The Web Conferencing Blog

Mitel UC Advanced Suite + Vidyo Videoconferencing = Interoperability

Mitel Networks says it will soon fill a hole in the features of its collaboration suite: The lack of video connectivity.

The Ottawa company said that by the end of the year it will release a version of its Unified Communications Advanced client that will link directly to Vidyo Inc.’s VidyoConferencing solution.

Not only will customers using the on-premise version of MCA be able to launch into a Vidyo client, those using the virtual version of MCA on VMware will also be able to take advantage of it.

To use it, however, Mitel customers will also need the VidyoRouter (either hardware or virtual version) and licences for Vidyo software clients. In virtual environment they will need VMware View.

“Video has been a gap in our UCA portfolio,” acknowledged Alan Zurakowski, Mitel’s manager of business development and strategic alliances. UCA includes audio and Web conferencing.

“Vidyo has filled that gap, so if video is important to you business processes we will be able to offer it.”

(This slide from Mitel shows the UCA client on the left, with the presence directory listing staff down the side. Three clicks would launch the Vidyo client)

 

What will appeal to a CIO, he added, is that both solutions are available to run in virtualized environments on VMware.

Marty Hollander, Vidyo’s senior vice-president of market development also noted that the solution will allow Mitel UCA users to start in an audioconference and easily shift to video.

Because Vidyo clients can run on laptops, smart phones and tablets a person out of the office can take a scheduled videoconference without having to get back to a desk, he said.

The partners will not be selling a bundled solution: The products will be sold separately. The announcement is merely that interoperability is coming “by year end,” said Zurakowski.

The solution will be demonstrated this week at VMworld in San Francisco.

Polycom takes video conferencing market share lead in India

Polycom, Inc has announced that it led the video conferencing systems and infrastructure market in India with a 50.2% market share in 2011, as per Frost & Sullivan. The vendor showcased a growth of 45% in the video conferencing endpoint market (ahead of the industry growth rate of 35.3%), to capture a share of 50.6%. In the video conferencing infrastructure market, it witnessed growth of 57.4% over the previous year to capture a 48% share.

Neeraj Gill, Managing Director, India and SAARC, Polycom, said, "Our vision is to make video collaboration ubiquitous and we are delivering on that by creating software-based innovations for mobile, social and Cloud platforms. We are working with nearly 7,000 partners to drive interoperability and extend the reach of video. These latest market share numbers by Frost & Sullivan show that our strategy is working."

"The video collaboration sector in India is at an interesting stage in its evolution, with an increasing number of enterprises realizing and reaping the benefits of video collaboration solutions to aid in organizational growth. The past year has seen new sectors such as entertainment, healthcare, finance, education and manufacturing explore and deploy video collaboration solutions, while existing customers are looking to enhance their existing video environment," he added.

Benoy CS, Director, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan, South Asia & Middle East, said, "Polycom has led the industry in terms of offering compelling video solutions to customers in various industry sectors including government, public sector, banking and finance as well as emerging sectors such as education and healthcare. Its standard-based solutions and focus on interoperability, combined with its strong partnerships, make it a market leader."

The Frost & Sullivan report also estimates that the value of the video conferencing market in India was anticipated at $83.2 million—a YoY growth rate of 38.9% in 2011. The industry is likely to sustain a CAGR of 20.1% over the next seven years thanks to trends such as the changing mindset of enterprises that look at video as a corroborator in their business processes; support of the service provider community in deploying managed video conferencing services; enhanced reach through system integrators; and greater enterprise drive for open standards amongst others. The industry has also seen a significant growth in demand for immersive solutions with High Definition as opposed to Standard Definition adoption at 80:20, highlighting change in user needs for want of advanced technology systems.

Enterprise Communications & Collaboration Market Grew to $22.3B in 2010

Synergy Research Group announces the publication of the Enterprise Communications & Collaboration Market Analysis report, providing quarterly market shares, sizing, and forecasts for the combined markets of Telephony, Videoconferencing/TelePresence, UC Applications, Enterprise Social Networks (ESN), Email, and Collaboration software.

Although top-line revenue growth was modest year over year, there were standout segments which grew six times faster than total growth. The fastest growing segments in 2010 were Videoconferencing/TelePresence Systems, Enterprise Social Networks (ESN), and Collaborative Workgroup Software.

Videoconferencing/TelePresence grew 35% year over year and, for the first time, represented a double-digit percentage of Enterprise Communications & Collaboration spending. Other segments that clocked in strong growth included IP Phones, IP-PBXs, Presence/IM Servers, Web Conferencing, and Videoconferencing Infrastructure (MCU and non-MCU). As an indication of shifts in spending, sales to Room-Based Video Conferencing systems exceeded those of PBX sales for the first time.

