be

physically present at all places; it will also mean higher costs and lower

efficiency.

This is where

conferencing is proving to be a boon for businesses today. This entirely new way

of communication over long distances enables enterprises to cut costs, increase

productivity, and save time. Conferencing has given all groups the power of

choice for interactive communication, and offers a positive alternative to

people who are unable to be present physically but want to be productive.

Professionals are no longer bound by the limitations of time, location, or a

traditional office. The implications of conferencing are profound and the

technology is shaping the future of the very nature of how we work.

Initially,

conferencing was largely voice and video. There were separate audio, video, and

data applications and networks, which functioned as unconnected islands of

communication. There was a distinct conferencing industry with identifiable

layers.

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VIDEO

CONFERENCING VS WEB CONFERENCING







Video Conferencing
     

  • Transmits

    audio and video

  • Requires

    huge investment in equipment and bandwidth          

  • Does

    not support data transfer

  • Does

    not support recording

              

Web

Conferencing

  • Transmits

    audio, video and data

  • Though

    bandwidth is essential, requires only a PC and a webcam

  • Files

    can be shared and modified

  • Supports

    record and playback

As the conferencing

technology progressed, convergence became the mantra. Voice, data, and video

started converging onto a single platform, and conferencing integration caused a

buzz in the industry with enterprises choosing cost effective ways. Integrated

seamless communication and real time information gathering and processing

systems have become necessary for firms to maintain a competitive edge.

Today, the separate

realms of audio and video conferencing have vanished and a visual medium of

communication has become the order of the day.

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Video Conferencing: Towards IP



There is no doubt that we are living in a video world. Video-enabled

communication solutions are steadily gaining popularity, and this is reflected

in the growing market for video conferencing solutions in Asia as well as the

rest of the world.  According to

Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific, the video conferencing infrastructure systems

market totaled $56 mn in 2004, with a prospect of reaching $181.1 mn in 2011.

In-Stat/MDR also predicted that the value of global video conferencing end

points would be nearly $875 mn in 2007, and that of video conferencing services

will be $5.5 bn. ”Video conferencing equipment market is at Rs 60 crore, and

other related equipment and services market is Rs 30 crore”, said Anil Jain,

general manager, Marketing, Siemens

The video conferencing

technology is now shifting from ISDN to IP. With the rise of IP,

packet-based communication solutions began to find their way into the

enterprise

A typical video

conferencing is associated with ISDN room conferencing systems. It was the first

generation technology, which enabled communication between enterprises

throughout the world. But the cost incurred in using and deploying this

technology was very high. Moreover, the users had to gather in a particular room

and data (files, folders etc) could not be transferred. Although having a

definite advantage over physical meetings, it still could not provide businesses

the kind of mobility they desired as it still depended on rooms equipped with

video conferencing equipment, availability of which was rare.

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Things have changed.

Video conferencing is today focused on new, enabling technologies that allow us

to visually communicate, person-to-person or group-to-group over any network,

any protocol, and any device.

The underlying

technologies that make visual communications possible have dramatically

improved. Bandwidth potential has multipled exponentially and continues to be

more affordable. The video conferencing technology is now shifting from ISDN to

IP. With the rise of IP, packet- based communication solutions began to find

their way into the enterprise. According to Frost & Sullivan, end-users in

the Asia Pacific region are fast shifting from ISDN to IP- based video

conferencing that comes with better compression features and lesser bandwidth

costs. Currently, more than two-thirds of video conferencing is done though IP

networks. Even the video conferencing equipment market sees IP as a boost in

popularity of video conferencing. According to Sachin Prabhudesai, regional

manager, Projects, Actis Technologies, “With media or the link to video

conferencing switching over to IP, we see a definite growth for the next 4-5

years in India. He adds that a drop in video conferencing equipment prices is

also helping the market grow.

Yugal Sharma, country

manager, Polycom also favors using IP technology for video conferencing, “With

greater availability of IP broadband services, India will be able to take

advantage of this medium that allows greater productivity, increased time for

market for competitive industries, and helps in saving both costs and time that

is lost in travel.” Thus, IP has become the right network at the right time.

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Analysts believe that

the revenues for the video conferencing endpoints markets are likely to have a

compounded annual growth rate of 16.1% between 2004 and 2011, and the major

cause for this would be technological advancements and IP deployment.

According to Frost

& Sullivan, after Japan and China, India is set to emerge as the third

largest market in the conferencing arena by end 2011. With migration to IP

technology going full throttle, along with the rise in adoption of collaborative

applications, the Asia Pacific market for video conferencing endpoints is poised

for a healthy growth.

BENEFITS

OF IP BASED VIDEO CONFERENCING

Higher

quality Video/Audio:
  IP

video calls tend to offer better quality audio and video than ISDN based

connections. The reason for this improvement is that IP networks are able

to offer more bandwidth than previously available with ISDN. Since the

audio and video quality during videoconferencing is heavily bandwidth

dependent, IP based calls using more bandwidth will offer better quality.



Improved Reliability:
  IP

based video calls require only a single connection and therefore provide

improved reliability.



Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation:
IP networks dynamically allocate the

available bandwidth based on user and application requirements. This means

that even though a video system is connected to a 10 mbit IP data line,

the network will not reserve any bandwidth for the video system until a

call is placed. In addition, once a call is placed, the system will

provide the video system with the exact amount of bandwidth it requires.



Centralised Management:
As IP video systems are connected to the

corporate LAN/WAN, they can often be controlled and managed by centralized

management systems. These management tools are typically software

solutions that allow the conferencing support staff to manage the deployed

video systems remotely and in bulk.



Improved Statistics:
  Corporate

IP conferencing environments often use a product called a gatekeeper to

control and track their video-conferencing usage. True to their name,

gatekeepers track the status of all video systems and grant users and

systems permission to place and receive video calls. In addition,

gatekeepers can provide detailed usage statistics for all systems on the

network.



Simplified Billing & Cost Allocation:


IP based video systems tend to communicate with central management

systems and video gatekeepers. These two management devices keep track of

each and every call made and received by the video system. By applying

basic cost rules to this call detail information, support managers can

easily generate usage based billing and departmental cost allocations.

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The changing need in

the communications market calls for scalable and interoperable solutions that

support packet networks. The growing number of optimized packet platforms

replacing circuit switched platforms is a clear indication that IP networks are

a significant factor in the telephony network market.

As far as the quality

of video/audio over IP networks is concerned, it tends to be better than

ISDN-based connections. The reason for this is that IP networks are able to

offer more bandwidth than ISDN.

According to Sharma,

“The quality and quantity of calls is determined by the processing power of

IP-based networks. Network administrators must plan how many simultaneous

sessions will be required to run across the IP network as well as current data

capacity that would run on the same network. Scalability and performance are

directly impacted by the processing power of the network.

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"One of the main

drivers of web conferencing is increased adoption and availability of

broadband"



-Kiran Dattar
, MD, WebEx Communications



"Corporates are

looking at saving costs, which is substantial in case of web
conferencing"



-Shailesh Mehta
, CEO, Gurukulonline

“The video

conferencing market is moving towards rich media collaboration and video

communication rather than traditional room based video conferencing. New

technologies, intelligent architectures and cheaper clients have resulted in

rich media collaboration moving down the organizational hierarchy; out of the

boardroom and on to the desktop “ says Jain. That is why IP is so appealing.

Media rich IP for voice and visual communication enables service providers and

manufacturers to offer a variety of services and develop IP devices such as

switches, gateways bridges etc in increasing numbers.

The availability of

high-bandwidth networks is continuously expanding to reach all corners of the

globe. This is what makes IP based rich media collaborative communication

application possible. With the promise of evermore-affordable bandwidth, the IP

protocol lends itself to cost effective data collaboration, voice telephony, and

multipoint visual communication.

Web Conferencing: It's the

Future



Small companies are gearing up to go international with the power of the

Internet. This is driving the growth of the web conferencing market. Using

Internet to provide virtual meeting spaces is becoming one of the hottest

marketing trends for businesses across all industry lines. Traditional business

travel and telephone conference-call strategies are quickly being replaced by

web conferencing and web-based seminars.

With the recent rise

in demand around web conferencing technologies, IDC predicts that the

conferencing applications' market will grow to more than $41.1 bn in 2007.

Shailesh Mehta, CEO, Gurukul Online says, “With the availability of broadband,

both wireless and wire line increasing, and prices dropping, the market for web

conferencing is set to explode. Besides, now more companies are offering web

conferencing on ASP basis; quality of features have improved and prices have

become more competitive.”

According to Gartner,

the World Wide Web conferencing and team based collaboration market currently

stands at $680 mn and will reach $1.1 bn by 2008.

Why is web

conferencing picking up pace internationally as well as in India? According to

Kiran Dattar, managing director, WebEx Communications India,“ one of the main

drivers of web conferencing is increased adoption and availability of broadband.

In India the increased adoption of broadband in smaller towns, coupled with the

government taking steps to provide Internet connectivity to these towns, will

definitely pave the way for increased adoption of web based collaborative

applications like web conferencing.”

Mehta is of the view

that “Key drivers of web conferencing are convenience and cost saving factors.

With broadband availability increasing and prices dropping, the web conferencing

market has reached an inflexion point.”

The surge in the BPO

sector is also one of the key factors of increasing demand of web conferencing

in India. According to Sharma, “Ploycom sees the ITES and BPO sector adopting

web and other conferencing in a large way.”

Dattar says “India

inc is riding the outsourcing wave and thereby realizing the need to communicate

with different geographies on a regular basis, at real time, and is looking at

web conferencing and online meetings to improve efficiencies and

productivity.”

Web conferencing is gaining

popularity day by day and can safely be termed as the conferencing

technology of the future

Other verticals which

are contributing significantly in making web conferencing popular are BFSI,

healthcare, education, and consulting.  According

to Dattar, with technological advancements like presentation sharing,

application sharing and remote control, high performance and reliability etc,

web conferencing today is as easy as logging into your e-mail.

