The way I look at it, there are three types of video conferencing -

1. Free, such as Skype, Google Hangouts, etc.
2. “Prosumer,” or those that started as web conferencing and added video later, including WebEx, Adobe Connect, etc.
3. Enterprise-grade, like RADVISION, Cisco, Polycom, etc.

The way you and your company are using video will reflect how your organization is perceived and should very much influence which technologies you decided to implement. This decision should be based on a number of factors including:

1. How important is the quality of video?
2. How many participants are usually involved in your video interactions?
3. What other features/functions are important (e.g. content-sharing, HD communications, etc.)?
4. Do you use video to conduct important meetings/transactions?
5. Will you need to access your video interactions at a later date?

Video solutions like Skype are sufficient for casual, one-on-one communications – when you want the grandparents to see your kids, for example. But Skype is not an enterprise-grade solution. There are management issues, quality issues, limitations on the number of participants, security concerns, etc. So when you’re looking to conduct business via video, Skype is probably not your best option.

“Prosumer” solutions like Adobe Connect and WebEx are those that originally started as web conferencing tools, meaning they integrate voice (although not always over IP) with content-sharing. These solutions have recently introduced video as an add-on to their services. While presenters and others may be visible via a video stream, the human visual component is not essential in these types of solutions. They are more about active speakers and passive participants and less about interactive/collaborative communications.

Finally, there are enterprise-grade video solutions. Much like other business solutions, an investment is required. Some examples of this include wireless routers for the home that come at a fraction of the price when compared to those used in businesses. The same go for other solutions where durability, security, etc. are important or even business-critical.

But if you’re still left scratching your head looking for insight into why enterprise-grade technologies cost more than consumer and prosumer-focused solutions, here are a few more reasons:

• You have to consider the bill of materials for HD video conferencing and telepresence. The hardware used in video conferencing equipment is high quality and highly reliable. For example, the DSPs used for the encoding and decoding process, the custom hardware that is developed, the pan-tilt-zoom cameras, etc. In fact, enterprise-grade cameras are notoriously expensive – they offer features you don’t see in webcams (e.g., pan-tilt-zoom). While you don’t need this when you’re Skyping with your sister who lives out-of-state, it’s a regularly used feature in the conference room.
• Additionally, a customized solution is critical in order to ensure availability, reliability, scalability, flexibility and all the other “abilities.” Customizing a do-it-yourself video solution isn’t easy. There’s a lot involved and much to consider when setting up the system, connecting the different peripherals, finding a good echo-cancellation solution for the room you set it up in, adding remote controls, etc. AV integrators exist because it’s not an easy thing to do yourself. Personally, I can compare it to housing projects. I’m far from handy in the house – when I want something important done and can’t afford to compromise quality, I call in the experts.
• There’s the supply chain to consider as well. There are several companies between equipment manufacturer and the end customer – all of whom ultimately have to consider the bottom line. The good news is that along the way, each layer adds value in some form either through customizing a solution to the specific needs of a regional customer or by integrating applications, such as enabling integration with peripherals for telemedicine, connecting to the automation of the room system as well as providing installation services.

At the end of the day, it’s up to each decision-maker to select the video solution that best suits their professional life. However, if quality (e.g., HD audio, video and content delivery, security, etc.) matters, if you’re looking to connect with many people at one time and if visual communications is an important part of your company’s work flow and success, I guarantee the investment in enterprise-grade solutions is well worth the price.

What do you think? Have you tried consumer-based video applications in your business? I’d love to hear about your experiences.

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When employees have mobile access to corporate networks, they can transition between business and leisure seamlessly, allowing them to work from anywhere, anytime.  As work is increasingly conducted outside the office, work life and personal life begins to merge, this rapid trend toward corporate network mobility is changing the workplace, including employees’ lifestyles and business operations.

According to a recent survey by the Aberdeen Group nearly two-thirds (72%) of IT organizations reported that they support “bring your own device” initiatives. Of that group, 46% said they support any device and 26% said they only support devices from an approved company list.

The need for a BYOD Policy
Mobile devices have transformed over the years, with sophisticated features like multi-touch interfaces, dual core processors, cameras capable of recording 1080p video at 30 fps, and a front-facing VGA camera for videoconferencing. These applications run on iOS or Android operating systems, and as such, mobile devices are the new desktops.

