Dataquest : Crystal Clear

Once an organization decides to implement a particular technology, it weighs the different options available, how the deployment can change the work dynamics (obviously for the better) and most importantly, the RoI generated. Few would disagree that a deployment decision based on these parameters can make a huge difference to any organizations well-being.

With the maturing of the videoconferencing market in the last couple of years, many organizations are increasingly able to see more value in deploying different videoconferencing solutions.

In fact, if there is one space which has been immune to the recession, is the videoconferencing market. Instead, it has rather acted as a catalyst.

It is no more an esoteric technology; rather SMBs too are looking at videoconferencing to cut on their traveling costs. The vendors have broadened the portfolio of services like never before. From the traditional standard presence offered initially, the videoconferencing services have now graduated to provide a bucket full of offerings of supreme quality.

Depending on the requirements and the cost affordability, companies can pick from a whole spectrum of services that broadly includes standard definition, high definition, telepresense, real presence solutions and so on.

All these are positive signs indicating at a changing market scenario. Without getting into the specifics of the Indian market size for this technology, lets just see how mature the market has become, in terms of technology options, as compared to earlier times.

Demystifying Videoconferencing
Way back in early 2003-04, when videoconferencing was a relatively newer trend, the audio and video quality was nowhere close to being prefect. The picture wasnt very clear, and so was the image, which would often be delayed. Add to that, repeated jumps and snags in the picture. The audio too wasnt great. However, now with the presence of scores of technology options the future of videoconferencing seems upbeat.

Vendors have varied levels of solutions that deliver perfectly clear visual and audio quality in real time which means one can actually hear and see what is happening on the other end exactly when it happens, without any delay whatsoever.

The economic conditions too have served a dual purpose by not only helping create a new level of awareness and demand for collaboration, but by also serving as the best time for companies to start looking at ways to survive by giving utmost importance to cost control. It is not just the bigger enterprises that are going for this kind of collaboration; the small and medium sized businesses too are waking up to the benefits of videoconferencing to replace travel. In fact, analysts believe that the SMB segment is becoming the next potential target market for a myriad of business technologies ranging from IP telephony to mobility solutions to videoconferencing.

Confirms Anshul Dhingra, senior marketing manager, Polycom, SMBs are seeing value in the solution. As far as higher end technologies are concerned, it is just a matter of time. As and when it does become a part of their culture, it will be looked at more as a necessity.


SMBs are seeing value in the solution. As far as higher end technologies are concerned, it is just a matter of time Anshul Dhingra, senior marketing manager, Polycom	We canceled two US trips (20 business class tickets) simply by using CISCOs telepresence at their facility Venkat Iyer, director, business technology & distribution, Pfizer	If you go for it without working out the mathematics then you might face issues in accepting the technology. One has be first convinced that it is a good option Anwer Bagdadi, CIO, Countrywide India

Seeing the potential in the Indian market, Polycom is all set to launch its very first SMB offering, fully featured product with a plug and play facility. We are looking at this segment in a big way. When we go to the market we will have different approaches from a solution perspective. And we know its a cost-conscious segment, so we have kept that in mind along with the ease of use factor. Right now, customization for the Indian market is going on, adds Dhingra.

Based on specific requirement, the higher end videoconferencing solutions come anywhere between the range of $4,000 to $1 mn. But still vendors seem to believe that SMBs will be the next big hub. LifeSize Indias country manager, Shivasankar Krishnamurthi points out, Fifty percent of our revenues come from the SMEs.

As the value of real-time collaboration rises, the conferencing technologies are further going to witness a strong adoption not only from verticals where people virtually live out of a suitcase, but also in a big way from government, healthcare, services and so on.

In fact, solutions providers point out that there is still strong adoption from these verticals, which will only get bigger.

So what is it that is driving this adoption? The answer lies in the leading edge technology that the vendors are offering today, which includes flexible conferences and deployment, common management suites, highly scalable solutions, secure VoIP conferencing, scalable solutions, embedded multipoint options and much more. It all translates into the power of integration, enabling easy sharing of any type of information and instantly arming participants with whatever they need.

Depending on the use, nature of deployments and price-points, many interesting applications have come up.

Amongst them is the popular tele-justice project, a videoconferencing deployment by Polycom in Indian jails and district courts. Not only has it helped cut down on transport expenses of taking the accused to the courts, but it has also reduced the security risk involved in taking these hard core criminals to the court.

Tandberg too has connected the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) headquarters and offices through the videoconferencing solution. It is helping employees communicate to the regional offices and station with reduced costs. Tanbergs FieldView is another application meant for industrial use. It is a Wi-Fi-based hand held video device that can be used for remote inspection of sites, allowing on the spot troubleshooting.

Fact vs Myth

Videoconferencing uses too much bandwidth
Myth Depending on the quality desired, with 768 Kbs of bandwidth, you can be rest assured that a quality videoconference will happen without interruptions or delays. With 256 Kbs of bandwidth, one can expect a visual delay. Even with 128 Kbs, a videoconference is possible but the quality will obviously not be too great.