Top 5 Vendors- 2010 Enterprise Communications & Collaboration Sales
	Rankings	Market Share Gain/Loss
Cisco	1	+ 5.7 points
Microsoft	2	+ 2.2 points
AVAYA	3	+ 2.2 points
IBM	4	+ 0.1 points
Alcatel-Lucent	5	- 1.0 points

"In 2010, we saw accelerated spending on IP Telephony, Web/Audio Conferencing, Videoconferencing and a variety of Collaboration tools, especially in those organizations with 100-500 users. And to no surprise, the strongest growth was measured for those solutions that provided a fast return on cost reductions and productivity gains," said Jeremy Duke, Founder & Principal Analyst, Synergy Research Group. He added that, "over the next five years we believe Service Providers and Mobile Operators could significantly drive a much higher growth level for this market if they choose to aggressively deploy and market UC/Collaboration as a cloud-based service offering."

According to Synergy, North America and EMEA combined represented 75% of the market in 2010 with APAC representing a sizeable growth opportunity, representing less than 20% of the market.

Cisco, Polycom Top Video Conferencing/Telepresence Market

Look for the enterprise video conferencing and telepresence market to more than double by 2015 if you believe a prediction from Infonetics Research.

The researcher’s new report says annual revenue grew 18 percent in 2010 to $2.2 billion worldwide. Doubling by 2015, Infonetics says the market will hit $5 billion.

Due to their versatility, the report says, multi-purpose room systems account for the majority of enterprise video conferencing equipment. Immersive telepresence systems are expected to have the highest growth rates of all video conferencing equipment, and thanks to their low cost and availability on PBXs, software-based endpoints out-ship hardware by a ratio of 10 to one.

Cisco is now No. 1 in the overall enterprise video conferencing market. The company’s acquisition of Tandberg helped it grab 50 percent of revenue last year. Polycom maintains second place in revenue and leads in units shipped.

"Communicating via video continues to be one of the top trends in telecom, as evidenced by strong growth in the enterprise video market," said Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research. “Businesses worldwide are looking for richer means of communications with their employees, partners, and customers, and enterprise videoconferencing and telepresence solutions are a natural fit. The biggest winners in the enterprise communications market will be those who offer solutions that are multi-modal, visual (e.g., video-based), and support the collaboration requirements of globally distributed organizations."

HP Launches High-Definition Videoconferencing for the Desktop

HP today announced the general availability of visual collaboration products for the desktop and conference rooms that allow people to enjoy high-definition (HD) video experiences anytime, anywhere.

The new software-based HP Visual Collaboration offerings reduce the need for costly travel, decrease the amount of harmful carbon emissions released into the atmosphere and help customers meet their green business goals.

The solutions expand upon HP Halo high-end studios and give customers the flexibility to run videoconferencing on their own networks or over a managed network.

“Customers need to collaborate inside and outside their companies – whether they are travelling, working at home or at the office,” said Rob Scott, general manager and vice president, Visual Collaboration, HP. “HP’s full range of high-quality, HD videoconferencing solutions, especially at the desktop, make that possible.”

HP Visual Collaboration products provide reliable, HD-quality video while reducing network requirements and bandwidth needs over enterprise or best effort networks. This is enabled by HP’s agreement, announced in June, to use software-based scalable video coding technology from Vidyo Inc. Scalable video coding is an adaptive technology that optimizes the user’s video experience, reduces latency and also eliminates the need for a multipoint control unit.

“HP’s unrivaled position in the desktop market makes it well suited to provide information workers with visual communication tools,” said Ira Weinstein, partner at Wainhouse Research, a leading analyst firm focused on the rapidly growing Unified Communications and rich media conferencing fields. “With its new, high-performance videoconferencing solution for notebooks, desktops and conference rooms, HP is making it easy and convenient for users to maintain ‘face to face’ connections with customers, partners, peers, and even family and friends – while in the office or on the go.”

The new desktop and conference room solutions include:

* The HP Visual Collaboration Desktop software client, ideal for dispersed teams, can be deployed easily by all users on their own PCs and notebooks.
* The HP Visual Collaboration Executive Desktop is a bundled, touchscreen solution that features an HP TouchSmart 600 Quad loaded with HP Visual Collaboration software. It also includes camera and headset accessories.
* Designed for team collaboration, the HP Visual Collaboration Room 100 and Room 220 integrate high-quality video into multipurpose conference rooms, offering low total cost of ownership.

In addition, HP plans to offer technology to connect its immersive studios to desktop and conference room solutions next year.

HP Visual Collaboration desktops will be in use at the 2010 UN Climate Change Conference (COP16) in Cancún next month. HP has been named the technology provider for this global environmental event.