With new and more powerful mobile devices continuously flooding the market, organisations that opt to deploy a single standard for employees will be forever behind the technology curve. At the same time, providing very employee with the latest mobile device is simply too costly and time-consuming.  Employees on the other hand, can and will either upgrade or change their mobile devices as soon as the next one is available.  As the workplace landscape across the globe changes, organisations must react to deliver the employees’ growing demands, for greater flexibility and the desired need to securely access the corporate network anywhere, anytime, on any device.

Supporting this trend and learning how to manage disparate devices across the corporate network is not something organisations should do to boost productivity; it is something they must do to stay relevant and ahead of their competitors.

The Benefits of BYOD
The integration of mobile devices into corporate network is cost-effective for an organisation, allowing them to turn mobile devices into powerful business assets whilst empowering for employees, therefore access to the corporate network must be made easy-to-use and available to all employees who need access, regardless of where they are working or on which device.

In a recent survey the most requested applications employees requested was email and document sharing followed closely by video conferencing, IM, access to company databases and seamless synchronization with other business devices.

Organisations that incorporate unified communications, like voice, presence, video conferencing, instance messaging and chat capabilities will make it easier for employees to share information, locate experts, improve decision-making and drive productivity.

In a recently published whitepaper by the Unified Communications Interoperability Forum (UCI Forum), it’s stated that “one important driver for the growth of unified communications is mobility and the remote worker. No segment is growing faster than mobile communications, and virtually every mobile device will be equipped with video chat, IM, directory, and other unified communication features within a few years.”

The Value of Mobile Unified Communications
To remain competitive organisations must find ways to allow their employees to communicate and collaborate seamlessly anytime, anywhere, and from any device.  By providing employees access to technology that supports and encourages not just communication but true collaboration, an organisation can benefit from a more flexible work environment that provides greater workforce mobility, productivity and satisfaction whilst gaining competitive advantage and staying ahead of the technology curve.

Key features required for business mobile devices include:

• Presence. This feature allows employees to see their colleagues’ status, such as availability and location, so they can readily reach them. It also supports a single number for employees across all communication devices. 
• Core business functions. Mobile devices are now integrated with email, calendars, contact lists, and directories and easily support access to relevant business applications. Access to the Internet and other data sources changes the mobile device to an essential business tool.
• Unified messaging. Integration with unified messaging is a core feature for business mobile devices and allows users to receive both voice and text messages and provides the sender to respond either by voice or email.
• Access to business applications. Companies have their own unique set of core applications required for business. Mobile devices will support easy access to these business applications, so employees have information they need available regardless of location.
• Video Integration.  Employees can enjoy exceptional high quality video, continuous presence to view multiple users simultaneously and telepresence connectivity whilst maintaining robust enterprise security, providing seamless connectivity across corporate boundaries.
  • Companies can seamlessly connect their local sales teams with product experts who can participate in sales calls and support new revenue opportunities.
  • Product groups can meet and collaborate across the globe more easily with interactive meetings that support collaborative interactive sessions from a telepresence environment to the employee mobile device.
  • Business managers, who would traditionally meet for a face-to-face meeting, can build close relationships without travel and encourages more frequent contact.
• Interoperability: Organisations have a diverse range of systems installed in their environments and in order for them to leverage existing investments, interoperability is critical to reduce complexity and operational cost.

BYOD of course creates the uncertainty and concerns by IT departments on how to manage security, device management and application management.   How can such a policy be successful with all the disparate platforms, operating systems, and user interfaces?  It can, with proper planning and mobile device management strategy (MDM).

Key consideration for a MDM strategy

1. Define requirements
2. Be selective when planning and prioritizing mobility projects.
3. Develop an acceptable user and security policy.
   • Can employees use their own mobile devices for work purposes, or will you issue company devices?
   • Which applications are required, allowed, or forbidden?
   • What procedures must they follow in case of loss or theft?
4. Adopt a device and carrier mobile management solution that lets your IT staff view, report on, restrict, and support users’ mobile capabilities.
5. Choose mobile versions of your back-end applications–or mobile solutions that integrate smoothly with existing systems–so your mobile workers can access and share data in real-time
6. To safeguard critical data, require regular backups as well as password protection and encryption on all mobile devices.
7. Install security software that can wipe a device’s memory remotely when the device connects to the corporate network after being reported lost or stolen, and/or automatically after a certain number of incorrect passwords.
8. Create and issue a mobility policy to all users
9. Constantly evaluate your mobility projects.
10. Erase and reformat mobile devices before disposing of them

Cloud-based MDM
With the increased uptake and availability of the Cloud which offers “real time” applications, such as unified communications, organisations are deploying a cloud-based solution to manage security, device management and application management for disparate mobile devices.

