As business marches forward, the technology is adapting to needs, and the benefits will extend beyond decreasing travel costs and environmental footprints.
There is little doubt that video conferencing has taken hold and will continuously grow to the point that it becomes a staple of how business gets done. A convergence of current conditions, technology and trends today has allowed video conferencing to turn out to be realistic alternative to in-person meetings. Acquis Consulting Group, a management consulting firm which specializes in mobility and corporate virtual collaboration, explains the three trends that have influenced the ability to adopt the technology and its current move toward widespread acceptance: acceptance, expense and compatibility of different technologies.
Some of the better technology can cost six figures for just one location and re-configuring office space is needed. In effect, the cost can run well into the millions. In addition, key stakeholders in several companies haven’t felt at ease embracing the technology and mostly companies have adopted different technologies from their suppliers and partners that don’t work in concert.
Technology Predictions
These are, in fact, among the key factors addressed by Avistar, a developer of desktop video conferencing software, in its predictions of 2012 video conferencing trends. According to the company’s analysts, the speed of change will continue to increase. The company points out that in the past three years alone companies have moved from hardware-based conference room solutions (the often highly pricey option) to software-only options on laptops and conducting phone calls on tablets. And as the rate of technology continues its momentum, software-only solutions as well as more cloud-based options will also gain momentum.
This is part and parcel with another of the predictions: That BYOD, or bring your own device, will go mainstream. That idea is driven by employees’ interest in adopting new technologies on their own and then expecting their companies to support the multiple kinds of platforms their individual pieces use. This also dovetails into Avistar’s forecast that consumerization of technology will continue to drive business adoption. In other words, as more and more high-tech appeals directly to the consumer (and prices become more compatible with home budgets), consumer demand drives how user-friendly platforms are, and enterprise applications delivering video conferencing will continue to become easier to use even as they meet the demand for high security and business-class capabilities.
The Human Factor
In many ways, the future that Kaufman and Niesen see for video conferencing reaches beyond technology and decreased travel and into the realms of corporate social responsibility, together with productivity and employee engagement. After all, it’s a little difficult to carry project stakeholders from across the world into a room when it involves trains, planes, automobiles and pricey hotel rooms. And for several businesses, the factors coming into play don’t even include traveling very far.
Niesen has seen video conferencing become a more popular tool for distance learning, and its potential extends beyond the traditional idea of a lesson or class: “One of the things that video conferencing is used for in the education departments is bringing experts in,” he says. “They’re connecting into the lecture hall itself. Video conferencing is a fantastic tool for bringing that kind of knowledge transfer and access to experts.” As both companies and knowledge communities continue to march toward a more global format, video conferencing has the additional benefit of bringing project stakeholders together into a more intimate collaborative environment as well. Kaufman has seen video conferencing coupled with wiki tools create an environment set for better and more productive collaboration.
References:
http://www.conferencingnews.com/news/41111
http://www.niesen.ch/index.cfm?oid=1214&lang=en
http://www.acquisconsulting.com/home.html
