Two weeks ago, an innocent-looking tweet by Roger Farnsworth (@highcq) sent me on an amazing journey. As soon as I clicked on the link to a post on the corporate blog of FlyMiwok, an on-demand air travel company, I was pulled into an amazing time-machine, sending me back to the mid 90s in a flash.
Now don’t get me wrong – I remember the mid 90s well. I was already working in the tech industry at that time. So I was not shocked by the way people looked or what was around me, but the things I heard… Oh, the things I heard. I couldn’t help but smile, and think about how much have changed in last 10+ years. I’ve collected some bits so that you too can enjoy yourself.
- Personal communication tools are great in one-to-one situations and will yield quite some savings there. The same cannot be said for meetings where a dozen or more people from 6 different locations attend.
If they only knew, huh? In today’s working environment connecting dozen or more people from six (or more…) different locations is a common practice in many multi-national organizations. It’s hard to imagine how we would get any work done without our weekly multi-site video conferences, especially when it comes to global projects. As I’ve already written here, video calling is great for peer-to-peer, but priceless when dealing with many-to-many.
- One issue very high on everyone’s list: Cut Office cost. [...] Telecommuting has been encouraged, offices have been downsized. [...] chances are people are not just in two offices. There’s always someone participating from home or a hotel room, while another person is in an airport with no Wi-Fi access, but lots of background noise instead. In situations like these, audio conferences via telephone is the lowest common denominator.
No WiFi access? In an airport?! Sounds strange, I know, but in the 21st century the kind gods of communications have given us mobile networks to connect us to the almighty Internet. These people will be amazed when they see sales people, executives and even “us commoners” making video calls using their mobile handset via 3G, either peer-to-peer or on a conference. We will be sitting in an airport lounge or connecting to a video conference using our desktop client. That’s the beauty of it but that’s also the challenge in what we do. Using the collaborative infrastructure we offer today, people can connect using video, from anywhere, using any means of communication. Forget lowest common denominator – we want a high definition experience!
- Video conferencing technology has become much easier to use, even while traveling, but the quality can be quite low. Have you ever hosted a teleconference in the U.S, where people from different continents attended at the same time, some from home, some from the office, some while they were traveling? [...] the results are typically nothing to write home about.
Low quality? On the contrary: as resolutions are getting higher and higher, as bitrates are growing rapidly, and as processor technologies advance significantly, the quality of experience in video conferences is getting better and better, from high definition to “higher” definition and beyond. Using SCOPIA Desktop you can connect in high definition from home. With the SCOPIA VC240 you can connect in high definition from your office desk. Yes, in some cases, network conditions and other problems may harm the experience, but using new technologies, like our SVC solution, you can enjoy a great experience even if your infrastructure is problematic. So don’t bother writing home, just call… using video.
- Most importantly, [...]certain things can only be achieved by personally meeting your customers.
Yes, even I can admit that. But what portion of business air travel is indeed face-to-face communication? Most of the types of meetings we are holding, most of the types of meetings we are traveling to, are the types that will definitely benefit from video conferencing, if we would only allow ourselves to stop thinking like mid-90s people and start acting rationally.
[...] you should not fool yourself that technology will replace the necessity to travel. It will not.
It will certainly will not, I told the people around me. You will indeed travel – travel for a vacation, travel to visit family and friends, travel for a 1-on-1 meeting to close the deal you’ve been working on for ages. But travel on a regular basis to visit your different organization locations? Travel to customers or partners for work meetings? Travel to share ideas, brainstorm, collaborate? No, we don’t do it in the 21st century. Technology does replace the necessity to travel in that case.
And just as I was saying that, the most shocking thing happened: my eyes were fixed on the date, which I have not seen until that moment. July 21, 2009. Oh my god! This is the present. Was all of this a bad dream?
a video conference I attended on July 21, with the US and India.
