The Business of Green

The demand for videoconferencing by the public sector and its increasing

deployment in the private sector has made India the fourth-largest market for

videoconferencing end-point equipment in the Apac region.

The industry and the government both are keen to expand the scope of

videoconferencing solutions. The government, in fact, is at the helm of this

videoconferencing invasion, as it alone buys around 40% of videoconferencing

end-point equipment.

Apart from its impact on the budget, videoconferencing has made a difference

in other areas as well. Many companies feel that their scope and horizons have

broadened due to the deployment of videoconferencing.

The industry, especially large and medium businesses have also shown a trend

of videoconferencing adoption in the previous two to three years. While the IT/BPO

market leads the corporate scene, the rest of the segments are fast catching up.

The range of videoconferencing solutions, since the time of their debut in

the Indian market, has also expanded. From being exorbitantly priced and aimed

at only high-end users, vendors are now eyeing the potential of medium-sized

businesses rather seriously.

Dinesh Sehgal, regional director, Tandberg, India, Srilanka, and Bangladesh

agrees to the price-segmentation finally taking place in the videoconferencing

market. According to him "Prices vary widely depending on the scale of the

solution deployed". He also asserts the fact, "Unlike the initial stages in

videoconferencing, which were only for large enterprises, there are now a broad

range of video solutions from the highest-end telepresence products to video for

the meetings room, executive desks, work desks, PCs, and a range of network

infrastructure products."

Bharti Airtel is aggressively promoting and expanding into the service domain

of videoconferencing, and Reliance Communications, which right now provides

videoconferencing through its Web World stores is all set to launch

videoconferencing services globally.

While the Indian videoconferencing market is far less developed than the

global market, a change in the consumer trend is visible. Customers are

gradually shifting from ISDN to IP networks, which means more availability of

bandwidth. This spells higher quality video calls at a lower cost. And therefore

the performance glitch, which seems to have been plaguing the Indian market till

now, is finally coming to an end.

The internal usage of videoconferencing within the organizations has also

increased substantially. In 2008, the videoconferencing equipment market

witnessed a growth of 16% in its revenue, a figure that supports the industry's

claim of promoting videoconferencing within organizations.

The telecom industry too has embraced videoconferencing with due vigor.

Bharti Airtel, leading by example, not only provides videoconferencing services

but also takes adequate measures to ensure the usage of videoconferencing within

the organization.

An Airtel spokesperson adds, "We have been using videoconferencing solutions

for sometime now and of late its usage has gone up with Airtel's expansion in

different geographies."

Vodafone, though not in the services realm yet, also encourages the use of

videoconferencing internally. The number of videoconferencing facilities

installed in their offices worldwide, has more than trebled in the last three

years. Sehgal of Tandberg says, "Vodafone saved over 13,500 flights per year and

increased productivity of its employees with less travel to and from meetings."

In the global market as well, British Telecom, AT&T, etc have been pioneering

the usage of "Clean Technology". Mridul Srivastava, head, Marketing, BT India

says, "The innovative character of videoconferencing has enhanced our internal

functioning, especially cross-border communications, and shortened the distance

between the countries. Furthermore it helps us save costs and allows us to

include our external business partners in our videoconferences."

"Polycom employees conduct an estimated 975,000 video conferences each year

over Polycom's global network and we have also made an internal commitment to

reduce our travel costs by 25% in a year," says Yugal Sharma, regional director,

India & SAARC, Polycom.

One of the major reasons for such wide adaptation for videoconferencing is

the kind of specialized and need-based end-point services which most vendors now

provide. Most players in the market don't just develop products, but they

develop products according to special needs. Vendors like Tandberg, Polycom, and

Vennfer have dedicated processes to analyze the business needs of an

organization, before equipping it with videoconferencing operations.

Ranajoy Punja, VP, Business Development, Advanced Technologies, Cisco, India

and Saarc, asserts the need-based approach and feels that it is the best way to

tap the potential market. He adds, "Over the course of one year we have launched

two additions to the Cisco TelePresence portfolio.

Given the advantages and opportunities of videoconferencing, it is hardly

surprising that the market for videoconferencing in India has been growing at a

CAGR of 20% and India is all set to become the highest growth registering market

for videoconferencing in the APAC region.

The Next Level



In the past, videoconferences in particular had been difficult to set up,

and challenging to use. Thus, to overcome the hurdles, vendors graduated to a

higher level called telepresence.

Telepresence has already made an impact in the communication scenario. Since

2007, Cisco has deployed more than 185 Cisco TelePresence rooms in more than 25

countries and over 85 cities worldwide. It has 241 TelePresence rooms across the

world. So far there have been 20,310 telepresence meetings at Cisco.

Over the years, telepresence has also undergone price diversification to

accommodate the growing demand. The highest priced product by Cisco,

TelePresence 3000, costs approximately $300,000 for each installation while the

Cisco TelePresence 1000 runs at about $80,000 per room.

Although, telepresence is a relatively new phenomenon in our country, the

trend seems to be picking up fast. Says Punja, "So far, verticals that have been

keen on adopting videoconferencing are companies that have offices in multiple

locations, and find it easier to justify the RoI of telepresence solutions."

Painting it Green



Although all organizations are aware of the effect reduced travel can have

on their budgets, the effect of less travel on environment is hardly taken into

account. A report published by the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, a group

of technology companies, and the Climate Group, an environmental organization,

estimated that up to 20% of business travel worldwide could be replaced by

Web-based and conventional videoconferencing technology.

A survey shows that every conference call that replaces a meeting saves a

minimum of 40 kg of travel related Co2. Thus VC is not only a blessing for

companies trading in carbon credits but is also a huge relief to

environmentalists world over.

Add to this the fact that Videoconfrencing is not an investment without

benefits. Companies deploy videoconferencing not because they are concerned

about the environment but because it helps them trim their travel expenditures

and increase productivity. An Airtel spokesperson affirms the fact that

videoconferencing sells not as green technology but as a lucrative investment,

"The proposition (for selling videoconferencing right now) is savings on travel,

rising fuel cost, time of top executives, and reaching multiple parties and

locations in one call."

Mridul Shrivastava, head, Marketing, BT also substantiates the good

videoconferencing can do for the planet. He says, "The use of conferencing by BT

worldwide has reduced BT's carbon footprint by at least 97,600 tons of Co2 and

eliminated more than 860,000 face-to-face meetings. By eliminating their

journeys to work, BT's home workers prevent the emission of an estimated 7,000

tons of Co2 a year."

Similarly, Sehgal of Tandberg echoes the "greenness" of videoconferencing.

"Our customers have found that videoconferencing can reduce their need to travel

by 30%, while improving their bottom line.

A similar videoconferencing drive by the telecom giant Vodafone has reduced

the company's carbon emissions by over 5,000 tonnes.

Whether aware of its green qualities or otherwise, the fact remains that most

organizations are deploying videoconferencing for the soothing effect it can

have on their travel funds.

Thus for all those who want to plunge into the videoconferencing domain, the

time is now. And well it spells good news for the planet as well. For even

though videoconferencing is not purchased with the intention of making it

greener, the collective user pool of videoconferencing is bound to impact the

environment in a big way.

Mehak Chawla



mehakc@cybermedia.co.in