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WHITEPAPER: VIDEO COLLABORATION & THE FUTURE WORKPLACEWHITEPAPER: VIDEO COLLABORATION & THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

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Video Collaboration &the Future WorkplaceBy Glenn Jystad

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Executive SummaryCollaboration is evolving along with changing business technologies. Customers demand the ability to access information, in real time, from any device and any location. New age employees now expect to collaborate continuously with customers, partners and co-workers. Hence, future-oriented organizations strive to create a workplace that enables customers and co-workers to collaborate as seamlessly as possible.

Telephones transformed the way we did business. Similarly, email, web-conferencing, instant messaging, etc. have transformed collaboration and communications. Today, we are witnessing a similar transformation in customer interaction and employee communications. The use of video and video conferencing tools are integral to this transformation.

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Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Evolution of Video Conferencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Video Conferencing in the Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Video Conferencing Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Selling in the era of “cloud-based” video conferencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Recruiting and training in the era of “cloud-based” video conferencing. . . . . . 8

Key Takeaways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Contents

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IntroductionAbout 10 years ago, we were comfortable with complex on-premise deployments

of enterprise applications. Today, off-premise or cloud-based solutions are

becoming the norm. This cloud-based approach challenges product and service

companies to create on-demand offerings instead of traditional purchase and

install choices. In addition, advancements in processing power, data storage,

and APIs, along with the ubiquity of mobile applications gave birth to a new age

of enterprise mobility. Mobile phones are now being used to pay bills, navigate

cities, manage schedules and make face-to-face video calls. Similarly, video

collaboration, which is not so deeply penetrated today, will become common

due to several factors, including advancement in WebRTC technology, increased

adoption of compatible mobile devices, and broadband speed. Statistics from

sources such as Forrester, Wainhouse Research, Cisco and Polycom agree

that video conferencing will be adopted quickly and penetrate widely within

the next couple of years. Wainhouse Research wrote that 1.12 billion hours of

live online video content was consumed in 2013 and this figure will double by

2016. (“The evolving role of Live Online Video in Corporate Marketing,” 2014)

1. Digital Journal predicted that video is expected to be the most preferred business tool by 2016. Videos will be preferred over emails and voice calls. (“Business Set to Prefer Video Conferencing by 2016”)

2. According to Cisco’s VNI Service Adoption forecast (2013-2018), desktop videoconferencing was the fastest-growing business service in 2013. There are 37.4 million desktop videoconferencing users and this figure will grow to an estimated 238.3 million by 2018.

3. The number of smartphones is expected to reach 2.4 billion by 2018. In addition, broadband speed will grow several times in the next 4-5 years. This will expand remote video conferencing.

238.3 millionDesktop Video Conferencing Users by 2018

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Video collaboration is not new, it has been around since the late 1930s. Long before

we had words like “unified communications”, we were using video conferencing, but

it was not a part of the overall communications and collaboration strategy. Many

attempts were made to introduce video telephony or video conferencing in the 1970s

Evolution of Video Conferencing

and 1980s but they were unsuccessful — mostly due to poor audio or video quality. Finally,

in the 1990s, the technology became more refined and video conferencing started to make

its way into the workplace.

It wasn’t easy. The technology was expensive and set up was often difficult. Additionally, video

conferencing tools had to be installed in one location — a dedicated conference room, for example.

Today, changes in enterprise mobility strategies, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trends,

interoperability, and the benefits of the cloud (including subscription-based pay-as-you-grow

models and zero Capex), have set the table for Video Collaboration to become the new wave.

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IT WAS EXPENSIVE: Organizations needed

expensive equipment, such as Cisco, Polycom

or LifeSize systems, in every meeting room.

POOR CONNECTIVITY: Typical business Internet

bandwidth was insufficient for wide-scale video use.

Video conferencing growth was limited because it was not scalable. Major reasons behind the non-scalability are:

COMPLEX TO SET UP: Often IT personnel had to

install, configure, and maintain video conferencing

solutions, therefore adding to their responsibilities

and limiting use when IT was unavailable.