Videoconferencing is only for boardroom meetings
Myth videoconferencing is no more an upmarket technology. Just like LCDs have become mainstream, pushed by a demand for a better visual delight, HD videoconferencing too is expected to follow suit. From YouTube to video iPods to HD broadcast television, the quality of visual communication is transforming the ways people learn, live, and work--videoconferencing is going to be no exception. And with vendors offering a range of solutions, interacting live over video --across a desktop PC, conference room, lecture hall, immersive telepresence suite, and just about any environment in between, todays video conferencing solutions meet any application, budget or space requirement.

Systems from different vendors cant connect with each other
Fact This answer is complicated by different approaches taken by some vendors, and whether or not they adhere to established standards. Most standards-based high definition videoconferencing systems interoperate with one another and also support traditional, standards-based videoconferencing

systems. To sustain the long-term value of any videoconferencing investment, buyers should look for solutions that utilize standards-based technologies (H.264 video, H.239 content sharing, AES encryption, etc.

Videoconferencing is expensive
Fact It again depends on the quality one wishes to achieve. If one goes for greater quality, expense will be more. Moreover, as quality has increased, the initial purchase and installation cost of videoconferencing systems has continued to decrease. As a result, most organizations cost-justify the systems relatively easily, with a complete RoI within 6-24 months and sometimes paying for itself by replacing just one week long business or training trip. One reason for this is that high resolution videoconferencing systems have much higher adoption rates than traditional technologies, resulting in greater cost savings and significantly faster RoI.

We cant include our customers and suppliers in the videoconferences
Myth Todays videoconferencing solutions enable real-time collaboration across nearly any environment, from a Wi-Fi enabled coffee shop to a home office to a board room, enabling customers and partners to become part of your video ecosystem securely and smoothly. From any standards-based videoconferencing system, teams and individuals can collaborate over video.

Now lets take the example of any healthcare institute. It would have to provide for remote diagnostics and tele-medicine services to remote areas. The tele-medicine deployment at AIIMS provides medical training and consultation to over 100 locations across the country.

Outside India, lets take another example of Australias fifth largest producer of fresh fruits and vegetables. To leverage the existing network infrastructure and link 450 employees across four states for quicker decision making as well as reduced travel time and costs; it went in for a videoconferencing solution with network interface module, for unified collaborative communications. Besides enhancing the company-wide productivity, improving internal communications and reducing travel costs within eighteen months, the company saved more than the capital cost of system implementation, resulting in a positive RoI.

In the same way, a financial institute might feel the need to keep all its branches up to date on the latest banking schemes and changes in government policies. Moreover, the top management too has to touch base with the key bank managers across the country, on a regular basis. What would it do? Traveling obviously would become a costly affair, with so many branches spread across the country. Likewise, for an educational institute like IGNOU, which has branches across India, remote education would be quite an idea.

By now you are probably wondering what is the connection. The needs might be specific to the industry, so it is quite obvious that one solution might not be the answer to all their problems. One device wouldnt be the way out.

In fact, at the end of the day, a lot depends on the kind of experience one really wants to have. If it is just the face (for eye-contact) that one wants to see, it can be created over the desktop, but for a real time conferencing experience high definition camera, a large screen, fabulous sound and piles of bandwidth is needed. Most conferencing solutions somewhere range between these two extremes.

All other videoconferencing solutions fit between these extremes. If we look at the different options that are availablehigh definition (HD) and telepresence technology seem to be in vogue, completely.

As per a recent study by Zinnov Management Consulting, the market for full HD videoconferencing such as telepresence market would alone be $40 mn by 2012. At present it is close to $7.2 mn; so analysts forecast significant growth in the next few years.

As the name suggests, high definition option gives a far superior quality than conventional videoconferencing, as the resolution of images transmitted is high, without any picture drop. For instance, doctors can actually check X-rays or MRIs of patients, as the images are crystal clear.

Now just imagine walking into a comfortable, luxurious meeting environment, taking a seat and starting a live conversation with your counterparts from across the world. There is no technology in the way, no snags, no hiccups, just you and your colleagues from the rest of the world. This is what real presence experience of high definition means.

We see a clear movement towards HD and telepresence. Its like how LCDs have become mainstream because of greater image quality, so will these, very soon. Its all about visual communication in a much better package, says Dhingra of Polycom.

Pfizer, which is a pharmaceutical company, has been using videoconferencing for over eight years. Venkat Iyer, director, business technology & distribution, cites an interesting instance, of just how videoconferencing is being replaced by telepresence in Pfizer: We canceled two US trips (20 business class tickets) simply by using CISCOs telepresence at their facility. So what your company can afford will decide whether you want to go for telepresence or not.

One could choose from simple desktop videoconferencing, to dedicated standalone unit to group videoconferencing to webconferencing; options are many.

And of course, any talk of HD videoconference would be incomplete without a mention of 3D HD. Vendors see this as the future of videoconferencing, as this technique guarantees natural representation of all participants in virtual space to give a great quality.

