As 2015 fast approaches, video collaboration has continued its trajectory as an essential business tool, delivering long-term strategic benefits such as increased employee engagement and cost optimisation.
According to latest research, video conferencing is expected to be the world’s most preferred method of collaboration by 2016.
The progression of video technology and overall user experience today, reflect this: High Definition audio and video, advanced content-sharing and recording capabilities, interoperability with existing ecosystems, and security protocols, are just some of the features which should define the standard of any video collaboration deployment.
People no longer want to be confined to a desk and video has broken free from the conference room.
The continued growth of mobile workforces, cloud-based services, and collaborative workspaces have changed the face of video conferencing, paving its way from being something which was considered prohibitively expensive and cumbersome to an easy adoption, intuitive solution that brings people and processes together.
Looking ahead, these are what I consider to be the next wave of developments for the future of video collaboration:
1. Video in the Future Workplace:
I like to live by the principle that work is not a place you go to – it’s something you do. There is pressure on organisations to maximise resource particularly talent, reduce costs, and increase productivity. Results-driven productivity becomes far more a priority rather than just the number of hours you put in.
In 2015, more than ever, organisations will need to consider larger numbers of employees working from multiple locations and environments like hot desks, from home, project sites, or on-the-go.
Video is an ideal tool to create and bring together pools of knowledge, but how do we ensure that user experiences are made better in a less than perfect conferencing environment, and distance technology will match their needs?
Workplace innovation will therefore define the future of working; in 2015, noise cancelling capabilities (such as through custom headsets), optimum lighting adjustment, automatic muting are all technology features which should be incorporated into collaboration environments to maintain optimum productivity.
Additionally, the future workplace will combine video, voice, and content collaboration technologies within the business workflow and support easy access to information via digital whiteboarding, knowledge management and streaming methods.
2. Subscription-based video:
As more organisations realise the value which stronger communication and alignment brings to business, the implementation of video technologies will continue to rise.
Already, the traditional conference room has been complemented – or at times, replaced – with video services via desktop, mobile and tablet devices, and in the cloud in response to an increasing remote workforce.
Some organisations prefer flexible technology deployments and a pay-as-you-go model to scale up as needs evolve and change; for example adding video conferencing capacity to a site where it is most required by instantly expanding software licenses.
This thereby eliminates time delays associated with customs implications and extra shipping costs. This is not just a matter of economies of scale, software video solutions now give you the option of pure cloud-based delivery or on-premise subscription.
Utilising existing data centre hardware and IT infrastructure can also reduce the cost of ownership. For now and in the future, the availability of software-based video services on a subscription basis will add to the mix of visual collaboration methods.