Cloud-Based Video Conferencing Brings New Capabilities to Industry
Traditionally, video conferencing has been available only to major names, involving as it does large upfront costs. However, the landscape is changing with the advent of cloud. All of a sudden, you can set up video conferences with clients, collaborators and people you have never met before – at a far lower price!
Conferencing is not limited to merely talking. You can share documents and videos, work collaboratively, invite additional members and record what is being said for less than $50 per participant per month. Cloud-based video conferencing, still outrageously underused, is – coupled with 3G services – transforming corporate communication.
Cloud services have brought about Unified Communication solutions to finance, healthcare and others. It does not matter if you are in a boardroom or on the move: a simple network connection enables you to be part of the conference. This is the power of cloud-based video conferencing.
Here are some of the key benefits of the technology –
- Costs – Traditional, boardroom-based video conferencing equipment involved very large capital expenditure, running into several hundred thousand dollars. There was also a need to get dedicated ISDN circuits or other connectivity. With cloud-based video conferencing, all the action occurs in the cloud and the user simply needs broadband connectivity and a device that can support a browser.
- Skilled manpower – Traditional video conferencing systems needed qualified manpower to manage the set-up, security and connectivity. Cloud-based systems do not need any skilled manpower at the user premises.
- Managing protocols – In traditional systems, companies either used a common system or ran into huge difficulties with protocols and standards. This problem is alien to cloud based systems. All issues of transcoding and changing formats is handled by the cloud service provider.
- Security – In all video conferencing systems, security is a major concern. Hackers have long known that they can actually enter corporate boardrooms simply by hacking into the system. Cloud-based video conferencing systems boast better security handled by expert professionals.
- Flexibility – Since just a high speed Internet connection is required, cloud-based video conferencing system is far more flexible, allowing for a large degree of location independence. A user on a high speed mobile telephony network can be connected with ease using a smartphone or a tablet.
- Ability to add additional users – Boardroom-based video conferencing involved major capital expenditure. Cloud-based systems can just purchase or rent another license, with typical costs being $50 per month per user.
As with all other types of cloud computing applications, you get access to the latest equipment, software and capability. Setting up requires practically no work and the quality of video and audio is a match for any traditional model. In these difficult economic times, cloud-based video conferencing has given businesses – both big and small – new capabilities in corporate communications.
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About the Guest Author:
Sanjay Srivastava has been active in computing infrastructure and has participated in major projects on cloud computing, networking, VoIP and in creation of applications running over distributed databases. Due to a military background, his focus has always been on stability and availability of infrastructure. Sanjay was the Director of Information Technology in a major enterprise and managed the transition from legacy software to fully networked operations using private cloud infrastructure. He now writes extensively on cloud computing and networking and is about to move to his farm in Central India where he plans to use cloud computing and modern technology to improve the lives of rural folk in India.
