I’ve been writing about video communications in this blog for the past 4 years. And yet from time to time I get this strange feeling that maybe not everyone knows what I mean when I say “video communications”. An interesting whitepaper titled “Is Your Organization Ready For Video Communications” by Bryan Denyer, managing editor of VC News, a dedicated video communications resource for end-users and channels, serves as a great source for explaining what video communications is all about. (Proper disclosure; RADVISION is the sponsor of this whitepaper).
So what do we mean by video communications? As Bryan explains, video communications is an umbrella for a family of technologies that employ video as a means for communications. Video conferencing is a good example; video calling (think FaceTime or Skype) is another. But video communications is not about just video, but also data sharing.
Services today range from low quality, low bandwidth web conferencing solutions to high end, high cost Telepresence rooms. Still, the end result is similar – communicating with others in a very vivid and face-to-face like way. So either in an home office, a small sized business, or in a large enterprise – visual communications is the way to go.
Video Call LAX-BUE. Photo by Roger Schultz.
In the whitepaper Bryan Denyer describes some common misconceptions about video communications. I tackled all in various blog posts, still seeing such a list is very useful and informative: VC is expensive, VC is for large organizations only, VC requires a complex infrastructure, VC needs special facilities, VC is difficult to use – believe me, you heard them all.
All You Have To Do Is Choose A Solution
On the other hand, the advantages of video communications are hard to ignore. And it is not just about saving on travel costs. There are various benefits mentioned in the whitepaper which are as important, if not more important;
- Increase productivity
- Frequent and fruitful interactions between staff in different locations
- Improved decision-making process
- Better information flow
- Specialists can share their knowledge with various branches of the company
- Improving work-life balance of employees
So the real question should not be if to use video communication or not, but what kind of a solution best fits YOU and YOUR organization. With so many solutions out there today, one would surely fit your budget and your need, and with companies like RADVISION providing a variety of solutions, from mobile to telepresence, when we say video communications all you have to do is choose.