Enterprise usage of

web conferencing is fast shifting from presentation to collaboration. According

to Frost & Sullivan, web conferencing helps in reducing operating costs;

minimizing unnecessary travel; enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of

communication; delivering clear, concise and consistent training; encouraging

real time collaboration between distant and local coworkers; etc.

Mehta says,

“Corporates are looking at saving costs, which is substantial in the case of

web conferencing. With broadband availability increasing and prices dropping,

the web conferencing market has reached an inflexion point.”

Web conferencing

security and quality of service has long been an area of concern for the

enterprise. Over the years, a number of conference management features and

encryption technology has been integrated to combat and minimize enterprise

concern. “Today, conducting a meeting or a seminar through a web conference is

as safe as having one in an enclosed room. With the web conferencing solutions

available today, the security and reliability of sharing critical data over a

web conference is the same as that enjoyed in a closed boardroom or seminar

hall,” says Dattar.

Now we can safely say

that the conferencing software has matured. Web- conferencing vendors have

minimized the security and quality of service concerns by ensuring improved

setup, configuration and user experience. Every conferencing vendor is concerned

with providing a more secure experience for customers.

Although web

conferencing is gaining popularity day by day and can safely be termed as the

conferencing technology of the future, the video conferencing market doesn't

see it as a potential threat. According to Jain, “Web conferencing in its

traditional form would complement video conferencing in its traditional form.

But, increasingly, web and video collaboration are being integrated into the

same clients and are no longer separate islands.”

Prabhudesai says,

“Web conferencing is not a real threat to video conferencing as the quality,

in terms of the frame rate per second, is very poor. But with IP being the

future and with a wider broadband speed available at an affordable rate, the

industry will switch over to web conferencing.”

Conferencing Through IM: Not

Just Text



Instant Messaging is also an integral part of web conferencing and forms the

backbone of communication within an enterprise or a user group. The convenience

of being able to communicate from the desktop has made conferencing a part of

today's workplace culture.  IM

combines the real-time advantages of a phone call with the convenience of an

email. The businesses are realizing the advantages of instant communication and

are encouraging the use of IM tools to speed-up and ease communication.

Even the major players

in the Instant Messaging market are realizing this and making efforts

to build-in additional, richer forms of communications. IM might be one

of the hottest new channels of communications to hit the enterprise, but

security still remains a major concern, if not properly regulated. If these

issues are addressed carefully, Instant messaging technologies that are

practically free and provide instantaneous communication, are poised to provide

connectivity in a networked world.

Thus, web conferencing

is moving ahead of the early adopter phase but surely holds a lot of promises.

With enterprises moving towards convergence, web conferencing will soon become

the backbone of the enterprise conferencing infrastructure.

Conferencing On the Move



Today, converged networks are helping to increase efficiency, generate

revenues, and converged communication on mobile is not a distant dream. In

Japan, subscribers to the NIT-DoCoMo cellular service are using the advanced

infrastructure to video telephone their peers, share visual experience and

provide data related information.

Service providers are

offering a wide range of easy-to-use mobile phone services to subscribers

enabling them to make more efficient use of their time and need. Voice calls

form the bulk of their revenues.  Stiff

competition among service providers has led to minimized call charges, and they

are looking for new avenues of revenue generation. The voice and conferencing

links between messaging and presence services to the traditional voice world is

a welcome sight and gives ample opportunity to generate voice traffic and

revenues, in addition to the inherent messaging.



The idea behind the voice and conferencing service is that when a group of MIM
or Chat users want to communicate, they should have all possible means of

communication at their disposal, including traditional voice communications.

The operator's

objective to provide video and conferencing over mobile is that they are able to

provide multi-modality, add value to traditional voice services, enable

presence-based communication, and maintain privacy and infrastructure

convergence, which when achieved to the full potential will revolutionize the

mobile communication market.

The implementation of

video and conferencing over mobile provides a number of advantages to the mobile

user. It means location and presence of information and voice interaction. Voice

activities, initiated from a text session (IM, Chat, Dating, Gaming), group

activities: voice, chat and conferencing etc.

 Video,

and conferencing over mobile has the potential to provide a symbiotic

environment for the service providers as well as the subscribers. It will enable

the subscriber to conduct voice conversation from any type of handset and also

provide an intuitive path to voice conferencing from other messaging services.

Video, and conferencing over

mobile has the potential to provide a symbiotic environment for the

service providers as well as the subscribers

On the other hand, it

will benefit the operator by increasing the voice traffic and revenues, broaden

the messaging services' target market, and leverage voice infrastructure.

Converging

technologies have become a commonplace for business professionals. As people get

busier and workdays move at a faster pace, workers naturally look at

streamlining processes and get more work done in an efficient manner.

The future of

conferencing lies in making it easier to deploy, enhancing its features to help

the entrepreneurs become more mobile and well connected at the same time.

Conferencing will no

longer be a tool to enable ad hoc calls but with limited functionality

or a choice to use one media type or another. It

is fast evolving  to become a

value addition to communication networks. It is an extension of the intelligent

network that seamlessly locates, facilitates and enables media-rich conferences.

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