The advantage of a cloud-based solution allows organizations to use the infrastructure and management solution hosted in the cloud which simplifies and speeds up deployment processes without the major investment in hardware and staff investment.  The ability to deploy policy and application updates to disparate mobile devices immediately and securely will likely accelerate implementation and increase user productivity by increasing reliability, scalability and security.

A cloud-based solution should:

• Reduced risk to a great extent with a complete insight of all business operations
• Provide organisations with greater operational efficiencies with a single system to secure all mobile devices on both the company- and user-owned
• Enhance data and device security and compliance with direct visibility into mobile device-level information
• Centralized policy management across multiple platforms
• Ensure compliance to industry regulations through automated processes
• Provide a flexible and effective cost model
• Enable ongoing, seamless support for the latest devices and operating systems
• Develop and expand the cloud services as and when needed over time

The Juniper report titled, “Mobile Cloud: Smart Device Strategies for Enterprise & Consumer Markets 2011-2016,” shows spending on unified communication services – such as messaging, managed e-mail, collaboration, conferencing and IP telephony – will increase over the next five years with cloud services sales expected to reach $39bn by 2016.

Conclusion
BYOD holds tremendous promise. Whilst many organisations look at this trend as a possible way to reduce costs; the real value is in increasing employee’s satisfaction and productivity, while speeding up the rate of technology adoption into the work environment.

Organisations that lay the groundwork with comprehensive management and control of employee-owned mobile devices will be in a strong position to capitalise on productivity-enhancing services, like video collaboration, a significant new trend emerging in mobile unified communications.

The fact, there’s no stopping consumerization of mobile devices and their penetration into the work environment.  Gartner predicted that by 2014 “90% of organisations will support corporate applications on personal devices.”  Organisations must take advantage of the next wave of business growth and opportunity, and accommodate their employees as they embrace extended mobile responsibilities, or the employees will continue to find ways to do it for themselves.

Business mobility is and will become an important aspect not only on how we do business today but how business will evolve.

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IT managers used to express concern over cloud security, reliability, etc, but today, the cloud has proven itself a robust, efficient and cost-effective alternative to premises-based technologies. And while hosted solutions are adequate to meet the needs of any size organization, the cloud opens up a whole new world of opportunity for small and medium businesses that have traditionally been underserved when it comes to certain technologies – one of which is videoconferencing.

Below, we explore the top five benefits of cloud-based video conferencing for SMBs.

1.       Reduced Costs
Today’s enterprise-grade video conferencing systems are now available at a fraction of the price; there are a variety of services to choose from, including virtual rooms that can be accessed from your desktop, room-based systems that you can buy or lease, and even from your smartphone and tablet. This flexibility gives you the option to invest only in the technology you need, allowing your customers and partners to communicate with you by video at no additional cost.

2.       Reliability
Cloud-based video conferencing offers high-quality, always available video network without the overhead and complexities of managing it yourself. Built-in network intelligence and firewall traversal helps ensure you’ll have a reliable connection, regardless of network limitations.

3.       Scalability
You can now “buy by the drink instead of the bottle” without having to make large investments on video solutions. And as your business grows, your hosted video solution can grow with you. So invest in what your SMB needs now, and know that you can always increase your video usage later.

4.       Improved Productivity (and its green!)
Video conferencing has been improving the productivity of large companies for years. The ROI is proven and as we continue to make technological leaps and bounds, the demand and expectations from today’s tech-savvy populace, especially from SMBs, to be able to collaborate with workers, partners and vendors across distances in real-time is drastically increasing. By offering cloud-based video conferencing solutions, SMBs can still meet face-to-face without the need to drive to their location or step on plane – which also means that video conferencing has the added benefits of being a green technology that lowers your carbon footprint!

5.       Better Business Relationships
There’s no question that meeting face-to-face with people helps establish relationships and build rapport. Video conferencing allows you to meet “in-person” without having to travel. People who don’t use video say, “It’s so nice to finally meet you,” to those they’ve interacted with only by phone. But if you use video and you end up in the same room as your colleagues, all you here is, “It’s great to see you again!”

