Check out the industry’s latest headlines, news and updates here. Your source for company and market news from around the world.
13.05.2013 A recent Canalys UC Market report for EMEA forecasts that, between 2012 and 2014, shipments of business video devices will spike. It seems businesses, large and small, are coming round to the idea of using video conferencing as an effective and efficient business communications tool.
29.04.2013 As many have predicted, video usage is growing for real-time communications. For some users and use cases it is even the norm, rather than the exception, replacing voice calls.
But this growth market for video introduces a major challenge – a confusing diversity of user experiences…
18.04.2013 People often ask what the future of room based immersive systems looks like, as more and more of us have the ability to launch a video call available, quite literally, at our fingertips – on our tablets, mobiles and laptops.
Take a look at this video to see Cisco’s thoughts on how immersive and mobile video collaboration solutions will work together to support continued business transformation.
11.04.2013 Dust off the bunting and hang the flags out: global IT spending is forecast to increase by 4.1% in 2013 according to Gartner’s latest worldwide IT spending forecast published in March.
Unified Communications (UC) is one particular investment which brings about an improved way of working with immediate, tangible business benefits. When securing board buy-in, a commitment to how quickly companies can see a Return on Investment (ROI) from its rollout is often one of the deciding factors.
8.04.2013 Increasingly, classrooms and training rooms need to have a central focal point and technology hub. For integrators that sell interactive whiteboards, flat panels and projectors to education and corporate clients, that’s an encouraging trend.
Sales of interactive whiteboards and flat panels in the education and corporate markets were up 15 percent in 2012, reaching nearly 1 million displays, according to industry researcher Futuresource Consulting.
3.04.2013 As the digital age unfolds, it’s clear that the ability to communicate effectively anytime and from anywhere is essential. In recent years, a growing number of individuals and organizations have turned to video conferencing to better support communication and collaboration.
But all the opportunity also serves up a few challenges…
26.03.2013 Well, the 2013 version of Enterprise Connect is behind us now, and the show seemed to have more energy and activity than other shows in years past.
This wasn’t your typical Enterprise Connect, as topics such as interoperability or the cost of VoIP weren’t dominating the conference.
23.03.2013 On the one-year anniversary of its debut, the Cisco TelePresence TX9000 Series has been awarded the prestigious iF (International Forum) award for outstanding design, the same award that has been given to design stalwarts like Sony and BMW.
With a brand new industrial design, the TX9000 was brought to market as the new benchmark for immersive telepresense, offering the state-of-the-art telepresence experience and high-intensity collaboration.
20.03.2013 The sector failed to live up to its billing as an industry great white hope last year after potential customers kept their wallets shut and revenue tanked badly in the first two quarters.
But according to Infonetics, following a “rotten” year, the market appears to be turning a corner. Sales of videoconferencing and telepresence swelled 10 per cent sequentially to $822m (ÂŁ543m) in the fourth quarter of 2012…
13.03.2013 More than four in 10 (41%) HR directors in the UK say that, over the last three years, they have increased their use of video conferencing to conduct interviews, presenting a shift in the overall hiring process.
Research by recruitment consultancy OfficeTeam indicates that candidate shortages and other staffing challenges may have led to the shift.
13.03.2013 To say that video is changing the way we communicate and collaborate would be the understatement of the decade. In their current form, today’s video communication and collaboration tools not only improve interaction and help to foster better relationships between participants, but they provide non-verbal communication cues that already add significant value to those interactions.
But video collaboration can deliver more than that.
6.03.2013 Participants in a Norwegian study on patient education for COPD and diabetes through videoconferencing gave the program high marks, according to a study in BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making.
By offering the programs in their homes, they were spared travel and could conserve their energy, yet still share experiences and learn from questions raised by others.
1.03.2013 In today’s work culture that is largely dominated by business meetings, companies across industry segments are increasingly adopting videoconferencing services as an alternative to traditional communication channels.
Modern businesses operating at a global level especially are beginning to rely heavily on video conferencing services for establishing communications between corporate headquarters and regional offices spread across the globe.
27.02.2013 Cisco increased its lead in the enterprise videoconferencing and telepresence market over Polycom last quarter, according to the latest stats from IDC.
Cisco’s market share inched up to 44.8 percent in the fourth quarter from 43.3 percent share in the third quarter. Polycom’s market share slipped to 23 percent in the fourth quarter from 25 percent in the third quarter.
22.02.2013 Telepresence of Unified Communications is one of the greatest invention for the business world.
However, there are some telepresence sceptics who believe that whatever conferencing may accomplish, chatting can too. Not to be argumentative, but there are many advantages to telepresence that are not covered by chatting, although they may not be so obvious.
19.02.2013 With the advent of video devices moving from large room systems to PCs and onto hand-held devices, there is a significant discussion about how video will be used across these devices.
