The concept of video conferencing has long been synonymous with board rooms, expensive leased lines and pixilated images. In the era of compression and immersive like-you-were-there telepresence, video has gotten less clunky but is nonetheless seen as the realm of the executive. But high-quality video now is being driven to the desktop and laptop as service providers and vendors make the case for video’s ability to supercharge business processes for all ranks within the organization.
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| AT&T offers high-def video as a managed service and sees the case for extension beyond room systems. |
One demonstration of the value in such expansion can be seen in the pharmaceutical vertical. Polycom said video can improve speed to market by 20 percent thanks to efficiencies in getting a new drug through the testing and approval process, just by linking multiple R&D sites, marketing, sales teams and others with a visual way to communicate.
Expanded use of video also helps to build trust, especially in multinationals. “In person, talking and presenting with a group of people in a room — these are natural communications,” explained Peter Nutley, director of global product marketing at TANDBERG, which works with carriers to enable managed services. “Sure, you can hold up an object, share a CAD drawing, spreadsheets, etc., but you want to share the info and also see the reactions of people in the room. Someone might be saying yes on an audio call, but now you can see if they’re confused, etc, so it offers concise and consistent communications across all levels of the organization.”