Raise your hand if you’ve recently attended a webinar or online meeting. Just last week I attended 3 online meetings and 1 webinar. Chances are, you’ve probably been to a few yourself. That got me thinking: video conferencing is not just a commodity anymore, but rather a standard medium of business communications. For that reason, I gathered a list of growing trends that prove VC is disrupting the industry and why this medium is becoming a standard in the way we communicate.
VCaaS is Growing
Video Conferencing as a Service or VCaaS is rapidly growing. According to a No Jitter report, in 2016 the total cloud-based web and video conferencing services revenue reached $2.2 billion and by 2023, this category will represent 67% of the total conferencing services revenue. With its ease of use, adaptability, and low price point options, it’s no surprise VCaaS is exponentially becoming a popular VC trend among business communication.
Emerging Mobile Conference Use
Another growing VC trend is mobile conference. We can see this growth in the spike of mobile conferencing applications available. As more and more people join meetings from their mobile devices, VCaaS has had to adapt to these demands and expand their offerings for joining meetings to reach mobile users. In fact, mobile users find the convenience of mobile conferencing an effective method for the exchange of information in real time. Industries like healthcare use mobile conferencing when physicians and clinicians are on the go and need to join meetings. In the education industry, driven by the BYOD trend (bring your own device) more and more students take advantage of online learning and join online classes through their mobile devices.
Integration of Huddle Rooms
The environment of how people join meetings is also changing. You might have heard the term huddle rooms thrown around lately. This refers to small conference areas equipped with audio, video and display technology designed to gather and collaborate in impromptu or scheduled meetings. What makes huddle rooms interesting however, is that it brings a mix of physical and virtual meetings in one space— having a group of users meet in the same room and some joining virtually. This brings change in video conferencing trends because the need to have one-click access to meetings, VC hardware integration and integrated video conferencing systems has increased. As more companies jump on the bandwagon and incorporate their own huddle rooms internally, the need for faster, adaptable technology is also shifting the way people collaborate online.
Platform Consolidation
With on premise and web conferencing solutions offering broader collaboration and video conferencing features, it’s expected for platform consolidation to emerge. In earlier times, there were separate platforms for web conferencing, telephony, video conferencing and instant messaging, creating a time-consuming ordeal because of the multiple platforms required to meet and collaborate at once. Nowadays these features are packed in VC hardware and VCaaS, making it easy and flexible to experience a rich, integrated video communication experience.
All in all, VC is changing and adapting not just by the new technology created, but also by the different user demands that can keep up with today’s fast and ever changing online communication culture.
Sources:
https://www.commstrader.com/news/marketplace/video-conferencing-collaboration-market-report/
https://www.nojitter.com/post/240173015/frost--sullivan-conferencing--collaboration-outlook