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.
Telepresence |
High Definition Video: On large format, it presents a real-life, true-dimension for participants in an immersive room meeting, giving the feeling of truly being in the same room. High Definition Audio: It allows an effortless communication environment where participants speak in a normal tone of voice anywhere in the suite. High Resolution Content: Direct VGA connection allows users to present content at a moment's notice by simply plugging a VGA cable into a laptop. Multi-purpose Room: The suite is useful even when it is not used for video communications. It can be used as a training room, conference room and board room. Realpresence Conferencing Environment: Seamless video display walls allow for viewing of continuous video across eight or sixteen feet of video. Interoperability: The Polycom RPX HD suites are completely interoperable with all standards based videoconferencing products meaning that the end user can maximize their capital investment and continue to use legacy video solutions. Room Mobility: This room-within-a-room design is constructed in such way that if an organization moves to a new facility or re-allocates space in the existing facility, the suite can easily be disassembled and moved to a new location, leaving the original room intact. Flexibility of Design: The choices of design for the suites in terms of room configurations (six unique floor plans) and finishing treatments (wood finish, carpet color and chair fabric) means that the user gets the room that's right for the application in a design that's uniform across the organization. |
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.
Opportunities |
Drivers
Challenges
|
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