Welcome to our latest issue of Smart Working FM. Here we’ve gathered together some useful information to help you evaluate how video conferencing (VC) can help your business.
It’s clear that the market is growing at a phenomenal rate, so for this issue we’ve focused on key market trends, the business benefits and the ROI justification for implementation of video conference technology.
We are also delighted to feature an exciting story about how we deployed our Rendezvous Workspace scheduling solution for a large, Middle East law firm – right in the middle of the Arab Spring crisis.
We hope this news bulletin will help you to focus on relevant information from different contributors, quickly and concisely.
The market for video conferencing is changing, and with heightened development of the technology and increased adoption on a global scale by organisations in many different sectors, this new way of conducting meetings can transform the whole culture of your business and allow you and your staff to attend global meetings without leaving the office – or indeed, the house. Below we list some of the key trends identified in relation to VC implementation.
Global Market Sees Robust Growth in 2010
Video conferencing has become one of the utmost necessities for large enterprises to reduce costs as the economy begins the long road to recovery, and high-definition VC solutions have become a cost-induced option in an increasingly interactive world. In the past year, the VC market has seen significant new product development, price reductions and consolidation.
METISfiles believe that the market for VC will increasingly be one of low-cost cloud solutions, based on a ‘freemium’ – or free, premium business model – and driven by quick adoption in the consumer/worker environment. “Video is all about people wanting it and not about organisations pushing it,” they comment.
Fastest VC Growth Predicted to be in Desktop and Mobile Video
Enormous growth potential for video in all its forms is just starting to emerge in enterprise communications, states Roopam Jain. Global revenues for the video conferencing and telepresence endpoints market are expected to reach £2.5 billion in 2016.
Growth in this market is expected to accelerate significantly as customers adopt pervasive video, including desktop solutions for large numbers of employees. The SME segment is also expected to provide market growth in the future.
While the global market for room systems will continue to grow, the fastest acceleration will actually be seen in desktop and mobile VC. Vendors are working to help customers support an end-to-end video strategy that spans immersive and room-based VC to desktop and mobile video.
Video Conferencing Endpoints Market in Europe Increases by 20% in 2010
The VC endpoints market in Europe grew to approximately £320.5 million in 2010; an increase of 20.3% from 2009, according to a recent study which states that the need for organisations to reduce their travel cost while maintaining communication with their workers and clients will be the key driver of this trend.
Adoption of VC technology will remain strong over the next few years in Europe, as the new generation of VC systems brings an enhanced value proposition and demand levels continue to remain high. Revenue growth will be generated by increased adoption of VC as part of a unified communications solution, as well as the rising penetration of video in SMEs.
Australian Video Conferencing Market Reports Healthy 33% Revenue Growth in 2010
According to Frost & Sullivan, government incentives and pent-up demand following the economic downturn helped the Australian VC market to increase revenues by 33% in 2010. The market is expected to more than triple by 2017, growing at an estimated combined annual growth rate of 19.1%.
Demand is being driven by the increasing quality of these mid-range solutions combined with gradually declining prices, and customer preferences shifting from immersive telepresence to room-based systems.
Latin America Also Catching On to Video
The telepresence segment has been registering maximum growth in the Latin American VC market, and it is predicted that this trend will continue over the next few years.
Showing clear signs of economic recovery, enterprises are experiencing significant growth across the Latin American region and TMCnet reports that the surge in video conferencing will help improve networks and increase productivity and mobility.
Brazil and Mexico are likely to become the key markets for growth, with the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games – both taking place in Brazil – expected to increase investment in ICT infrastructure in this region.
70% of Indians Say VC Will Become Part of Working Processes in 2011
According to a recent survey conducted by Cable&Wireless Worldwide, the emphasis on face-to-face communications appears stronger in Asia than compared to Europe. A whopping 98% of respondents in India agreed that seeing a business contact is important while carrying out important business deals.
Over 70% say it will become a regular practice at workplaces this year, with many believing that a video conference with their bank manager, travel agent or insurance company, for example, would have more impact than an email or a telephone conversation.
Shali Thilakan, MD – India, for Cable&Wireless Worldwide, comments:
“In India, corporates at large are regular users of VC today. Industry experts believe that in 2011-2012 we will see successes across business segments with large enterprises as well as SMEs, in several different markets.” Internally, Cable&Wireless Worldwide uses VC extensively, clocking up over 1.2 million minutes across the business in 2010, with usage increasing 36% in 2011 to date.
