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VP of Sales and Strategy for Huddly, Fraser Park[/caption]
Huddly is a technology company devoted to getting rid of bad meeting room experiences with next-level camera and conferencing solutions. The original concept that brought Huddly to life, was a collaboration-focused camera which was smart, simple, and effective - perfect for not just the traditional meeting rooms, but also the new smaller and open collaborative environments of modern workplaces.
I caught up with VP of Sales and Strategy for Huddly, Fraser Park, to learn more about the emerging company, and what they're trying to accomplish with their disruptive innovative technology in the UC world.
Why Does Huddly Define Itself as a "Software Business"
When the idea for Huddly first began, it focused on building a camera for an age of technology where people were moving away from hard codecs, into the world of software. As we've progressed through 2017, we've seen countless companies turn away from legacy systems, to embrace cloud solutions, and even streamline their meeting room spaces into smaller "huddle room" environments. This is where Huddly really shines with its new camera technology.
Since, for now, Huddly's product portfolio is all about the camera, I wanted to know why the company defines itself as a software brand. Fraser told me that to understand that, I needed to understand how the camera works.
"The Huddly GO is a software defined camera, with a unique VPU chip which allows us to create differentiated experiences through software. The camera can use neural networking systems to learn, it can do intelligent things to make the meeting room more engaging with object and person recognition. It's what we consider to be the start of the next stage of smart camera technology."
On the surface, the Huddly camera might look simple enough, featuring some of the common abilities you'd expect from a standard webcam, like degradation-free zoom and pan/tilt. However, when you dive into the capabilities of the technology, you find something even more incredible.
"We're just starting to scratch the surface with what's possible with this new system. It's why we're coining the phrase "Intelligent Collaboration Cameras" to describe the next phase of video conferencing."
What's Your Plan Around Strategic Partnerships?
Just like many businesses throughout 2017, Huddly has invested a great deal of time and energy into strategic partnerships for their company. Their first collaboration was with NEC, over the "InfinityBoard", which helps end users to tap into digital whiteboard functionality during their conference experience. At the end of October, Huddly also announced a collaboration with Google.
"We were chosen by Google as the default camera for their collaboration bundle. They chose us because of our ability to build images in software, which meant we could create multiple video streams out of a single lens."
"We presented Google with 3 video streams, the first is a full field of view, the second is an area of interest stream, and the third is a data and analytics stream. They've been able to use that functionality to enhance their meetings solution."
For Huddly, collaborations are the starting point of their strategy for long-term growth. NEC allowed them to tap into the interactive board space, while Google allowed them to take the next step into the technology world.