There is another interesting mobile video solution, which is on the move, literally. Its the latest application, which offers users to connect to videoconference while on the move through their GPRS enabled mobile.

The equipment is portable as well as wireless and can be set up at any location in the world. However, not every system offers mobile videoconference, so one must carefully pick when choosing the appropriate equipment. Most hardware is actually not portable and will need to be permanently set up in a specific room dedicated solely to videoconferencing. This technology is specifically getting popular for shere convenience feature, as all you need to put in your suitcase when you are off to another world is your web cam and the software.

The video communication management too seems to be getting popular. There are several aspects to video communication management namely bandwidth management meeting scheduling and support for ever-increasing users and their devices.

Clearly one is awestruck, when you actually go through the experience of real time videoconferencing for the first time, but is it easy to deploy? Its an important question, which lingers on. What is more important is the blues that are associated with the whole technology of videoconferencing.

Anything for a Great Deployment

Look at videoconferencing as a business tool and not only as a communication tool.
Choose standards based solutions for complete interoperability with other video communications systems to ensure scalability and future proofing.
For true high definition (HD) video quality, consider an IP based High Definition videoconferencing solution with 720p/1080p resolution with the ability to connect multiple HD video sources.
Non-verbal communication plays a significant roleIntegrate Room Aesthetics as part of solution for best experience (Lighting, Acoustics, Display, Camera Position, Windows, Seating and Walls color).
Create an organization wide policy of videoconferencing usage with C-Level commitment and advocacy.
Use telepresence and videoconferencing outside of your organization (vendor-supplier collaboration, recruitment, etc.

Implementation Blues
So if you are thinking of actually upgrading your videoconferencing facility, the first thing that comes to mind is whether inter-operability is an issue. There is a section, which believes that existence of different inter-operable standards between vendors could hamper market evolution in the long run. Well, not really, claim vendors. There are specific standards in HD videoconferencing which do allow interoperability of differing products from multiple vendors much smoother, they emphasize.

Venkat Iyer of Pfizer confirms, We have used Tandberg and Polycom videoconferencing equipments and we have had no issue. Both the sides should have good connection and this will not be an issue. Moreover, today many of the videoconferencess are IP enabled and hence if you invest in that, then the platform issue is no longer there.

I really dont see it as a deterrent to wide-scale adoption. And if you are on open standards, we do offer scalable solutions. Also most mid-sized organizations are going for deployment on premise, which is an indicator to the fact that it is not such a big issue, says Dhingra.

Anwer Bagdadi, CIO of Countrywide India, too agress. If you go for it without working out the mathematics of how it will help, than you might face issues in accepting the technology, One has be be first convinced that it is a good option.

Interestingly, according to a survey based report by IDC, while close to 64% of organizations went in for a on premise model in the year 2007, 23% chose the managed services option, and about 4% the hosted model. When it came to managed-services model, IT/ITeS and the services sector were at the forefront with IT companies contributing 20% and services 27%. Analysts predict a slow yet steady shift towards the hosted and the managed models.

However, could bandwidth be an issue there? Solution providers, hope not! As the conferencing market matures, the different, need based charging models have also begun to crop up. Airtel, for instance, is the first player to offer all three charging models capex, opex and Pay per use charging schemes. Though many claim that working out cost for attaining the appropriate bandwidth still is a huge challenge.

Moreover, there are differing views on how much bandwidth does a vedioconference require. The answer really lies in the quality desired. Lets assume that you have 768 Kbs of bandwidth, you can be rest assured that you will be able to have a quality videoconference without interruptions or delays. With 256 Kbs of bandwidth, one can expect a visual delay. Though the audio should be clear, so if one is not that dependent on the video aspect, one could use this amount. If you only have access to 128 Kbs, a videoconference is still possible but the quality will obviously not be too great.

Anwer Bagdadi of Countrywide India, too feels that for a good videoconferencing, anything lower than 375 kps would witness problems like static picture, bad sound. He adds, if more than 2-3 cites are connected, the quality would be no where close to satisfactory.

However, in a country like India where telecom incursion is still at low levels, the average broadband bandwidth availability ranges between 128 and 256 Kbps. To many, videoconferencing still seems to be a distant dream.

Besides the cost of the bandwidth, there is also an equipment cost which has in the past acted as a put-off for many. Service providers believe that as quality has increased, the initial purchase and installation cost of videoconferencing systems has continued to decrease. Either way, vendors tend to believe that most organizations have to justify cost in context of a complete RoI extending over 6-24 months.

Venkat Iyer says, The main cost is the cost of equipment. The set of equipments will range between anywhere between 4-8 lakh depending on the add-ons. In my previous company we had added a specialized camera attached to videoconferencing. So you need to work out things according to your needs.

It is believed that ISDN has played a significant role in adding vibrancy to the growth of the videoconferencing market. When compared to an IP connection, ISDN is much quicker, and more reliable. Though this makes a bigger hole in the pockets, but the experience vendors vouch is worth spending those few extra bucks. Making this a viable option from the cost point of view can really help give the right push to the market.

Urvashi Kaul
urvashik@cybermedia.co.in