Reduce total cost of ownership with software-based infrastructure

By operating on software-based x86 server infrastructures, HP Visual Collaboration solutions can significantly reduce infrastructure costs while allowing video to run more efficiently. This infrastructure can be on-premise, hosted or offered in the cloud by service providers.

* At the core of the solution is the HP Visual Collaboration Portal. This comes preconfigured on HP ProLiant DL360 servers and allows IT administrators to handle remote configurations, authentication and licensing of system components.
* The HP Visual Collaboration Router provides distributed media routing and is built on HP industry-standard server appliances.
* By connecting to both H.323 and SIP protocols, the HP Visual Collaboration Gateway provides a migration path for companies wanting to continue to use legacy videoconferencing solutions.
HP’s current Halo solutions that run on a dedicated network will continue to be offered as an option for customers who seek a fully managed, immersive solution.

In a 36-month period, the current solutions have saved more than 175,000 tonnes of CO2e.(1) This is the equivalent to removing 33,453 vehicles from the road for an entire year, or eliminating more than 143,000 round-trip flights from New York to London.HP

 

 

Cisco's "Video on All Endpoints"

Cisco has unveiled a series of product introductions, innovations and service offerings designed to make Cisco TelePresence® and video collaboration more affordable, simpler to manage under a common architecture, and more available through cloud services. These new experiences can help customers quickly and cost effectively take advantage of the transition to video across the enterprise.

As more organizations deploy video pervasively, Cisco announced that all of Cisco’s new enterprise collaboration endpoints will be video-enabled. Additionally, Cisco announced that all voice- and video-enabled offerings will interoperate natively with Cisco® Unified Communications Manager.

As companies adopt telepresence and video calling across their organizations, having a single call-control infrastructure for voice and video that runs across a single architecture can help enable simpler deployments, improved manageability and a quicker return on investment. The Cisco Unified Communications Manager call-control and processing system does just that. Already the foundation for Cisco’s voice offerings and Cisco TelePresence, Cisco Unified Communications Manager makes initiating video calls a snap with one-button-to-push technology. Endpoints acquired through Tandberg will now connect to Cisco Unified Communications Manager, starting with the Cisco IP Video Phone E20 this quarter. With this announcement, Cisco is continuing to integrate the road maps of Cisco and Tandberg while executing on a converged strategy. 

Citrix HD Video / Citrix HDFaces

Citrix had announced earlier this year that they would be releasing a new video capability across GoToMeeting, GoToTraining and GoToWebinar that would support HD quality video. Will this be true HD video quality or simply standard video just streaming across an HD-enabled webcam? The anticipated launch date is March 2011...still waiting.

Like Cisco/WebEx Multi-Point Video (MPV) which has been in the market for over 4 years now, Citrix's new video capability plans to support up to 6 simultaneous video streams. (Citrix aims to support 1920px960p, though I have a feeling that their MPV capability will only support 640px480p. If it turns out it's 1920px960p one has to ask if their infrastructure will be able to handle the data intensive lead of true HD video. We'll see.) Citrix says the only required hardware will be a HD-capable video conferencing viewer. I do wonder if Citrix HDFaces will integrate with other true video-conferencing/telepresence solutions like Tandberg, the market leader, or Polycom and any other standard-based endpoints. Again, we'll see.

Though they are years late to the video collaboration market and had said that there was never a need for video collaboration in the SMB market, at least they now realize the importance of video collaboration. Better late than never.

It will be interesting to see how HDFaces does in the market only because their track record for spotting and capitalizing on market transitions has never been that great. They acquired VAPPS at the end of 2008 with the hopes of expanding their VoIP capabilities and following many of their competitors that had VoIP-enabled communications but ended up with an integration nightmare that I'm not sure they ever resolved. Today, I hear that their VoIP customers still contend with VoIP reliability issues and voice echoing.

As far as HDFaces is concerned, I think I read it best in a recent "Forrester Wave Report" by Forrester Research, re-summarized as, "Citrix has a pretty good products but lags on strategy."

As far as their customers are concerned, they are still waiting for video from Citrix...

 

 

Cisco Consumer Telepresence

In Feb 2009, I wrote a blog about the evolution of Telepresence and how it could easily crossover to the consumer side (Feb 2009 Blog). It makes sense that Cisco would create a consumer-based telepresence capability and boot strap it to an existing flat screen HDTV.

The time has finally come!

Cisco Consumer Telepresence will most likely start at around $500 and be available later this year. "You would just plug it into your television," Robert Lloyd, Cisco's executive vice president overseeing worldwide operations, said of the consumer version.