LITTLE INTEROPERABILITY: Video conferencing

was much like allowing only Apple phones to call

Apple users. In real world applications, the different

platforms didn’t talk to one another well, if at all.

Video Conferencing in the Past

Video Conferencing Today

VIDEO CONFERENCING MOVED TO THE CLOUD: Instead

of users making the immense infrastructure investment

and capital expenditure, the cloud ensured the investment

is made by the hosted video conferencing providers.

Users need only pay a monthly subscription fee.

GOOD CONNECTIVITY: High bandwidth Internet

services became more affordable, effectively

removing connectivity as a common hurdle.

EASE OF USE: Video conferencing is more user-friendly

now; it happens by just clicking a few buttons. The

entire infrastructure is managed and run by the experts

remotely. Video conferencing providers have SLAs in

place, so they keep everything up and running 24/7.

INTEROPERABILITY: Video conferencing is no longer

limited to meeting rooms. Attendees can now join

meetings from a cubicle, home office, coffee shop –

almost anywhere; and from nearly any device including

video-enabled mobile phones, tablets and laptops.

Access and interoperability are no longer issues.

The day video conferencing hit the cloud, it spread like a wildfire. In less than three years, thousands of companies – SMBs to Fortune 500 – embraced “cloud-based” video conferencing for sales, recruiting and training. What suddenly transformed the hitherto dying industry? Here is what made the difference:

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GLOBAL TEAM COLLABORATION: Video conferencing

brings the whole team together, even if part of the team is

located on the other side of the world. With screen sharing,

document sharing, and other collaboration tools, you can

avoid a lot of back and forth emailing, too. Interoperable

cloud video conferencing services enable you to meet

with vendors, clients, customers, and partners from

around the globe. These services not only let you talk to

people worldwide without leaving your office, but they also

remove roadblocks, such as organizations using different

video conferencing tools. The financial costs of hosting a

video conference are minimal compared to flying across

the country, staying at hotels, and managing the flood

of expense reports. Additionally, travel time is generally

wasted time; video conferencing saves that cost as well.

CUSTOMER MEETINGS: Cloud-based video conferencing is

the perfect platform for customer meetings. Sales reps can

share product details and demos using collaborative sharing

tools. In fact, with video conferencing, sales people don’t have

to spend as much time on the road — saving money and

allowing them to spend more time with their families. Perhaps

most importantly, sales reps can have high-quality, face-to-

face interactions with customers and prospects that enable

them to form better relationships and close more deals.

FORECAST CALLS: Global companies have local sales teams

in major territories that meet weekly to review plans and go

over the sales pipeline and forecasts. Video conferencing

can connect everyone for these meetings face to face.

Selling in the Era of “Cloud-Based” Video ConferencingClearly, the biggest beneficiary of the new age video conferencing is the sales department. Most of us saw how

phones and emails changed the sales process; it sped everything up and vastly improved the quality of customer

communications. We are now entering a new era of true communications and collaboration. Between forecasting

calls, product demonstrations, strategy sessions with the marketing team, and training sessions, the sales team

is constantly communicating. Video conferencing offers all the benefits of meeting face-to-face, while minimizing

travel time and costs. Let’s explore the ways video conferencing can improve some common situations.

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JOB INTERVIEWS: A video conferencing platform enables HR

teams to conduct face-to-face job interviews without bringing

candidates into the office. The cloud makes this easy because

candidates can join a video conference right from their web

browsers or mobile devices. Not only does video conferencing

save money on travel, but it also enables recruiting teams

to have more interactions with prospective employees.

This way they can get to know candidates better and make

better hiring decisions. Here are some related benefits:

• Call candidates with video from anywhere on any device

(mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, etc.).

• Recruiter, Hiring Manager, and candidate can be on one call

and one screen.

• Resume can be shared along with the video on a call.

• The entire interview (not just the resume) can be recorded

and shared.

• HD-quality video and sound creates an in-person experience.

Facial expressions and body language can be seen throughout

the interview.

• Videos recordings can be integrated with the HRMS of any

other system.

• Interviews can be recorded. Interviewers can watch

previous interviews before starting the next round.