The conclusion is that small device video may be of limited business value, but great social value. While this may not be universal, it does represent a significant set of questions about the value of small device video and whether it will be adopted by business users.
14.02.2013 Enterprise employees increasingly demand the ability to make video calls anytime, from their remote office, tablet or even smartphone — not just from the confines of a room equipped with cameras and screens.
The transition from hardware to software video conferencing is not going to happen overnight, and it could potentially be more challenging for large enterprises faced with the dilemma of existing room-based systems and other desktop video conferencing hardware that isn’t ready for the recycling bin yet.
12.02.2013 Three-quarters of enterprises have either partially or fully deployed unified communications (UC) products, according to a survey of 200 IT professionals conducted by Webtorials on behalf of SIP communications provider Sonus Networks (Nasdaq: SONS).
Of those enterprises, 21 percent have fully deployed UC, while 57 percent have partially deployed it, according to the survey contained in the report, “Enterprises Place 2013 Unified Communications Bets.”
6.02.2013 The number of users of mobile video calling services is forecast to increase four-fold to almost 160 million by 2017, driven by improvements in both the user-interface and the underlying technology, finds a recently released study by Juniper Research.
The report includes a comprehensive analysis of the current situation in the mVoIP and mobile video calling markets and contains five year forecasts for mVoIP and mobile video calling user numbers and revenues.
1.02.2013 Last week’s ISE 2013 was the best-attended AV industry tradeshow ever held, anywhere in the world.
Once again, the show’s attendance set a new record. This year’s total of 44,151 registered attendees is an 8% increase on 2012’s world record of 40,869. Just under 900 exhibitors – also a record for ISE – occupied all 12 halls of the Amsterdam RAI.
29.01.2013 As retail banks have slowly emerged from the global financial crisis of 2008, they are increasingly looking for ways to differentiate themselves with their products and services.
Currently, the mobile channel is growing in popularity and use, especially with new applications like remote deposit capture right from a mobile phone or tablet.
25.01.2013 Viju will be hosting morning seminars in Amsterdam 29-31 January, during the ISE 2013 exhibition period. Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) is the world’s best-attended tradeshow for the professional AV and electronic systems industry.
That’s why we have put together an exciting agenda of guest speakers to talk about the latest trends in visual communications.
Join us at the Viju lounge before heading to ISE 2013, on Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 31st January from 9am at Crowne Plaza Amsterdam South, to hear what’s new in the industry and to meet the Viju team!
21.01.2013 Mobile video collaboration market to grow $500m in 2017 with the help of right pricing and innovation, according to a new report by ABI Research.
With the growth of 3G and 4G networks, many companies now consider this market to be video conferencing on the mobile device; however the ROI will be achieved in the market if the collaboration is used to support business processes; particularly service operations, the report added.
14.01.2013 2012 saw another solid year of growth for web and video conferencing among businesses. User demand is growing at a strong pace indicating that web and video meetings are going mainstream.
In a recent Frost & Sullivan survey of C-level executives in North America, web and video conferencing ranked high among key enterprise communication applications for awareness and usage.
11.01.2013 Unified Communications is a great set of technologies that makes life easier for a lot of people. But enterprises tend not to be starting their technology today, so anything new has to take account of what has gone before.
This is something that will become evident in 2013 as unified communications is maturing not only as a technology but as a concept.
4.01.2013 Since its inception, this family of personal telepresence solutions for the desktop has enabled employees to instantly collaborate face-to-face, whether separated by a hallway, a street, or several time zones.
Now, tighter integration with Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) brings rich telephony features to the popular EX Series for a powerful voice and video solution.
3.01.2013 Today, Videxio announces support for Microsoft Lync and the ability to combine Lync with standards based video conferencing endpoints, personal/mobile clients and high quality virtual meeting rooms.
This offers maximum employee flexibility and allows customers to attend meetings with high quality audio and video from their Microsoft Lync software client.
18.12.2012 “Videoconferencing holds a lot of potential but still has not reached its peak of adoption in the enterprise because of expense, complexity and proprietary silos. A lot of those barriers are going away.”
Those barriers are being brought down by a combination of software-based video conferencing servers, cloud-based video conferencing services and the standardized cameras in mobile devices.
14.12.2012 Telepresence is becoming more dynamic these days in an attempt to meet the increasing demand of enterprise users. No longer satisfied with poor quality sound and video, companies want a crisp resolution, flexible manipulation and content sharing, along with the ability to connect with users from a range of mobile devices.
For the next generation of telepresence, emphasis will shift from the meeting itself to the quality of collaborative user experience.
10.12.2012 New technologies lend employees the flexibility to work outside physical workspaces, resulting in higher efficiency.
