Vive la video revolution! Is corporate video communication finally ready to rise?

In the eyes of most businesses, enterprise video communication has failed to live up to expectations. However, the hardware and software capabilities within an enterprise are more than ready to handle a full video revolution. If the technology works, why is video not an everyday part of working life, asks Manish Sablok, Director-Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise.

Video calling has been a possibility since Bell Labs first launched The Western Electric Picturephone in 1956. But while consumers and businesses alike have admired the innovation of video communication, it has yet to reach any kind of parity in usage with other communications tools, such as the telephone or email.

We are at a pivotal stage where video could be ready for another run at the mainstream. We can see this first through the acceptance of services such as YouTube. There are now millions of people who feel comfortable using and appearing in video. Thanks to tools like Skype, and the in-building of webcams into computer monitors, consumers at home have had increased and easy access to video communication.

The numbers bear this out: almost 40% of Skype minutes last year were video calls. This figure has almost doubled in the space of two years – up from 25% at the end of 2008 – at a time when Skype moved past 100 billion accumulated minutes. This consumer impact will drive the enterprise to integrate video conferencing. So far, success has been mixed – the Telecommunications Industry Association reports average growth of 6.5% for each of the last three years – but we could be poised for a surge in uptake similar to that of Skype.

Many consumers will have made video calls through sheer curiosity – it’s there, so why not try it? Others, having fallen victim to travel disruption – following natural disasters or terrorist threats – have been forced to ‘attend’ weddings, births and other special occasions via a webcam. This exposure has shown them the highlights of the new technology – and they’re keen to see more.

This take-up will impact the enterprise, where employees who are used to video calling friends and family around the world want to do the same with their colleagues. However, tools like Skype were not designed for use in the enterprise – they don’t integrate with existing platforms and media infrastructures – and it lacks the security for corporate use. So enterprise vendors need to step up. For the technology to succeed now, it’s important that we understand what stopped it before.

The ‘age of video’ has been predicted many times before. In the past, hardware and equipment was far too cumbersome for people to have in their homes or offices, and the streaming rate – the 1956 version operated at a rate of one frame every two seconds – was too slow. The quality never caught up to that of television – and that’s the stumbling block. The early video phones were very similar to small television sets, which immediately sparked comparison with the technically superior TV shows that consumers were becoming used to. However, the quick take-up of Skype suggests that the quality is now sufficient to enable a smooth experience that customers enjoy. This standard of video quality that is acceptable to the consumer can be exceeded for enterprise delivery.

As the push from the consumer sphere begins to affect the enterprise, it is important to identify why even the most technologically advanced corporations in the world haven’t yet sparked a massive take-up in the new technology.

In part, the answer is that there was never a driving need. While companies were prosperous, money spent on travel and international mobile communications didn’t represent an unbearable cost – and it was far outweighed by the fact that they could meet face-to-face with important clients, partners or prospects.

Video has never been integrated into the business as part of its overall communications infrastructure. Partly as a result of its ISDN history and partly because of the culture for video conferencing, the channel has been – and continues to be – very siloed. Both physically and virtually, video communication is very separated from everyday life within most enterprises. IP has helped to integrate many channels of communication, but video never quite tagged along.
Many companies do have the capability to hold a video conference, however, the equipment to enable it all sits in one boardroom, on one floor of the building. This makes it very inaccessible for the vast majority of employees within the enterprise. Therefore, despite broadband requirements being lower, costs dropping and quality rising significantly, video conferencing did not see a significant take-up.

For videoconferencing to be widely taken up, it needs to be easily available at the desktop of every employee. Video communication is now as easy as clicking the name of the person you want to speak to – as we’re used to doing on telephones, email and Skype – and is available wherever and whenever you need it. Not only this, but the availability and choice of end-points for the user means that video-communications applications can be personalised to the user and their job role. This means that employees who need individual one-to-one video can achieve this with an in-built webcam. Groups of users can set up conference calls through video – and have webcams that capture a wider area. Finally, the traditional boardroom-style calls are more inclusive, and can be conducted to suit every member of the call – from top executives down.

There is no want for technology and recent world events – geological, meteorological and political – have highlighted the need for more effective international communications. Everything is in place for this to be the start of a bell-curve leading to mainstream take-up. And there are already some ‘early adopters’ starting to establish a culture for video conferencing across the enterprise and are seeing the benefits: travel cost reductions of 70 per cent; €¾ million savings in international mobile communication costs and €2.9 million in productivity gains .

On top of that, face-to-face remote communication helps enhance relationship management and increase business opportunities. Some major implementers have made over 50,000 meetings virtual in the first six months of deploying a pervasive video strategy. This can all be obtained through effective unified communications that integrate video as a day to day part of their communications strategy.

The current generation of video-conferencing technology is far more network-friendly than any previous incarnation. The evolution of codecs is such that video transfers can be accommodated at rates of 30 frames per second. Today, the average requirement for a high quality video call is around 2Mbps. Many employee desktops are now getting 100Mbps of broadband service, which means that an employee could conceivably operate 50 simultaneous video calls! There are few, if any, technology barriers remaining to achieving an enterprise-wide video communications strategy. The advanced stage of unified communications and SIP technologies also mean that video can be as integrated with the enterprise as telephone calls or emails are.

The technology is there to give every employee access to video calling in the same way that they can pick up the telephone or type out an email. Video communication is a key stepping stone in establishing a truly dynamic enterprise, giving employees more ways that they can engage and innovate together.

It’s in play now – but there’s a behavioural, rather than a technological, barrier to overcome before it becomes commonplace and has the critical mass to become a mainstream communication tool.