Present Important Trends in Video Conferencing Industry

March 7th, 2018 by ali No comments »

Where is video conferencing going? We have noticed three major trends this year that could deeply affect this industry in the next future. Let’s see what they are

“Life is a series of natural changes. Don’t resist them” Lao-tzu said.  However, changes impact our lives and our business so deeply that we get worried about them. This is the reason why it is important to forecast what is going to happen in any industry, so that to be able to seize new opportunities and face possible threats.

Video conferencing does not make exception to the rule. Actually, this industry has been periodically disrupted by technological changes, the last one has been the cloud technology. So, what shall we expect in the near future? We have detected three major trends that could impact both customers and providers.

  1. Video quality will be more and more important for workers and organizations

The new workforce considers the use of video conferencing quite normal and – contrary to their parents – absolutely necessary. Millennials love video conferences: according to a survey of Cisco, 87%  of respondents prefer to work for organizations that are video enabling, and 75% of the sample of young professionals surveyed stated that they will not settle for low quality. In conclusion, HD Video conferencing is an absolutely must for any organization that wishes to attract a young workforce.

  1. The use of Video conferencing will expand

Video calls are growing in volume, as people utilize this medium to interact with each other oftener and oftener. For example, job interviews are often conducted through a video conference today. Globalization does not explain the reason of this trend, as a curious fact is that even local job interviews increasingly happen through video calls. According to a study of PGI, 66% of candidates would prefer the screen to a classical face-to-face meeting.

Another new use of video conferencing is for the meetings of the teams of organizations and enterprises:  only 20% of respondents to a questionnaire of Redshift Research stated that they prefer real to virtual meetings. In other words, workers seem to love video conferencing.

  1. Virtual reality is the new frontier of video conferencing

The combination of video conferencing and virtual reality could be a real revolution that is potentially able to disrupt the whole sector. Today, it is already possible to simulate a meeting in a way that it looks as real as in the physical world, and Facebook announced that they are going to enhance virtual reality in their last convention. Start Trek’s world is thus not so far; in a couple of year, it could be really possible to work in a virtual office with virtual colleagues.

If you are interested in the future of video conferencing, you are going to find further useful resources on R-HUB`s Blog at http://www.rhubcom.com You can also enjoy a 30 days free trial of R-HUB`s  video conferencing solutions, like TurboMeeting.

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The Near Future of Video Conferencing

March 6th, 2018 by ali No comments »

WebRTC, the new standard that enables more economic video conferencing tools, cloud based systems, mobile video conferencing, and new monitoring software are the four pivots that are now driving the changes in video conferencing

Like any fast-growing industry, video conferencing changes quickly. So, how to stay on the winning side? We have detected four main trends in video conferencing vendors (period:2015 –2017) that could reshape the sector in the near future.

WebRTC has become an accepted technology for video conferencing, after IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) has required browsers to implement VP8 and H.264 Video Codecs. WebRTC is a new standard that provides video and audio conferencing for web browsers and shows great real-time-collaboration capabilities because of its simple APIs.

Being WebRTC more economic than the traditional solutions, it could change the way many businesses approach the market. Appear.in is an example of provider of a WebRTC-based video conferencing product.

Cloud based systems have outperformed room based video conferencing.  

Enterprises have been showing a clear preference for cloud based solutions, as they are much cheaper and faster-scalable than the cumbersome old video conferencing servers. Another advantage of cloud is that maintenance and installation is performed remotely by vendors. Only server-based solutions like R-HUB`s TurboMeeting (http://www.rhubcom.com), which are able to merger in one the advantages of both cloud and servers, will be able to survive on the market in the long terms.

Mobile devices want to have access to video conferencing.

Yet the number of people that access video conferences through PC screens is still very high, an increasing amount of users ask to conference in through their tablets and mobiles. This new trend is strictly connected to the growing of the number of freelancers: they are much more willing to work out of the office hours, in order to exploit downtimes (for example, while waiting the bus). It is also common for freelancers to be in need to communicate with their customers during unusual times or when they are travelling. This explains the growing demands for mobile friendly video-conferencing solutions.

