Video Conferencing: Next Gen Communication

Globalization is happening fast and communication technologies

are helping eradicate geographical boundaries. Video is gaining importance due

to cross-cultural engagement between employees and organizations. As per

Frost&Sullivan survey, the videoconferencing market in 2005-06 touched Rs

65.6 crore and is likely to grow at a CAGR of 24.9% till 2011. As convergence

brings voice, data, and video onto the same network, new technologies are

rewriting the rules of collaboration. In the past, videoconferences in

particular have been difficult to set up, challenging to use, and frequently

unsatisfying in their ability to replicate in-person meetings and the benefits

of face-to-face interaction. To improve this situation, companies are working on

new technology that delivers a unique, in-person experience over the converged

network. "Conferencing solutions are becoming more and more integral part

of the corporate strategy of the enterprises at all levels, be it tele-presence

solutions or the basic desktop conferencing," says Lars Ronning, president,

ANZ, NSEZ and India, Tandberg.

With the onset of 3G videoconferencing as well as increasing

popularity of software-based solutions and interest in enhanced collaborative

tools, the markets are providing vast opportunities for growth as

videoconferencing is increasingly offered as part of the product mix by various

solution providers.

"While developments in telemedicine, distance learning, and

e-Governance are also likely to contribute to the spread of video as part of

unified communication solutions, there is strong evidence that point-to-point,

standalone videoconferencing solutions are expected to all but disappear, as the

shift to IP accelerates and vendor partnerships continue to drive the

convergence landscape," says Yugal Sharma, country manager, India and SAARC,

Polycom.

Growing in India



The growth of the overall Asia Pacific videoconferencing endpoints
markets are expected to be led by the corporate sector, where converged voice,

data, and video solutions are likely to have their strongest appeal, primarily

as productivity tools for knowledge workers. The videoconferencing market in

India offers great potential for growth too. There is a growth explosion

expected (30% for the next two years) in the medium-term, beyond which growth

rates will stabilize at 22%. Growth is witnessed not only in the large

enterprise segment; but even small and medium businesses are adopting

videoconferencing solutions, recognizing the vast benefits they offer. Notable

developments in recent months include prominent mergers and continued progress

in migration from Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) to Internet

Protocol (IP) Network. In the coming years, factors like cost of ownership,

maintenance of infrastructure, and general perception that people had about

conferencing as a luxury and a hassle is slowly dying. "With the

introduction of the concept of high definition, videoconferencing is likely to

gain momentum and we really see this growing at rapid pace." Minhaj Zia,

business development manager, Unified Communication, India and SAARC, Cisco.

Also with the wide scale adoption of ICT technologies and high definition

solutions, we are heading toward a bright future.

Videoconferencing Spreads



Videoconferencing as a technology has now started moving out of conference

rooms. The industry is now gradually moving from group systems to desktop

videoconferencing systems. Apart from large enterprises, small and medium

enterprises are also adapting videoconferencing solutions. Enterprises today are

looking forward to leading edge technology, flexible conferences, flexible

deployment, common management suites, highly scalable solutions, secure VoIP

conferencing, embedded multipoint options and more in videoconferencing

solutions. Videoconferencing, therefore, spells power of integration, bringing

some inherent advantages within your reach. With 3G coming in, another

evolutionary step is from desktop to mobiles being able to communicate wherever

you are. Home Office solutions are also picking up significantly. We are

offering 4-5 solutions for Home Offices and this is being mainly driven by

increased emphasis on work life balance and to get information on the go.

According to K Shivashankar, country manager, LifeSize India, "Conferencing

is absolutely moving out of the business world and into the home. The optimal

form factor is still to be determined as cost and ease-of-use will be critical

components, but the idea of having high definition videoconferencing as an

essential day-to-day communications element for the consumer is only a matter of

time."

Business conferences and decision-making options depend

critically upon the availability of information at the right time. In order to

save time, business meetings are increasingly being conducted over

telecommunication networks with the help of videoconferencing. Conferencing

solutions provider offers a richer and more intimate communication environment,

which makes interaction of any sorts convenient, effective and easy.

Technology Shift



Technologically, a massive migration is happening from circuit-switched ISDN
transmission to packet switched IP networks. IP promises easier management,

lower costs, higher bandwidth calls enabling higher quality audio and video, and

integration to corporate IT mainstream. This technological shift has also lead

to easier deployment of videoconferencing solutions. Other than that improvement

in video systems in terms of price, performance and feature richness, new

recommendations from ITU to make IP connectivity between different network

providers standardized, standard data collaboration tools such as H.239 have all

taken videoconferencing to new heights.

The Challenges



Despite its inherent technological and cost advantages, videoconferencing
over converged network faces certain challenges that impede its growth. In

India, the biggest challenges were regulatory restrictions imposed by the Indian

government and interoperability issues that result from lack of standardization.