Technologies like web and video conferencing provide employees the flexibility to work outside their physical workspaces and help reduce time and cost for travel, thereby resulting in augmented efficiency levels besides higher job satisfaction.
7.12.2012 IP desktops will continue to be significant, but there’s also continued interest in room-based systems. And “softer” cost justifications are taking hold.
More than three-quarters of enterprises have or intend to have desktop IP video conferencing, and travel savings are still the leading reason for adopting video- though improving working relationships and productivity are almost as important as adoption drivers.
3.12.2012 The TechTarget survey showed that around 22.7 percent of enterprises have fully deployed UC, while another 26.4 percent have deployed UC partially or fully for a small number of employees.
According to the survey, the most frequently deployed UC application was VoIP, followed by audio conferencing and web conferencing.
30.11.2012 The worlds of healthcare and audiovisual technologies are beginning to intersect around patient engagement, encouraging communications between patients and their providers and patient involvement with their health through easy-to-use tools.
Audiovisual products and services in healthcare settings include telemedicine and telehealth, surgical video, mobile and personal connected health tools, remote patient monitoring, medical instruction and network security.
26.11.2012 Federal agencies are being pressured to reel in travel budgets and limit conference expenses. In April, the Office of Management and Budget required agencies to cut travel spending by 30 percent and called for greater conference oversight.
Against this backdrop, virtual meetings offer an alternative to holding a conference in real life. Some government entities now actively encourage videoconferencing.
19.11.2012 In the coming weeks, Cisco will begin shipping the latest releases for the Cisco TelePresence endpoints, which has important implications for those customers looking to roll out a medianet-enabled infrastructure.
With the new release, the Media Services Interface (MSI) will ship by default, enabling both the Media Monitoring and Media Awareness solutions for these endpoints.
14.11.2012 Telecom equipment firm Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) led the way with a strong quarter, posting an 18 percent year-over-year increase in net income and reaching $2.1 billion for the quarter.
The high-tech behemoth also posted healthy revenue of $11.9 billion in the most recent quarter, up 5.5 percent from the $11.3 billion reported in the same quarter in the previous year.
8.11.2012 New research from Frost & Sullivan, Analysis of the Global Videoconferencing Infrastructure Market, finds that the market earned revenues of $746.6 million in 2011, growing at a strong 26.8 percent over the previous year.
The revenues are expected to reach $1.92 billion in 2017, at a compound annual growth rate of 17 percent.
6.11.2012 Cisco has received this year’s Frost & Sullivan Global Videoconferencing Infrastructure Market Share Leadership Award.
According to Frost & Sullivan, the infrastructure market is growing at a blistering pace and is being reshaped by new opportunities and advancing technology.
6.11.2012 For the past half a decade, global networking companies such as Cisco, Polycom and Avaya have been trying to create a profitable business model around video-conferencing.
Things are beginning to change. With executives using multiple smart devices such as mobiles and tablets, video-conferencing is not an inside-the-room phenomenon anymore.
30.10.2012 The 3rd Annual Visual Communications Industry Group (VCI-Group) Conference drew to a close Wednesday Oct 24th.
Collaboration Your Way, covered industry trends and what the future holds, and focused on BYOE, Bring Your Own Everything; the phenomenon of end users bringing their own videoconferencing end points, applications and networks to contemporary videoconferences.
29.10.2012 This office system lets people “turn” to face you in meetings, even though they’re no in the same room.
One of the applications the NBN will potentially benefit is videoconferencing, so it’s with interest that we spotted this photo showing how videoconferencing might look in the future.
25.10.2012 ConNEXTions 2013: A Frost & Sullivan Executive MindXchange, Next-Generation Technologies for Voice, Data and Video Global Enterprise Connectivity, takes place on January 27 to 29, 2013 at the Stanford Court Renaissance Hotel in San Francisco, California.
This high-level program will be beneficial to senior level IT and telecommunications executives, particularly those in C-Level positions, such as CIOs, CTOs, CSOs, CISOs, in addition to presidents, VPs and directors.
21.10.2012 The conference focuses more on driving more widespread usage and simplifying licensing – and less on new product introductions.
‘Empower-Engage-Innovate’ was the theme of this year’s Cisco Collaboration Summit held in Los Angeles. Bringing together analysts, consultants, and channel partners, Cisco presented an update of its Collaboration products and strategy.
18.10.2012 Cisco has enhanced its telepresence, Web conferencing, unified communications (UC) and contact center solutions portfolio in order to tackle collaboration in every aspect possible, and Cisco’s partners will now also reap the benefits of these improvements, which will become available within the next 60 days.
The new provisions are aimed at giving end-users a wider variety of choices in how their tools for collaboration are distributed.
