An IT Pro’s Guide to Video Conferencing

As part of our Tech Track series, we asked VCaaS provider UCi2i to talk us through video conferencing from a CIO’s perspective

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Collaboration

Published: November 22, 2017

Ian Taylor Editor

Ian Taylor

Editor

The use of video as a communication tool is nothing new in large companies. When video conferencing and webinar technology first emerged, it had its biggest impact in the enterprise market, partly because the early solutions were only really affordable to the largest organisations.

But video has always had a particular appeal for big companies. Enterprises by definition operate over large geographic areas, regionally and internationally, and are most likely to have distributed workforces. With multiple branch offices, field staff and home workers, video provides enhanced opportunities for staff who don’t work in the same location to connect and collaborate.

Large businesses can also save huge amounts in travel costs by replacing face-to-face meetings with video conferencing.

Over the years, video conferencing technology has become simpler, cheaper and, as a result, more commonly used across all types of business. Room-based solutions have been followed by desktop and, most recently, cloud and mobile apps. According to research from Ovum, half of big businesses already use room-based or desktop solutions.

But there is a sense that some enterprises are struggling to get best value out of their video conferencing solutions. While video is used in the organisation, its application might be limited to a few teams or individuals using it in very particular circumstances. Despite the technology becoming more accessible, efforts to roll out video further and put it at the forefront of communications are hampered, meaning the business does not fully capitalise on its benefits.

Protecting investment

Ironically, the problem can be explained at least in part by early adoption. Older, proprietary hardware and software solutions locked users into products from one vendor, restricting their flexibility and ability to adapt to changes in technology. Users running different systems – say offices in two recently merged organisations, or staff and external clients – are unable to connect.

In addition, older systems tended to be complicated to use and required IT teams to set up and manage calls and conferences. This is hardly conducive to efficient, flexible use, and explains why video conferencing often remains a specialist system confined to a couple of meeting spaces and no more.

As much as CIO’s are eager to roll out the latest technologies to gain the best advantages for their business, they are also under pressure to protect previous investments. If a company has spent a large sum on an expensive system just a few years ago, there will be understandable reluctance to replace it while it is still serviceable.

So the question for CIOs is whether there is any way of adopting newer, more flexible and accessible video conferencing solutions that a wider portion of the workforce can benefit from while still maintaining use of older systems.

Collaboration in the Cloud

UCi2i specialises in Video Conferencing-as-a-Service (VCaaS), offering a cloud-based, hosted video conferencing platform on a subscription basis which clients access via an IP network. There is no software to install and, crucially, the service is designed to be compatible with any hardware, as well as other popular software platforms.

Enterprises want the best equipment to run their IT and communications systems on. For video conferencing, this translates to the highest spec HD room solutions, the best cameras, microphones, speakers and screens to create the best quality experience for virtual meetings. But there is also a lot of other video-compatible hardware being used across any large modern business. Desktop PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones are all ready and waiting to be deployed as video conferencing endpoints.

According to UCi2i, one of the big advantages of VCaaS for an enterprise is the way it can sit on top of existing hardware and integrate everything into one. Built according to an open standards architecture, cloud-based video solutions can protect your investment in top-of-the-range room solutions, while extending its reach to desktop and mobile. With no further capital expenditure needed, video conferencing can break out of the boardroom across the organisation, using equipment you already own.

Compatibility doesn’t end with hardware, either. Nowadays there are various different protocols and standards used in video conferencing software, such as SIP, H.323 and WebRTC. The growing trend in cloud-based solutions is to be compatible with them all. This means that your system will work with popular third-party platforms like Skype for Business, Slack or Google Hangouts. User adoption of video conferencing is supported by allowing staff to use apps they are familiar and comfortable with. It also means you can use video more readily for external communications, as you can connect to whatever solution your clients, suppliers or partners use.

Two other benefits of this are that it helps to regain control over so-called ‘Shadow IT’, and also supports BYOD schemes. Shadow IT is a term used to describe the practice of employees downloading and adopting their own software when they don’t feel they are getting what they need from ‘official’ systems. So with video, you might get some staff using the likes of Slack, Hangouts, WhatsApp and so on because they find video conferencing useful but don’t get the access they want on work systems. With an open standards hosted video conferencing solution, they can continue to do so, but the IT team takes back control of security and administration.

Similarly, companies wanting to make capital savings through BYOD schemes have to accept that people will be using all sorts of apps and platforms on their own devices. The most efficient way to manage this is to run a system which can connect to all, again providing the main security and management controls centrally.

Finally, video is no longer being viewed purely in terms of communication. To truly replicate the experience of face-to-face meetings, people need to be able to work together productively as well as just talk. Video collaboration is a major new trend, combining group video capabilities with screen and document sharing, mark-up tools and so on.

Again, the strength of a cloud-based video platform built on an open standards architecture is that it can plug-in to the existing collaboration and team messaging apps staff are using. Remote teams working together on a project add the benefits of face-to-face communication as they discuss, plan and assign tasks. With this collaborative effort, video conferencing helps to improve overall efficiency and productivity.

 

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