The timing of Cisco Consumer Telepresence is right in line with Google recently launching GoogleTV which includes a Google search capability that anables viewers to quickly search through programs, DVR recordings and the web. It's clear that technology companies have been trying to turn television sets into more interactive machines, hoping to win over Web surfers who are already migrating from personal computers to mobile devices.

Lloyd said, "It's basically a box that would be in addition to a set-top box, that would leverage high quality broadband," he said, adding that the system would incorporate a high-definition camera and network technology to make video conversations smoother.

ESPN to Bring Cisco TelePresence to 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

Interactive Video to Connect Global Soccer Fans With Teams, Players and Coaches

SAN JOSE, CA and JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, May 20, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Cisco /quotes/comstock/15*!csco/quotes/nls/csco (CSCO 22.96, -0.35, -1.50%) today announced that ESPN will use Cisco TelePresence(TM) to deliver live and recorded coverage of soccer matches and connect the global soccer community with teams, players and coaches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer Tournament in South Africa. The incorporation of Cisco TelePresence will allow ESPN to deliver televised content more effectively and economically as well as enhance soccer fans' viewing experience. Cisco TelePresence, which uses high-definition video and audio to create a face-to-face virtual experience, will further enhance ESPN's coverage of soccer matches throughout the month long tournament. By using the existing Cisco broadband network in South Africa, the two industry leaders are transforming the sports television industry by enabling a more timely delivery of video content, including greater fan access to unique game analysis and player footage.

ESPN is taking advantage of the Cisco TelePresence HD real-time video for its live coverage of the 19th FIFA World Cup Soccer Tournament, a first for any video communications solution. The technology will also give the worldwide leader in sports increased flexibility and expanded coverage, enhancing both the content and coverage of the games. The immersive experience is made possible with imperceptible latency, regardless of distance, ultimately leading to a more compelling interview. In addition, with the deployment of Cisco TelePresence in South Africa, ESPN will be able to host remote interviews with visiting country leaders, coaches, players and fans, all from highly secure and quiet locations with convenient access to key stadium sites. The remote broadcast interviews captured via Cisco TelePresence will then be accessible for soccer fans to view on ESPN's worldwide soccer sites.

Telepresence Growth Projections in Asia-Pacific

A press release from Frost and Sullivan:

• Revenues for ready-built telepresence suites in Asia-Pacific grew an estimated 71.1 percent in 2009 (up from 46.6 percent in 2008). For 2010, Frost & Sullivan expects a growth of 64.4 percent, with revenues of just over US$73.0 million by year-end. Weaker growth is expected thereafter. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (conferencing.frost.com), Asia-Pacific Telepresence Market, finds that the market - covering 14 Asia-Pac countries, including Japan - earned estimated revenues of US$44.4 million in 2009. The market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 22.9 percent (2009-2015) per annum, before reaching a market size of US$110.1 million by end-2015. If you are interested in more information about this study, then send an email to Sarah Lourdes at [email protected], with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company email address, company website and country. Although a far more costly visual communication tool to conventional video conferencing systems, Frost & Sullivan industry manager Pranabesh Nath believes that "the immersive nature of telepresence enhances user experience and productivity, while simultaneously trimming the operational expenditure of a company. "Major vendors were quick to seize the opportunity presented by the harsh economic climate and were successful in selling a large number of ready-built systems in the last two years," he adds. "Many even offering generous discounts to make a sale." Not for long; Nath expects stiff competition in the next two years from more affordable mid-range high-definition (HD) video conferencing systems, as well as customised immersive solutions which system integrators are starting to offer at lower price points. Growth in revenues for ready-built telepresence systems are expected to decline sharply after 2010, dropping to 32.1 percent growth in 2011 before falling to well below ten percent for subsequent years. No growth is expected in 2015; of course by then, the unit-price for ready-built systems would have declined too. Nath is not ready to dismiss it though. "Telepresence is a small, but very visible segment that is expected to significantly impact the visual collaboration market," he says. "We are already witnessing a blurring of boundaries between an immersive telepresence suite and conventional HD video system, and this will only accelerate in the next one to two years," he adds. Vendors currently market telepresence systems as ready-built units, but in future, Nath believes it is quite likely that newer business models will emerge from greater involvement with service providers offering customised immersive systems as a managed service. He expects this to show promising uptake as it eliminates the need for users to invest in hardware and in-house maintenance skills. Asia-Pac accounted for just over 15 percent of the world telepresence market in 2009. Regional adoption was highest in Australasia which accounted for 30 percent (US$13.5 million) of the Asia-Pac revenues last year. The Asia-Pacific Telepresence Market study is part of the Conferencing & Collaboration Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: web conferencing, video conferencing endpoints, video conferencing infrastructure, audio and video conferencing services, and online enterprise collaboration and shared workspaces. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 40 offices on six continents.