Moreover, there is lack of education and low awareness on the business benefits

of conferencing solutions. Factors like cost of ownership, maintenance of

infrastructure, and the general perception about videoconferencing as an item of

luxury could possibly impact growth of this market. "At present, most of

the enterprises connect via ISDN. However, Internet based connections are

increasing in popularity and many public rooms have come up in India, which

allow these conferencing over IP network. Having said this, bandwidth issues at

the backend need to be addressed to ensure that full benefits of

videoconferencing can be availed," says Shivashankar.

Fortunately, broadband is fast becoming all pervasive in India

and looking ahead IP-based networks will play a critical role in advancing the

broadband penetration in the country. Bandwidth availability and the price of

bandwidth will also be driving adoption of videoconferencing. India is a growing

economy and there is immense competition among the companies. Pressure to be

more productive at lower costs, short time to market and being able to reach

people are pertinent for the companies to gain competitive edge, and these

requirements are driving adoption of videoconferencing in the country.

Reality Bites



After a decade of languishing in the dark corners of the communication
market, telepresence emerged as the most promising conferencing trend in 2006.

After the launch of HP's Halo, Cisco launched its Telepresence Meeting System

solution along with Polycom's real presence solutions RPX series. These

solutions added a new meaning to two-way interactive visual communication and

exceeded the boundaries of traditional videoconferencing system. Interest of

fortune 500 companies in high performance immersive visual communications that

are highly reliable and easy to use has given a much required take off to the

telepresence segment, despite the high initial costs and operating costs of such

systems.

In some cases, these products use a room-within-a-room

environment along with life-size images, and high-definition resolution with

spatial and discrete audio to create a live, face-to-face meeting around a

single 'virtual' table. These systems use the standard IP technology

deployed in corporations today, and run on an integrated voice/video/data

network. Such systems support high-quality, real-time voice and video

communications with branch offices using broadband connections. They also offer

capabilities for ensuring quality of service (QoS), security, reliability, and

high availability for high-bandwidth applications such as video, particularly

high definition video, which can require 1Mbps to 5Mbps, depending upon the

resolution.

Telepresence is a videoconferencing experience that creates the

illusion that the remote participants are in the same room. There are four key

elements that are kept in mind for generating this experience; these include

high quality audio video, simplicity, high reliability and environmental

excellence.

"Polycom truly believes that India is a ripe market for a

space that is worth around $3 bn worldwide as per various research agencies.

Potential applications would span across areas like boardroom meetings,

corporate conferences, high-end surgeries, operation theaters, education and

distance learning etc," says Yugal Sharma of Polycom.

Telepresence solutions are designed to deliver an all-immersive

experience and typically require 4-24 Mbps of high performance and high QoS IP

bandwidth. That usually means a dedicated network is required.

As more and more organizations join effective visual

collaboration networks, the utility, value, and RoI of being connected to these

networks grow, creating the same potential for exponential growth that

characterized telephony and the Internet.

Over the next decade, virtually every Global 5000 Company will

adopt a technology allowing them to interact with people, no matter how far

away, as if they were in the same room. The technology is called telepresence,

and a variety of Fortune 1000 organizations already started using it, reporting

both satisfaction and a strong RoI.

Future Scope



"Videoconferencing is moving beyond corporate to the government sector,
judiciary, distance learning, entertainment and telemedicine," says

Shivashankar. There is an increased use of videoconferencing systems for

interviewing candidates, interaction with relatives settled abroad, reviews and

meetings, product launches, press conferences and auditioning actors.

Videoconferencing promises applications also in healthcare, education, and

government segments, as prices for hardware and bandwidth reduces and awareness

about the technology spreads in the market.

Gone are the days of extended travel, waiting in long airport

security lines, travel delays, inflated travel budgets and lost productivity. As

organizations become more diverse in business applications, acquisitions and

mergers become more common and multi-national work forces become the standard,

decision makers are looking for ways to make communicating among their knowledge

workers easy.

Collaborative technologies will enable business partners to

easily switch back and forth from web, video and audio conferencing to see and

hear each other and to share documents and information in real time. Today's

enterprises are also looking forward to leading edge technology, flexible

conferences, flexible deployment, common management suites, highly scalable

solutions, secure VoIP conferencing, embedded multipoint options and

videoconferencing solutions.

Today, networks are becoming increasingly scalable and

enterprises are realizing the benefits of having all the applications on the

network. The real impact of videoconferencing technology can only be realized

when the user's experience is close to natural face-to-face meeting, and

telepresence in this respect has already started revolutionizing room based

videoconferencing services.

India will be one of the biggest markets worldwide for

videoconferencing solutions. The enterprise user is getting financially stronger

and as now they care competing globally, they need to be more productive and

lower the costs of videoconferencing solutions.

Sonia Sharma



sonias@cybermedia.co.in