Videoconference Options

One-to-one Opportunities

The migration of videoconferencing from the boardroom into cubicles continues to accelerate as the cost of bandwidth falls and network infrastructure improves. Companies now see greater value in equipping PCs with Webcams, software, and headphones so employees can communicate with distributed co-workers or customers for training, informational, or sales purposes. In addition, a new standard, known as H.239, has standardized the way data sharing takes place over many videoconferences, making it easier for presenters to share data like PowerPoint presentations and PC-based documents as well as their own images.

The growing popularity of free desktop videoconferencing software such as Skype, SightSpeed, and Tokbox has had ramifications for the corporate market, Woolley says. As more executives use these tools in their personal lives with family and friends, they begin to see the business applications.

But Woolley warns that you can’t expect great quality from free consumer products. “The quality of most of these applications has improved, but you still get what you pay for,” Woolley says. Which means you’ll still run into occasional glitches where images freeze up or a connection may drop, and you won’t have the level of customer support available with higher-end business products.

As for the future, many believe video’s next frontier is the wireless handheld market. Werch is among those excited about the potential of adding video to mobile calling features, enabling phone users to see who they’re talking to or to view videoconferences. At present, the technology’s challenges include ensuring a steady camera image and creating a proper camera angle for image capture.

“We think adding high-definition video to phone devices has great potential,” Werch says. “There’ll be a point in the not-too-distant future where companies won’t want to add any more applications to their PCs, and where voice-only service on handhelds will be the exception rather than the norm.”

This article was published originally as “The Connected Meeting” in the August 2009 issue of Twin Cities Business, page 96.