Video conferencing technology has been around for many years, yet many organizations have not adopted this tool for daily use. Some organizations may have the technology available, but users are finding it either unreliable or difficult to use.
What are the common issues that have prevented the masses from adopting video conferencing and collaboration?
Cost – Traditional H.323/SIP video conferencing & collaboration has been expensive to design and scale. The average cost for a point-to-point video codec is approximately $4500 USD. Multipoint MCUs for 6 to 9 participants can cost more than $16,000 USD without installation and additional room integration. Many cloud-based services require a minimum 1-year contract and as much as a $10k USD minimum investment. All cloud services require additional room-based integration, including professional-grade cameras and professional sound to provide an immersive, room-based video conferencing experience.
Complexity – Traditional conferencing & collaboration is difficult to use, requiring IT support to place a call. Traditional H.323/SIP systems require you to “aggregate” bandwidth for each participant to host an H.323 video call. To make matters more complex, they usually require additional firewall configuration and bandwidth provisioning.
Interoperability - Traditional conferencing & collaboration lacks features & interoperability with other video conferencing platforms. Users want to migrate from traditional H.323/SIP to cloud-based services with one platform; leveraging the existing video conferencing equipment in a conference room or huddle space. Traditional systems have proprietary (dedicated) PTZ cameras and conference phone connectivity; meaning users can’t simply connect to a PC with proprietary system peripherals to place Skype for Business, Google Hangouts, WebEx or any other cloud-based calls. This limits the use of a very large investment if users can’t repurpose the existing PTZ cameras and professional sound already in the room.
The problem with legacy video conferencing systems is that there will always be a need for individual user flexibility. No matter what features and functionality a vendor aspires to provide, each user may have a different demand. Users want to walk into a conference room or huddle space, simply connect their own devices right at the conference table, and the existing TV monitor, PTZ camera and audio input to place the cloud call of their choice.
The ad-hoc nature of huddle rooms and on-demand video conferencing and collaboration – including local, wireless presentation and sharing – can greatly enhance quick meetings to the benefit of all participants.
ClearOne’s hybrid video collaboration platform integrates legacy H.323/SIP interoperability with our Spontania cloud-based service. We also leverage our USB PTZ cameras and USB conference phone connectivity along with wireless presentation, recording, & streaming to provide “any to any” device connectivity.
We can connect USB PTZ cameras and audio right to our COLLABORATE® Pro multi-purpose appliance; then connect directly to any PC in the room with the click of a button it’s that easy!