TRAINING: Many HR teams are responsible for training

employees on key topics like benefits, payroll, and

sexual harassment prevention. Video conferencing is

a great way to reach many employees at once.

LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL TEAM MEETINGS:

• Job description and other requirements can be

discussed with in-house and remote teams (as

many as 25 teams can participate at one time).

• Team meetings can be conducted between

different locations at different time zones.

• Meetings can be recorded and shared.

• Video calls can be conducted with all the preferred

staffing vendors (recruitment agencies) at the same time.

• Eliminate the “out of sight – out of mind” phenomenon

with satellite offices or outsourced teams.

Recruiting & training in the era of “cloud-based” video conferencingHuman Resources departments around the world have embraced video conferencing as a primary means of communication. The ability to quickly meet face to face with a variety of people (employees, prospective employees, etc.) without needing to travel is a huge benefit.

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1. The IT department is at the center of a new wave

in enterprise collaboration brought about by significant

technological and cultural shifts. The world of business

is changing fast and video is poised to play a major

role in strengthening customer loyalty, optimizing

resources, increasing efficiency and driving innovation.

2. Time, cost, distance, physical presence,

etc. will soon not be barriers to collaboration.

It’s imperative that IT organizations begin to

plan for this future as soon as possible.

3. Technological advancements in computer

processing power, data storage, office and mobile

bandwidth speeds, etc. will continue to support

the adoption of videoconferencing usage.

Key Takeaways

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ABOUT CONX VIDEO MEETING BY INFOCUS: ConX Video Meeting – is a simple but powerful, business class, video conferencing and collaboration solution.

InFocus ConX Video Meeting enables an unlimited number of participants in different locations to take part in a video conference using standardized SIP or H.323 video conferencing devices, web browsers or regular audio only phones. The user experience is similar to a traditional audio conference; one dials an assigned ConX Video Meeting room number from the device and enters a secure PIN code to complete the call. The ConX Video Meeting service then translates all the feeds and delivers each video stream in a separate window on the same screen.

ConX Video Meeting makes group video conferencing a viable option for almost any organization because it is affordable and easy to use. It empowers them to connect and collaborate with employees, partners or customers in a much more engaging and productivity-boosting way. Historically, most video calls were reserved for groups who used the same kind of video conferencing, within the same organization. Now groups from different organizations, on different systems, and even using the web, can connect using ConX Video Meeting.

Through the cloud, ConX Video Meeting seamlessly connects all parties, whether they are using an InFocus Mondopad, an InFocus Video Phone or a video conference system from Cisco, LifeSize or Polycom. Those who do not have a dedicated video device can connect to the video meeting using their Windows PC or Mac with InFocus’ free browser plug-in at conx.infocus.net, or they can participate with audio-only using a telephone. Additionally, The InFocus ConX service can easily connect with third-party video conferencing applications such as Cisco’s Jabber and Microsoft Lync.

ABOUT INFOCUS: InFocus leads with creative solutions for successful visual collaboration in large venues, conference rooms, classrooms and workstations throughout the world. The company created the Mondopad, a giant touch PC/tablet hybrid that makes content more immersive, audiences more involved and every interaction more engaging, as it brings together all of the collaboration tools people need to visually present, capture and share ideas.

For more information or to purchase, visit the company’s website at www.infocus.com, or www.infocusstore.com. Follow InFocus on Facebook at facebook.com/InFocusCorp, LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/InFocus or Twitter at @InFocusCorp and @InFocusEDU.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Glenn Jystad is a Director of Software Products at InFocus Corporation. While at InFocus, Glenn has been responsible for several key software products and components, such as Mondopad’s Software Suite. Currently, Glenn oversees the development of ConX Video Meeting, the cloud based video conferencing platform.

For more information on InFocus ConX Video Meeting and a 30-day free trial, visit http://www.infocusconx.com or call (877) 388-8385.

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©2014 InFocus Corporation. All rights reserved. InFocus and InFocus Collaboration That Works are either trademarks or registered trademarks

of InFocus Corporation in the United States and other countries. All trademarks are used with permission or are for identification purposes only

and are the property of their respective companies. InFocus-ConX-Video-Meeting-WhitePaper-18DEC14

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