With video now moving to the cloud, SMBs can easily leverage cloud-based video conferencing to gain these five benefits that will ultimately increase collaboration and productivity, enhance relationships, offer demonstrated ROI and improve your business’ overall bottom line.

Have you tried out video conferencing or other technologies based in the cloud? If so, what benefits have you been experiencing? We’d love to hear your stories. 

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Using a video conference solution powered by RADVISION along with BurstPoint Networks’ video content management and streaming platform, soldiers stationed in Afghanistan were also greeted by Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge shortly before the game. The event was both fun and heartwarming, and something our team was honored to be a part of.

As you can see from the picture here,
the JumboTron at TD Garden may well be the largest screen that remote desktop video conferencing has ever been displayed on!  The game was attended by about 18,000 fans.

A handful of our New Hampshire-based team oversaw the event. They attended in-person to make sure everything ran smoothly and as planned. This behind-the-scenes crew shared their experience with the RADVISION team. The RADVISION North America team was touched when we received their email recaps of the event. Knowing we brought such happiness to families has brought many of us to tears – what a wonderful experience it was to participate.

Frank Mehr, RADVISION vice president of technical services, Americas, supported the event.In his own words, he said, “I was proud, honored and humbled to be part of such great effort. What made the entire effort completely and totally worth it was the reaction of a young lady who saw and talked to her mom in Afghanistan after months of separation.”

The technology that brought it all together

Soldiers in Afghanistan joined the event using RADVISION SCOPIA Desktop, and those in TD Garden participated via a RADVISION SCOPIA XT1000 HD conference room system. The connection was hosted on a RADVISION SCOPIA Elite 5000 Series MCU, ensuring high quality communications despite network limitations. The event was hosted in one of RADVISION’s TrySCOPIA cloud-based virtual meeting rooms.

We were invited to host the event by our partner BurstPoint. BurstPoint’s VCP Conference Point recorded and streamed the event live to family members via the Internet or viewed during the game on the TD Garden Video Scoreboard. In addition, families who could not attend the event live view see their loved ones who attended via a private web portal.

Frank added, “This event turned out to be a great success for us, BurstPoint, the Celtics, and most importantly, for the soldiers in Kandahar and their families.”

Mike Houle, RADVISION director of technical services, worked tirelessly to bring this all together.  The New Hampshire team did a fantastic job representing RADVISION at this event. Photos are compliments of Roger Wallman, RADVISION director of product marketing.

We look forward to supporting other events like this one – it’s videoconferencing for a cause!

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The first and most important precaution that anyone can take is to turn the ‘auto-answer’ function off – especially if your systems are connected to the public internet.  IT should be aware of this, and RADVISION systems always automatically default the auto-answer function to ‘off.’ We take security very seriously, and we have several built-in security features that are seamless to end users.

But it’s also good to know how you – the end user – can help protect your video conference rooms.

Below are RADVISION’s top 5 tips for keeping your Video conferencing room secure.

1. Turn off your system when not in use – this may seem obvious, but if your system isn’t on, no one can hack their way into your board room.
2. Use a virtual room with moderator capabilities instead of point-to-point calling – using a virtual room opens up a plethora of security options that are intuitive and easy-to-use.
3.  Familiarize yourself with your virtual room options – meeting moderation functions enable you to control who accesses your virtual room:
• Anyone not invited to a meeting would not be allowed entrance into the meeting.
• You can use ad-hoc functions to lock your meeting – for example, one click of your mouse or one tap on your iPhone will lock down the meeting so no one else can enter.
• If you want to remove a participant, all you need to do is click again or swipe on our iPhone, and they are ejected from the call.
4.  Create a lobby for your meeting – no one can join without the moderator.
5. Require participants to use personal identification numbers (PINs) when entering your virtual room.

Some of these may seem intuitive, but it’s easy to forget you have these options available in your virtual meeting room. The good news is you don’t need to be an IT administrator to make sure your meeting room is secure. You just need to follow the simple steps above.

For more information on managing and securing your RADVISION virtual meeting room, click here.

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RADVISION SCOPIA Video Gateway for Microsoft Lync  is now officially qualified for deployment with Microsoft Lync 2010 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2. In fact, the SCOPIA Video Gateway is the FIRST and ONLY device that has ever been qualified for Microsoft Lync deployments.

