'The main driver of web conferencing is increased adoption and availability of broadband'

-Kiran Datar, managing director, WebEx Communications

What are the
key trends in web- conferencing technology?

Web conferencing in India today is witnessing increased growth. Enterprises
today are moving from audio conferencing to data or web conferencing, as they
realise the added benefits that web conferencing provides. Web conferencing
solutions are available as hosted services today. Rather than investing in a
product, enterprises and individuals today can do a web conference as and when
the need arises, with no investment. This is accelerating the adoption of web
conferencing.

The hi-tech industry,
BFSI sector, the consulting sector are some of the key verticals that we see
increasing their usage of web conferencing in India. With technological
advancements like presentation sharing, application sharing and remote control,
high performance and reliability etc web conferencing today is as easy as
logging onto your e-mail.

What are the
key drivers of the web conferencing market? Is web conferencing picking up in
India?

One of the main drivers of web conferencing is increased adoption and
availability of broadband. The Internet has drastically changed the way
enterprises communicate and professionals conduct their business relationships
today. One of the hottest marketing trends for enterprises across all industries
and verticals is to conduct virtual meetings without actually having to be
physically present. Web conferencing and web-based seminars are quickly
replacing traditional business travel and telephone conference-call strategies.

India Inc, riding the
wave of outsourcing and thereby realising the need to communicate with different
geographies on a regular basis at real time, is looking at web conferencing and
online meetings to improve efficiencies and productivity. In India, though
hi-tech sectors such as IT/ITeS, BFSI, healthcare have realised the benefits of
web conferencing and have taken to the service in a big way.

Have the
technologies matured in terms of reliability? Or are they perceived as
unreliable?

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.

What kind of
role telecom service providers can play in the growth of web conferencing
services?

The biggest contribution from the telecom service providers in this space
would be to rapidly enhance the broadband penetration, as there is already a
pressing need for productivity tools such as web conferencing.

What kind of
web conferencing solutions you offer? What kind of customer base you have?

The web conferencing solutions provided by Webex help organisations get the
best collaborative services at a reasonable price. Through its Media Tone
network, large amounts of data can be shared across locations, real time. Also,
the security and confidentiality of the data is as good as that of a boardroom,
making it very easy to have crucial strategic meetings and even product
demonstrations and training.

What role a
telecom service provider has in ensuring QoS in web conferencing?

WebEx is not a service that depends on service providers to host its web
conferencing service. At best, the telecom service provider is important as he
provides the last mile connectivity and broadband penetration to users across
geographies. Good broadband connectivity is vital to the quality of the
reception of web conferencing service (note, it is only in the reception, and
not in the offering of the services itself).
One requires a minimum of 56 kbps connectivity or an optimum of 128 kbps
to access all features of a web conference.

Sonia Sharma    

sonias@cybermedia.co.in