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Future of Video
Conferencing
The future of video conferencing among businesses and individuals
May 8, 2006
By: Alice Osborn
The future of video conferencing looks bright because
more consumers and companies are attracted to less costly
communication methods that lead to increased decision-making
through virtual physical interaction. According to Wessel
Pieterse, a convergence specialist at Cisco Systems,
face-to-face communication via video conferencing is a
powerful tool. "One study has shown that around 55% of your
impact on someone comes through in your body language, while
38% of the impact is on how the message is said. Only 7% of
the impact is related to what is actually said." Video
conferencing also reduces travel and its associated costs,
and it helps bring project teams together to offer feedback
and consensus.
Although the original video conferencing technology is
still being used via dedicated hardware video bridges and
ISDN lines, and
Polycom
remains the industry leader, a greater number of companies
are selecting software-based and web-based conference
servers. In fact, current video conferencing trends include
web-based video conferencing that only requires software and
an Internet connection. In contrast to the alternative ISDN
video conferencing technology, web-based servers allow
ad-hoc conferencing from the participants' desktops and free
participants from meeting in a designated conference room
equipped with expensive video communications equipment.
Other conferencing trends for businesses
- Mobile video conferencing -- This technology
allows users to use their mobile phones and other hand
held devices to video conference via 3G gateways. The
gateways convert analog voice streams and video into IP
packets.
NTT-DoCoMo is the world's largest 3G provider,
offering subscribers video conferencing services from
their headquarters in Japan.
- Convergence -- Soon, most worldwide networks
will convert to IP networks, and when this happens, issues
of incompatibility will be eliminated, which will be a
boon for international companies conducting global
meetings. Video conferencing will become more accessible
to end-users since bandwidths can be adjusted, and there
will be more collaborative technologies via web-based
systems.
Conferencing trends for individuals
Many individuals are turning to online video conferencing
to bring friends and colleagues together, because of the
popularity of broadband technology and affordable webcams
that can be purchased at any Best Buy. Once the webcam is
installed, the user can use a free instant messaging service
like Yahoo or AOL, plus a soundcard to conference via the
computer. Instant messaging technology provides an excellent
foundation for text, voice, and video conferencing.
What will the future bring?
Video conferencing has made tremendous leaps since the
advent of web-based technologies allowing users more
convenience and less cost. Companies are discovering how
these technologies can aid their mobile sales force and
improve effective decision-making in their overseas or
regional markets, while individuals are connecting more
easily with family and friends.
As video conferencing technology grows, so will the need
to educate new users on how to act in front of the camera to
achieve desired results. Perhaps there will be a greater
number of college and community college courses teaching
technology etiquette and applications. Children are more
likely to pick up on new technologies, since they will be
using video conferencing in class and for homework
assignments.
This technology is changing the way with communicate with
each other and in five years, as the current trends
demonstrate, it will be just as commonplace as cell phones
and Internet access.
About the Author
Alice Osborn is a successful freelance writer and
contributor to Video-Conferencing-Guide.com. Your definitive guide to everything you need to know about video driven communications, including multi-view video conferencing solutions for business, broadband video phones and personal webcam chat rooms.
Also See:
[ What is video
conferencing and what are its benefits? ]
[ Top 7 video
conferencing tips to ensure effective virtual meetings ]
[
Applications of video conferencing technology for work, home
& school ]
Home Page:
[ Video-Conferencing-Guide.com ]
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