I quickly closed my browser tab and went back to work. I have a video conference with our New Hampshire team in 5 minutes…
I would have been surprised if you, as a purveyor of video conferencing equipment, would not have disagreed with the original article which was written by me. Maybe my experience is limited to just a few F100 companies and not as broad as yours. But in dealing with these companies, it was straight-old telephone. Nothing else. Why? People know they can use other methods of communication; that does not mean that they do. It’s not that they cannot figure out how to use something better than a phone, but often they do not want to, don’t think the circumstances warrant it or are not forced to.
As a manager who used to manage work groups across continents, I can assure you that there are situations where there’s nothing better than showing up in person, sitting down your team and then going for a dinner and drinks at night. Humans bond with other humans through human touch, not through technology. We do these trips less often than we used to, but they are still needed.
Veit Irtenkauf – FlyMiwok.com
As a dotcom veteran from ’95 (that means I’m older than I’d like) now a web architect/Director in higher education, I will say that I appreciate the push-pull of these two perspectives — in a way, this discussion is a metaphor for technology maturity and adoption in general.
First — my institution, a traditional and storied school in Boston, is broaching video conferencing as I write this. We are investing in a multi-camera room system with HD capabilities, top-line cameras, professional AV and acoustical consulting, and a roadmap for how to leverage this cutting-edge infrastructure for everything from Board meetings to distance learning.
Yes, the increasing availability of public IP bandwidth, advancing codecs, cheaper desktop solutions and the need to collaborate around information “now” *(amid a terrible economy) have made a pretty strong value proposition for video conferencing.
So, to Sagee I say — word up to the possibilities and the emerging reality.
However, for all the possibilities that technology has promised over the past 15 years (both delivering on and failing to materialize) — only a few have become so pervasively simple, affordable, and practical that they become our toasters telephones, and email.
To whit, Video Conferencing is not as simple as it needs to be, yet. Bandwidth is no where near as reliable or as ubiquitous as we’d like to think (try a 2mb HD call with data presentation to 2 friends at home on desktop systems…fail!). Try a bridging service and wait as they tell you they will not guarantee service until they “certify” your VC system or recommend that you buy the “valet” service so an attendant can make sure everything is working.
Does that sound like picking up your phone, dialing Mom, and then hearing her say, “hello”? It’s not even close — it’s much more like the phone company my Grandmom worked for in the 1940′s where she would manually connect callers and monitor the connection. Despite the protestations of VC salespeople, VC today is *much more akin* to the “operator assistance” of the phone infrastructure 60 years ago.
The great business axiom is that the “relationship closes the deal” and it seems Sagee, you miss that point by implying that you’ll take your infusion from technology’s bleeding edge. Most business people (and I mean all comers, not just tech companies) are extremely conservative. Even as we spec’d and invested in a VC room system totaling more than $100,000 the number one requirement was phone bridging capabilities to allow our more “analog” Board members the ability to simply “call” in.
To Veit, I appreciate the humanist perspective in your article. It is why the handshake (albeit anachronistic) is still revered as the gold-standard of a “deal” — and yes, the phone continues to be the lowest common denominator because it works, it’s cheap, and it’s ubiquitous. Your point about going to dinner and socializing couldn’t be more spot on. Being together (physically) is the natural venue and process for business.
So far, we’ve not been able to replicate the natural sense of “being together” despite HiDef conferencing gear. Also, many people do not feel as relaxed when they know there is a camera on them. VC vendors are keen on citing specs and drinking their own koolaid — it’s all cool, but it’s not yet the fax machine.
Thanks, h1pst3r, Veit, for your great comments.
I will be publishing a blog post in a two weeks about the “conservative” nature of executives and why I agree with you on the facts – people are still using the telephone, not video conferencing, for most of their communication needs.
I already wrote that some face-to-face meetings are required and will not be replaced.
I also wrote that there are still many open issues (bandwidth, reliability, etc.).
Still, I think that the “human behavioral” aspects of video conferencing adoption will change with time, especially as we will do more video calling on our mobile and at home.
Hopefully, in a few years, VC will be as simple as the fax machine, but way cooler.