Globalization is happening fast and communication technologies are helping eradicate geographical boundaries. As per a Frost&Sullivan survey, the videoconferencing market in 2005-06 touched Rs 65.6 crore and is likely to grow at a CAGR of 24.9% till 2011. As convergence brings voice, data, and video onto the same network, new technologies are rewriting the rules of collaboration. In the past, videoconferences, in particular, have been difficult to set up, challenging to use, and frequently unsatisfying in their ability to replicate in-person meetings and the benefits of face-to-face interaction. To improve this situation, companies are working on new technologies that deliver unique, in-person experience over converged network. "Conferencing solutions are becoming more and more an integral part of the corporate strategy of enterprises at all levels, be it tele-presence solutions or the basic desktop conferencing," says Lars Ronning, president, ANZ, NSEZ and India, Tandberg.

With the onset of 3G videoconferencing as well as increasing popularity of software-based solutions and interest in enhanced collaborative tools, the markets are providing vast opportunities for growth as videoconferencing is increasingly offered as part of the product mix by various solution providers.

Growing in India
The growth of the overall Asia Pacific videoconferencing endpoints market is expected to be led by the corporate sector, where converged voice, data, and video solutions are likely to have their strongest appeal, primarily as productivity tools for knowledge workers. The videoconferencing market in India offers great potential for growth too. Growth is witnessed not only in the large enterprise segment; but even small and medium businesses. Notable developments in recent months include prominent mergers and continued progress in migration from Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) to Internet Protocol (IP) Network. In the coming years, factors like cost of ownership, maintenance of infrastructure, and the general perception that people had about conferencing as a luxury and a hassle are slowly changing. "With the introduction of the concept of high definition, videoconferencing is likely to gain momentum and we really see this growing at a rapid pace," says Minhaj Zia, business development manager, Unified Communication, India and SAARC, Cisco. Also, with the wide scale adoption of ICT technologies and high definition solutions, we are heading toward a bright future.

Evolving Technology
Videoconferencing as a technology has now started moving out of conference rooms. The industry is now gradually moving from group systems to desktop videoconferencing systems. Enterprises today are looking at leading edge technology, flexible conferences, and deployment, common management suites, highly scalable solutions, secure VoIP conferencing, embedded multipoint options and more. Videoconferencing, therefore, spells power of integration, bringing some inherent advantages within reach. 3G is another evolutionary step from desktops to mobiles. Home Office solutions are also picking up significantly. "We are offering 4-5 solutions for Home Offices and this is being mainly driven by increased emphasis on work-life balance and to get information on the go", says K Shivashankar, country manager, LifeSize India. Having high definition videoconferencing as an essential day-to-day communications element for the consumer is only a matter of time," he adds.

Business conferences and decision-making options depend critically upon the availability of information at the right time. In order to save time, business meetings are increasingly being conducted over telecommunication networks with the help of videoconferencing.

Technology Shift
Technologically, a massive migration is happening from circuit-switched ISDN transmission to packet switched IP networks. IP promises easier management, lower costs, higher bandwidth calls enabling higher quality audio and video, and integration to corporate IT mainstream. This technological shift has also led to easier deployment of videoconferencing solutions. Other than that improvement in video systems in terms of price, performance and feature richness, new recommendations from ITU to make IP connectivity between different network providers standardized, standard data collaboration tools such as H.239 have all taken videoconferencing to new heights.

The Challenges
In India, the biggest challenges are from regulatory restrictions imposed by the Indian government and interoperability issues that result from lack of standardization. Moreover, there is lack of education and low awareness on the business benefits of conferencing solutions. "At present, most enterprises connect via ISDN. However, Internet based connections are increasing in popularity and many public rooms have come up in India, which allow conferencing over IP. Having said this, bandwidth issues at the backend need to be addressed," says Shivashankar.

Fortunately, broadband is fast becoming all pervasive in India and, looking ahead, IP-based networks will play a critical role in advancing broadband penetration in the country. Bandwidth availability and the price of bandwidth will also be driving the adoption of videoconferencing. India is a growing economy and there is immense competition among companies. Pressure to be more productive at lower costs, short time to market and being able to reach people are pertinent for companies to gain competitive edge.

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