New products to monitor the status of a video conferencing system are in high demand.

This comes as an obvious consequence of the three above-mentioned trends: IT staffs need a way to check in real time if there are problems and issues from remote, and eventually solve them. Therefore, there are new opportunities for UC-specific specialists to develop and market new products for remote support. An example of a company that has recently entered this market segment is Nectare Service Corp.

How will these trends affect the market? On one side, customers will be requested to invest more in LAN and wireless upgrades, mobile device management, data plans and security. On the other side, resellers could be driven to make new partnerships and adopt a policy of end-to-end sales of single vendor solutions for simplicity. That these trends will make the market change quickly comes by itself.

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Mobile Virtual Collaboration, the new frontier of Video Conferencing

February 12th, 2018 by ali No comments »

Time runs fast. It was only yesterday, when we were all amazed at the idea to speak face-to-face with our friends through Skype on our pcs. Today, it has become common experience for everybody to work with a remote team through mobile video conferences. Tomorrow, we will meet our colleagues in a virtual office

In a globalized and connected world, working all together in the same physical space is impossible, as teams are composed of workers scattered throughout the five continents. Therefore, there is no option to video conferencing; this technology offers the only possible, practical solution to the problem of managing remote team. The need to keep together distant workers is probably the most important factor behind the boost that video conferencing has had during these years.

Another important new trend is the increasing use of mobiles and smartphones to participate to video conference. This new social phenomenon is strictly connected with a change in the patterns of living and working brought about by the so-called millennium generation, who is born techy and free and with a sort of natural allergy to the old economy.

Remote workers have discovered that much of the downtimes they have while travelling or waiting for the bus can be used to work or to answer the emails from the office. The gig-economy has boosted this trend even further: thousands of freelancers and digital nomads prefer working from home or some exotic resort through their iPhones and iPads to staying in the traditional office with a bossing boss around.

These changes in workers’ attitudes request a change in the technical equipment of tech enterprises. Today, video conferencing platforms must be highly integrated with multiple operative systems, so that to allow mobile owners to connect and conference-in. This is called Bring Your Own Device Policy, which means that the organization has simply to provide remote workers with a video conferencing platform, while it is up to each individual worker to equip himself with the device (laptop or smartphone it may be) to connect.

Video conferencing solutions must be then preferably web app (the so-called web conferencing technology), as there is no need to download software that way. The particularity of web apps is exactly that the software is on the browser, so that users do not have any more the pain to install software on their devices with limited memories and resources.

In conclusion, organizations have to adopt a new pattern for their remote collaboration tools that awards solutions which are web-based and highly integrated with the exiting operative systems (iOS, Android, Windows) for mobiles. This is the only way to enable a Bring Your Own Device Policy and bring on board workers independently from the technology of their devices.

If you are interested in the opportunities and challenges of virtual teams and remote collaboration, you are going to find more useful resources on R-HUB`s Blog at http://www.rhubcom.com

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How to make your Video Session Successful and Fruitful

February 11th, 2018 by ali No comments »

Video conferences are undoubtedly helpful to communicate with your remote team. But how to make the most of it? Preparation, etiquette and body language are the three key tips that every user should follow

Today, video conferencing is like the washing machine; it is that kind of technology that has so much pervaded our daily life that is impossible to get rid of. However, there is also room to improve, no matter how much experience we have with video conferences.  These three tips will help you to make your video sessions successful and fruitful, by making the most of your video conferencing technology.

1- Choose the right video conferencing tool for your needs

Video conferences rely necessarily on technology. Therefore, you’d better have the right tool for your needs. However, choosing among the hundreds of solutions that are available on the market today is difficult. While small startups could find an on-cloud based app convenient, larger organizations could profit more from an all-in one, integrated solution like R-HUB`s TurboMeeting (http://www.rhubcom.com).