15.10.2012 There’s always been a palpable buzz when it comes to cloud services and technologies, but video services are often pushed by the wayside for more critical software services, be it ERP, disaster recovery, Microsoft Corp’s Office 365 or more traditional unified communications. But that may soon change…
We’re on the precipice of new video technology that strives to make all video-enabled platforms interoperable communication end-points.
12.10.2012 The use of video-conferencing by consumers and businesses may be increasing, but there is a need for a common standard to enable different services to work together.
A Cisco survey found 79% of UK respondents want this standard to come forward as it is hampering their use of the technology. These expectations were reflected across Europe, with 81% calling for the standard.
8.10.2012 A recent industry announcement affirms how important video communication is to the future of business-to-business collaboration.
As the global market share leader in telepresence and video collaboration solutions, we have always been firm believers that video calling should be as easy and ubiquitous as making phone calls. In order to deliver on this vision and to extend the power of video collaboration to more people, Cisco has embarked on a multi-pronged strategy that is already producing results for end users.
4.10.2012 A new survey reveals that enterprises are shifting toward the use of mobile devices to access unified communication applications.
Smartphones and tablets will be the two most popular devices for UC in 2013, according to the survey by Infonetics Research. In addition, the survey revealed that Cisco is the most installed UC supplier among enterprises surveyed, followed by Microsoft and IBM.
2.10.2012 Executives globally are demanding more unified communications (UC), with most saying that instant messaging, e-mail, phone, video and telepresence helps them be more successful, a study by telecom firm BT today said.
According to the study, 84 per cent said unified communication using multiple options like IM, e-mail, phone, video and telepresence helps them be more successful.
27.09.2012 The latest trends and opportunities in cloud collaboration to be presented and discussed at Interop New York 2012.
Most major collaboration capabilities are now available as cloud-based hosted services — anything from private branch exchange-style (PBX-style) call control to video conferencing can be procured as a service instead of building it in-house from customer premises equipment (CPE).
26.09.2012 International Data Corporation (IDC) has published a new vendor and market analysis profiling the leading providers in the worldwide enterprise videoconferencing equipment market. The IDC MarketScape report utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology that produces a graphical assessment of each vendor’s current market capabilities and strategies for competing in the future.
IDC placed the two dominant enterprise videoconferencing vendors – Cisco and Polycom – in the Leaders category for 2012/2013.
25.09.2012 The federal government could save almost $5 billion annually by substituting video conferencing for face-to-face meetings and conventions, according to a new study by Telework Exchange, a public/private partnership emphasizing telework.
The study comes on the heels of the government’s travel scandals and President Barack Obama’s directive to government agencies to make more frequent and better use of video and audio conferencing to conduct meetings.
12.09.2012 Firms are increasingly looking to desktop videoconferencing to improve the quality of their virtual meetings, observed Forrester analyst Philipp Karcher in a new report.
A majority of the more than 1,000 firms surveyed by Forrester this year said they plan to adopt desktop videoconferencing, with more than 40 percent planning to adopt high definition room-based videoconferencing, and around 25 percent looking at immersive telepresence technology
10.09.2012 The growing use of cloud-based services and the need to accommodate “bring your own device” (BYOD) mobile usage is triggering new interest in unified communications (UC) among enterprise customers, according to the latest report from Heavy Reading IP Services Insider.
Cloud & BYOD Give a Boost to Unified Communications examines the cloud UC market, analyzing the most lucrative verticals of cloud UC, and discussing drivers and challenges in the industry.
10.09.2012 One of the main benefits often touted about video conferencing technology is that it allows firms to cut down on travel expenses and so lets executives become more productive.
The general manager of Cisco’s TelePresence Systems Business Unit, Snorre Kjesbu, is proof this can work. “The real advantage is about being able to make decisions faster, to scale knowledge within an organisation more easily and to unify an organisation.”
6.09.2012 Around 40 percent of Americans say they have participated in a video call or video conference, according to a survey of 2,207 adults conducted by Harris Interactive.
The survey found 21 percent of respondents have used video calling for the business purposes of a customer or client meeting or closing a deal and 16 percent have used video calls for a job interview or employment termination.
30.08.2012 Cisco has received recognition as a Leader in Gartner’s newly-released 2012 Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications (UC). In this report, Gartner analyzed the current enterprise UC market, and named Cisco as a market leader based on Cisco’s completeness of vision and ability to execute.
Gartner’s Unified Communications Magic Quadrant reflects the rapidly changing needs of today’s knowledge worker.
30.08.2012 77 Percent of Likely Voters Believe Video Calling Should be as Easy as Making a Phone Call.
Nearly four in five likely U.S. voters believe it is important for technologies such as video calling to work together to help create jobs, promote innovation and deliver critical benefits in remote health care, education, business and other services, according to a newly-released survey.
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