Ecoexecutive Roundtable: 
BEAMING BUSINESS UP INTO THE HERE AND NOW

Only a few years ago, the idea of being able to see and hear people in other parts of the world as though they were all in the same room was one firmly fixed in the annals of science fiction. Today, telepresence is a reality, and more and more companies are using it as a means of organising effective conference meetings without the bother of having to jet across the world to get to them. Naturally, this saves money and has a beneficial effect on the environment. It sounds like a win-win situation, and there are many positives - not least for the executive who feels like he’s spending half his life on the road, in departure lounges and sleeping in faceless hotels. But what’s the reality of this brave new world, where time collapses in the face of technology, and how far has that technology advanced since the fevered imaginings of the creators of Star Trek?

It’s true that an effective telepresence strategy should put human interaction first, focusing on visual collaboration that closely replicate the brain's innate preferences for face-to-face conversation. These include life-size participants, fluid, real-time movements, accurate flesh tones and the appearance of true eye contact.

Commenting at an exclusive Round Table for Eco Executive, RADVISION CEO Boaz Raviv (comments below), and representatives from some of the world’s leading technological companies (for the complete article please click here), discussed the implications for teleconferencing and how we might all be using it in the none-too-distant future.

How does your particular solution differ to that offered by other vendors in the market?

BR: Radvision is the only independent video infrastructure vendor. Our goal is to enable enterprises to experience the power of unified communications in a heterogeneous world. We do this by supplying enterprises with a solution that simplifies the delivery of video-services inside their organisation regardless of what conferencing applications they choose – room video conferencing, desktop, Unified Communications from Cisco, Microsoft, Alcatel-Lucent or IBM – or any combination.  We believe video is a value-add for any organisation, regardless of its size, a company can utilise video conferencing using multiple-devices any time, anywhere.

Can you give an example of a company deploying your solution specifically with the aim of reducing travel within their organisation?

BR: Yes, Radvision ourselves.  For a company our size we are very geographically dispersed.  We have major development laboratories in Israel, the US and China and sales offices spread over the globe.  Many of our employees telework from home.  Our technology allows us operate our business on a daily business without the travel that once would have been required.  On a daily basis our employees conduct face to face meetings throughout the organisation and with customers around the globe.  We and other organisations are also very aware that air travel is a major contributor to global warming and using Radvision solutions is part of an overall green communications strategy.

Which particular types of businesses tend to benefit from the technology you’re offering, and has the profile changed of late?

BR: All business are benefiting from video conferencing but traditionally certain verticals like government, security, healthcare and distance education have focused more on it. Now what we are seeing is video conferencing being deployed throughout any enterprise. This is because of significant improvements in quality and reductions in cost and because video can now utilise next generation networks which expands the reach to virtually all employees regardless of where they are. 

Ease-of-use seems to be a major issue for time-pressed executives – how have you addressed this?

BR: At Radvision we begin with the devices typically found in the office of every executive. Starting with the telephone, we allow executives to use their desktop phone number for both audio and video communications. Moving to the PC, we integrate video-usage with your software scheduler as well as allowing you to easily enjoy video conferencing via an IM session.  Our solutions are designed so video is a natural addition to the way users already work.

If it is true that ‘executives can look forward to spending less time at the departure lounge’, will the benefits filter down throughout the organisation?

BR: Is it true that executives will spend much less time in departure lounges because the face-to-face meeting experience can be achieved without having to travel?  But this is not just true for executives – all employees can reduce travel through the use of video conferencing.  However travel will still be an inevitable part of business and when employees have to be away they can continue to meet people or manage a sales or executive meeting via a WiFi-enabled, webcam-equipped laptop from anywhere – even while waiting at the departure lounge for their flight.

A cynic might say that we’ve been here before – for example, videoconferencing and telepresence was first demonstrated in 1995 – so how has the segment evolved?

BR: The advent of cost-effective, user-friendly technology such as Internet Protocol-based communications infrastructures, High Definition video quality and broadband networks means we are well on our way to realising the videoconferencing and telepresence dreams of the ‘90s. With uptake swiftly increasing, unit costs per device and per video ports are falling, which means the technology will ultimately become ubiquitous.

“Travel will still be an inevitable part of business and when employees have to be away they can continue to meet people or manage a sales or executive meeting via a WiFi-enabled, webcam-equipped laptop from anywhere – even while waiting at the departure lounge for their flight”  Boaz Raviv

Unified Communications and enterprise Mobility are important for today’s ‘Road Warrior’ – explain the benefits for companies looking to expand their teleworking and telecommuting workforce in order to improve their environmental footprint?