This line of very compact, silent, self-configuring and self-installing conferencing servers offer you all the advantages of both on-premise servers based and software based video conferencing solutions. Then, you will enjoy a very affordable product that assures you the best in terms of security and speed/quality for real time collaboration, but without the usual pains in the neck of servers, in particular without maintenance costs and the need of a devoted room to lodge the servers.

The best approach is to fill a list with your needs/requirements, and then compare them with the features of each solution that is available in your area/country. Then, the right choice for you should stand out almost immediately.

2- Study and practice etiquette

Hobbes, the great English philosopher, taught us that rules are important, as they save us from the wild and harmful state of nature and allow humans to live together in a society. Same in the digital world: netiquette helps humans to cooperate and communicate, without some few basic rules a video conference would be so chaotic that many participants would log off immediately.

Netiquette is more complicated than ordinary etiquette, as it is important to keep into consideration the particular features of video conferencing technology. For example, it is fundamental to avoid voice overlapping, as it could severely affect the same data transmission of the session.

3- Prepare yourself for your virtual meetings

Virtual meetings must be carefully planned and prepared, probably even more then real meetings, because here there is also the difficulty of the use of video conferencing technology. Therefore, check in advance your camera, audio, headphones and background, and adjust these devices when it is necessary.

Dress properly and prepare every document you wish to share. The room where you are going to stay should be silent and properly lit. Your desktop could become visible during the session; then, you’d better close every folder or document that is not pertinent with the topic of the discussion.

Do you professionally host video conferences and need good suggestions to enhance your presentation? You are going to find many useful resources and directions on R-HUB`s Blog at http://www.rhubcom.com

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Is there something like a Video Etiquette?

February 4th, 2018 by ali No comments »

Yes there is, and you should know it, as following video etiquette prescriptions will enable you to offer your guests a better experience in all respects, with consequent higher probabilities that they would come again to your webinars or presentations

Manners matter, in real and digital life. Especially marketers should try to optimize their video conferences: the better the user experience of potential customers during video calls is, the better the chances they will appreciate your presentation and come back again and/or buy your product.

We have clustered the most common rules of video etiquette in these four boxes, with the hope to be helpful for you.

Rules for Meetings:

  • Has the site you are calling has a correct IP address?
  • Set your camera before (and not after) your call, so as to avoid technical issues during your meeting. Do the same with the rest of your equipment (microphones, etc).
  • When you are not speaking, deactivate your audio through the “mute” button.
  • No voices overlapping: be patient and wait that your interlocutor has finished speaking.

Rules for Video:

  • Ban clothes that are too dark or bright, or with graphic patterns like checks and stripes. A classical turquoise shirt is still the best solution, alternatively muted and pastel colors.
  • Close drapes and blinds. The sun light could interfere with the lighting of your room with a bad final effect on the screen.
  • Be natural while speaking, and use natural gesture.
  • Fix your camera so that your face and shoulders are framed as much as possible, while the objects, like the table or the chair where you are sitting down, the less.

Rules for Audio:

  • Don’t shout; your voice must sound natural. If you shout, your voice could come off distorted.
  • Ask your interlocutors if they can hear you well. A good trick is to ask them to introduce themselves. In this way, you can immediately realize whether you can hear them or not.
  • During your meeting, mute the microphone before move it.
  • While speaking, make some small and frequent pauses. Remember that the audio has always a little delay, even with the best real time streaming products.
  • Limit side conversations.

 

Rules for Content Sharing

  • Do your computers and applications show documents/slides installed? Do these apps work in your video conferencing environment? Not every video conferencing platform is necessarily integrated with every kind of application to open these documents.
  • Test your presentation before starting your call.

If you are interested in video etiquette, you are going to find other useful resources and posts on R-HUB`s blog at http://www.rhubcom.com It is also possible to enjoy a free trial period of 30 days.

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