Evolution of video conferencing: towards a virtual business model that reaches all types of companies

Alexander Marcellus, Sony Professional Solutions Europe product manager analyzes the new trends in video conferencing. A technology that, thanks to the improvement of high-speed broadband Internet access, WiFi and 4G networks have become a tool available to organizations of all types of sizes and shapes.

Until a few years ago, videoconferencing tended to fit into one of these two realms: Fortune list companies 500 with big budgets that had large specialized conference rooms, reminiscent of small diffusion studios; and smaller organizations that had to look for more cost-effective solutions affecting image and audio quality. In both cases, Weaknesses in usability and reliability led to frequent phone calls to the IT team for assistance.

One of the clear culprits during this first generation of video conferencing solutions was the Internet connection., since those who had a bad connection had to decipher the irregular dialogues with the blurred vision of those who spoke. With these restrictions in mind, The aim was to get calls that were good enough; after all, The purpose was to save costs by eliminating the need to travel for in-person meetings.

Currently, high-quality video conferencing is not within the reach of a few, but of a few. Improving high-speed broadband Internet access, Wi-Fi and 4G networks have favored the creation of consumer services such as Skype and Google Hangouts, while budget constraints have further intensified the need for a 'virtual' business model for organizations of all sizes and shapes.

All this represents a change of vision for a new generation of professional products and applications.. The focus now is on adapting the usability that we all instinctively acquire from consumer applications, while improving in terms of reliability, security and flexibility.

Specifically, There are five trends that limit the design of the latest video conferencing solutions:

The role of multimedia content as a catalyst for more productive meetings. Today's meetings do not usually involve simple dialogues or one-way presentations. instead, rich content tends to act as a reference point to stimulate fruitful and lively conversations. The Sony PCS-XC1 system allows you to draw on videos and images using an Xperia Tablet and a wireless pen and, next, share them with participants remotely, which makes video another way to get new ideas from different teams with whom you usually collaborate.

Meetings that go further. The recreation of face-to-face meetings between two or more people at the same time is just one of the benefits that videoconferencing can offer.. Organizations are more interested in a multipurpose tool to maximize productivity and efficiency in the way their employees communicate.. For example, Today's solutions can stream and record simultaneously, so that you can get the most out of, For example, an internal town hall meeting or client webinar.

Connectivity everywhere between people… and products. Whether it was large-scale equipment from large companies or webcams from smaller companies, Video conferencing a few years ago tended to take place in a fixed corporate meeting room. Now, however, can overcome physical limitations to connect construction zones, laboratories, theater halls, conference rooms, courts, classes and even places of worship. Cordless units can be picked up and taken anywhere, while solutions like the SRG-300SE camera are affordable and can be controlled remotely from anywhere with a company network.

Exceeding the standard when it comes to consumer image quality… Consumer applications have not only intensified expectations for video connectivity; many take as a gift the fluid transmission of HD quality images thanks to YouTube, Netflix and the proliferation of on-demand current affairs services. This makes grainy or fuzzy images not good enough. In fact, Sony video conferencing products improve image quality through technology called Visibility Enhancer, which optimizes the brightness and color reproduction of the image pixel by pixel.

Meeting automatic installation expectations. Technology in the home has been democratized to the point that we expect products that are ready to use and work perfectly with all of our devices.. The same goes for today's video conferencing products., that can be used from a smartphone by simply running an application, and without the need to resort to technical service.

The SRG-300SE is a multi-purpose HD visual imaging camera, capable of synchronizing audio and video, while transmitting images over IP and, simultaneously, sends them to a video recorder. The PCS-XC1 is capable of providing up to 1080p video calling, in which the portability and ease of use of consumer applications are combined with image quality, security and reliability of a true H.323 video conferencing system.

These two products are the main examples of a new generation of video conferencing: one where organizations of all types can count on good experience and where good enough is not good enough.

 

Alexander Marcellus

Product manager de Sony Professional Solutions Europe