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Video conferencing is becoming increasingly popular, and global organizations are using the application from the boardroom to the desktop. Workers are adjusting – often happily – to this new world of collaboration as unified communications becomes a standard part of our workflow. New entrants to the workforce often expect video to be a part of their daily experience. And tablets are replacing laptops as the business travel device of choice.

At the same time, we’re seeing a tremendous increase in the number of telecommuters, a growing phenomenon of ‘bring your own  device,’ or ‘BYOD,’  in the workplace, and the overall consumerization of IT. Workers should be able to have a high quality video experience anywhere anytime. And they want this experience to be seamless, easy to use and provide the same features and benefits they experience in the office, including high definition audio, video and content-sharing and review as well as moderation capabilities.

While many experts have published video conferencing etiquette tips, few have  published recommendations for this newest addition to the world of visual communications – mobile video conferencing. Below, I’ve indicated 10 Top Tips for mobile video:

1. Learn the “ins and outs” of the solutions available today – look for those that enable multiparty calling, will connect to any standards-based video system/client, and that enable content-sharing and review.
2. Know how-to leverage multi-touch gestures, drag and drop, etc. to maximize the real estate and enhance your experience.
3. Learn layout options and check self-view so you know what those on the far end are seeing.
4. Understand that the experience varies between a smartphone and a tablet – utilize the best device for your needs.
5. Take advantage of device stands when possible to avoid “shaky camera syndrome.”
6. Mute yourself when not speaking, use a headset for optimal audio, and “mute” your camera when you’re on-the-go.
7. Ensure the room is well lit and avoid backlighting, as it will make you appear dark to those on the far end.
8. Choose a video conferencing solution that replicates human interaction best, i.e. ones that don’t keep you front and center as if you’re the presentation, when you’re not talking.
9. In-person meeting etiquette still applies. Distracting behaviors, like eating, checking email or having side conversations can take away from the true collaboration experience – so skip it.
10. Make the road work for you, and get connected! The quality of mobile video chatting today enables a much more personal experience, allowing users to improve productivity anywhere and at anytime.

I’d love to hear your feedback and what your experience has been with mobile video. And if you’re not yet connected, try out one of our virtual rooms for 30 days free of charge – just go to www.radvision.com/trymobile  to sign up.

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We are very happy to announce that SCOPIA Mobile v3 is now available on the Apple app store. SCOPIA Mobile allows anyone to connect to existing standards-based video conferencing networks from any iOS mobile device.

SCOPIA Mobile meetings deliver an enterprise-grade videoconferencing experience, including two-way audio, video, and content-sharing specifically designed to work over Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G networks. It was designed with true mobility in mind so that that you can connect from just about anywhere anytime.

Creating this type of experience for mobile devices with small screens wasn’t easy, but we are as aware as anyone of the need for such applications in today’s environment of BYOD, or bring your own device. SCOPIA Mobile provides a rich set of layouts focusing on video, content or both, allowing you to fully participate in any video meeting regardless of where life takes you.  We are very happy with the results and we’re sure you will be too.

When we developed the solution, it was critical that SCOPIA Mobile connects to and interoperates with existing enterprise video conferencing networks. The resulting application allows anyone to join the same multiparty call – including desktop apps and systems, room systems and even high-end telepresence rooms.   Additionally, SCOPIA Mobile extends to UC clients like Microsoft Lync, IBM Sametime and others using our SCOPIA gateway technology.

SCOPIA Mobile displays content originated by any standards-based device. Mobile users can easily zoom in to see every detail of the live content received. This is by far the best enterprise content delivery experience on a mobile device today.  But we didn’t stop here. We wanted to make online content consumption as intuitive as browsing music or photos. This is why we added the capability to easily go back and see cached images of content previously presented.

Content caching doesn’t require any setup, and with this feature, you can join a meeting 15 minutes late without missing a beat when it comes to data shared.

Some other useful features include the ability to:

• See the conference participant list
• Mute and un-mute noisy participants
• Invite new participants, using the enterprise directory
• Remove participants from the meeting
• Record the meeting
• And much more.

Because SCOPIA Mobile is part of the enterprise solution, it also implements role-based authentication, so only authorized users can perform these actions.

Other technical highlights

Our innovative bandwidth estimation technology, NetSense, constantly monitors the network and adjusts the connection speed accordingly before packet loss occurs.  This ensures the best quality possible, regardless of network conditions.

Mobility does not have to mean compromise. All of our mobile clients provide the best experience possible, including High Definition 720p on iPad2.