BR: As we discussed before, video conferencing can be a significant contributor to the reduction of a company’s environmental footprint.  But the good news that while becoming more environmentally friendly companies are becoming more competitive and saving money.  To be competitive in today’s global economy workforces are become more mobile and dispersed and video conferencing allows them to have a global footprint without the cost and carbon impact of travel.

Do you see Desktop video conferencing becoming as mainstream and ubiquitous as web-based and voice solutions in the workplace?

BR: Yes. The value of video is very real but until recently it has been mostly confined to the conference room.  Now there are real cost effective and deployable solutions for the desktop.  This expands the value of video beyond the conference room to users who are at their desks, or working from home or from the road.  And it is not just the desktop in terms of the traditional PC.  Video will be available on all types of devices – phones, PDAs, mobile devices, etc.

Communication between proprietary systems seems to have been historically overlooked in this arena – is there an industry move for interoperability?

BR: There is a move toward interoperability and most video devices to adhere to standards.  However we will probably always live in a heterogeneous world and that is where RADVISION is focused.  Our video infrastructure solutions are designed to allow connectivity and interoperability for any type of device regardless of its capabilities or what network it’s on.  Many organisations have multiple vendor solutions deployed and want them to interoperate. 

In your opinion, how important a consideration is ‘eye contact’ to a system’s success?

BR: Eye contact is important in every personal interaction; indeed this is an inherent benefit of video conferencing.

Similarly, is audio quality a defining factor?

BR: Certainly - poor audio quality negates any value-add you can get from a video-conferencing infrastructure. Imagine having to hone the fine points of an agreement by holding up scraps of paper with messages scrawled over them simply because the audio quality of your video conferencing system is poor. When delivering video infrastructure solutions we ensure the technology is rolled out to conform to both human subjective testing and objective input obtained according to international ITU-T G.1070 standards.

Would you please describe your strategy to deliver your offering to the widest potential network of businesses?

BR: As business are deploying unified communication solutions today they are utilising components from major vendors like Cisco, IBM, Microsoft and  Alcatel-Lucent, all of whom have video solutions.  In addition businesses might have room video conferencing devices from LifeSize, Aethra, Tandberg, Sony or Polycom. Radvision solutions support all these environments.  We are Cisco’s video networking partner, we provide solutions that add or enhance video in IBM, Microsoft and Alcatel-Lucent.  We are partners with LifeSize, Aethra and Sony and fully support Tandberg and Polycom.  No other company is as broad in their support of video than Radvision.

Because of their high up-front and operating costs, Telepresence systems, in particular, are likely to remain an industry niche suitable only for large enterprises for some time. Would you agree with this statement?

BR: Telepresence systems are video conferencing systems with all the components very closely controlled – the highest resolution video, the best audio, high quality and high bandwidth network and special room environmentals.  This provides the best video conferencing experience there is.  To provide all this costs a lot of money today but costs will come down as more of these systems are deployed and we gain the benefit of volume.

Moving away from the work arena, do you foresee a time when your technology will move into education or even the home?

BR: Video conferencing technology is already entering these environments. Many of today’s low cost laptops have built-in WiFi and webcams. The One Laptop Per Child project, for example, is aimed at delivering technology that could enable video conferencing for educational purposes in developing countries, in some of the most remote environments.

What is your strategy for making your systems publicly available on an ‘internet café’ type-basis and what do you see the price point for such a service?

BR: Radvision delivers the infrastructure that enables Service Providers to enable these types of services, if that is THEIR market focus.

 Do clients bring up the issue of security – and how do you meet their needs?

BR: Yes they do.  For example one of Radvision’s largest customers is the US Department of Defence and security is critical to them.  We have special products that allow end to end security in their environment.  Other industries such as the Financial Services industry also require security as a requirement and our solutions meet their needs through encryption.

Finally, looking to the future, how do you believe the market will progress over the next five years? 

BR: In recent years, endpoint vendors have started to provide high-end video conferencing clients built into LCD monitors to executives. As technology becomes cheaper, they will start providing these monitors to all employees - not only to executives.

On the other end, the LCD vendors are facing fierce competition with ever-shrinking margins. This competition has forced these vendors to search after added value features they can bring out to increase their revenue. Video conferencing is a compelling feature for the enterprise market.