We encourage you to download the app today and start enjoying true mobile conferencing. To experience a demonstration of SCOPIA Mobile V3, please go to http://www.radvision.com/TryMobile for a free trial.

SCOPIA Mobile V3 requires SCOPIA back-end Infrastructure with Pro or Mobile licenses.  Version 7.6.1 or above of the SCOPIA Solution is needed. Customers with existing support contracts can get the latest SCOPIA Back-end firmware upgrade as part of their support agreement.

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In particular we discuss visual communications as a key enabler for telemedicine solutions, as after all they are all about accessibility. For this, visual communication is a great fit – it allows health organizations – hospitals, healthcare providers, experts and specialists – to supply their service to everyone, even remote patients, in a reasonable and economical manner.

For telemedicine Quality of Experience (QoE) is key. To create an effective doctor-patient scenario from a far the remote party needs to receive a clear, high definition representation of the scenario in hand. Same goes for a doctor-doctor scenarios, or any other case where physical boundaries are bridged via visual communications technology.

The ability to see the patient, as well as any instrumentation used or documents presented, without any perceived delay or network artifacts, is crucial for such a solution to be effective and trust-worthy. The same is true, of course, for the patient side, where seeing the doctor’s face is essential to build trust and confidence in cases of remote healthcare.

The importance of high definition video is clear. As details are extremely important, you have to transmit the finest quality to the other side, or the outcome of the medical procedure will be in risk. Any delay or artifact associated with the video can also jeopardize the process, and therefore must be avoided at all cost. Last but not least, you need to perfectly sync the video with the various instrumentations, to allowing the parties to collaborate and communicate with video in the background.

While QoE is traditionally associated with high cost, high end systems and costly leased lines, today’s technology allow healthcare providers to setup video infrastructures for telemedicine applications with fraction of the cost of dedicated telemedicine “rooms”, utilizing desktop and laptop computers as well as mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets, and using the Internet as connection.

While this reduces cost and increases availability, it makes the challenge of maintaining high quality regardless of the network more significant. It also puts emphasis on the technical details of the solution: these devices must support high definition video, with a high frame rate and low delay. Fortunately, optimized video communication clients can already provide this for mobile computers and consumer devices.

With the growing popularity of desktop and mobile video calling, telemedicine is expected to become more popular and much more available, reaching anyone and everyone. This will definitely provide patients with a better quality of experience with regard to the medical treatments they are enjoying and are entitled to.

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Acme Packet’s Net-Net SMX IMS is a core session control/session border control (SBC), which enables service providers to reduce the complexity and cost of SIP multimedia services significantly. Their ecosystem comprises of various added services including video calling, for which RADVISION provides the necessary infrastructure and endpoints (video clients).

So what you get at the end of the day is a video calling service (think FaceTime) made easy: The servers (RADVISION’s SCOPIA Elite MCU and other components such as Bridgewater Systems HSS) are placed behind the Acme Packet SBC in the data center, while as the video clients – based on RADVISION’s BEEHD client framework – are running on various devices, such as laptops, mobile phones and tablets.

Of course, there’s a lot of things you can add to the experience, such as presence, instant messaging (IM), complicated call scenarios (for advanced types of services), etc., The BEEHD client frameworks support that and much more, and are fully standard and interoperable – that’s why it took no effort to integrate them into the Acme Packet ecosystem, and that’s why a customer would be totally free in choosing other components to add to the architecture, as long as they are standard-based.

Video calling is dominated today by OTT providers. This is mainly due to the fact that service providers were late to the game. However once they will join the stage, they will have the advantage of owning the network and being able to provide better control (quality of service) over the experience. This, of course, raises important questions of net neutrality and privacy, but still it would be hard for OTT to compete with the guys in charge of the pipes.

Another issue is the one I tackled here a few times, and Amir raised in his post – interoperability between services or “federation”, For video calling to become mainstream users will need a way to call using video without any regards to the service they are using. Just like with voice calls. The only ones capable of doing that are the service providers. And by federating video calling they would gain a huge advantage over the “walled gardens” of OTTs out there, which IMHO would practically kill the competition.

Bottom line – if you’re building a video calling service, being a service provider or a service developer, you should focus on the things that really matter for the long run:

• Fully standard and interoperable infrastructure and clients, supporting both SIP and H.323
• Ability to introduce new and advanced services without replacing the infrastructure/clients.
• A scalable platform for launching new IMS based services

And don’t miss the video.

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