Experts Make their Predictions
It seems that as the global economy improves, businesses are increasingly able to invest heavily in the network infrastructure developments required to sustain huge bandwidth-consuming data; video conferencing being one such application. Rapid growth of high-speed, fibre-based broadband networks is an indication that the VC market will be able to continue its current momentum in the long term. It is believed this will make for fierce competition in this market.
Various industry experts have made some interesting forecasts for the global VC market over the next few years.
According to Ovum, global business spending on VC will reach £2.35 billion in 2016, driven by a focus on cost-cutting and productivity. The telecoms analyst predicts that revenues from business VC will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.79% from 2011 to 2016, making it one of the fastest growing markets in ICT.
A number of factors are driving this growth – especially at larger enterprises – including a desire to reduce travel costs, improve productivity and lower the carbon footprint.
Infonetics say that the global video conferencing market size was £1.36 billion in 2010, up 18% year over year, and that it will top £3 billion by 2015.
Gartner predicts a higher rise in this market; estimating that the global video conferencing market will reach £5.32 billion by 2015.
IDC forecasts that the number of telepresence systems shipped annually will grow to over 49,000 in 2014, with a global installed base of 127,000 systems by that time. While IDC expects the conference room to continue to be the primary application setting for telepresence over the next four years, applications such as virtual kiosks, interactive help desks and virtual doctor-patient visits will gradually become mainstream, and the expectation of people to access VC communications will broaden.
Telepresence Useage Shoots Up During Ash Cloud Crisis
Exclusively for Facilities Matter, John F. Shaw, Director of Software Engineering at Teliris, Inc., presents a strong case for owning telepresence technology, citing a good ROI as one of the main reasons.
Telepresence technology clearly offers organisations a good return on their investment through flight avoidance and cost savings. To illustrate the point, consider two Teliris Telepresence clients:
Customer A: In 2009, approximately 2,200 meetings were held over Telepresence, saving the customer over 6,400 flights and nearly £11 million.
Customer B: In 2009, nearly 800 meetings were held over Telepresence; saving the customer nearly 2,000 flights and over £3 million.
“I think the numbers speak for themselves and certainly go a long way to showing the sort of ROI a customer stands to enjoy from owning Telepresence systems,” comments John F. Shaw. “When you couple these factors with the collaborative nature and flexibility of Telepresence, and consider the virtual non-impact of global incidents such as the recent Icelandic ash cloud, there is a strong case to own Telepresence.”
John demonstrates how the recent natural disaster impacted telepresence useage over seven working days at a global manufacturer and long-standing Teliris client. The dates affected were Thursday-Friday, 15-16 April, and Monday-Friday, 19-23 April.
Out of the 102 meetings conducted over those seven days, 51 (50%) of those meetings were scheduled during a 5-day period (Friday-Thursday), and 40 separate meetings were cancelled / bumped from the Booking Portal. To show a comparison, John presents the previous week totals for total meetings held, and number of those meetings scheduled (%) during that week:
1st -9th April: 73 Meetings 21 created during that week = 28%
12th -16th April: 84 Meetings 25 created during that week = 29%
During the ash cloud crisis there was a 25-30% increase in weekly telepresence meetings, and demand for meeting requirements almost doubled from 28.5% to 50% of meetings being created, excluding reschedules and cancellations.
It’s clear that the disaster caused global disruption, and that many companies didn’t have alternative means for holding meetings, therefore their businesses would have been severely affected due to flight cancellations which both prevented people from returning home, and stopped them being able to travel anywhere by plane. Companies that did have technology in place, such as telepresence and Video Conferencing, saw increased use during this ten-day period.
Has the ash cloud changed your perspective on remote meetings?
Wedlake Bell Adopts Outlook Based Room Scheduling Software
Video-conferencing can be a large investment for any company, so a benefits case needs to be made in order to get board approval. Here we present some useful tips about how organisations can use the technology to their advantage.
The Benefits are Quite Clear
Small and medium sized businesses are faced with different challenges and demands to large enterprises. Of constant concern to SMEs is running multiple offices, coping with understaffed and overworked IT departments, and dealing with tight operating budgets, according to one industry blog.
The benefits include:
Efficient communications
VC makes for much more efficient communications which not only saves organisations time and money through not having to wait for materials, send strings of complex emails or travel long distances, but also allows everyone the equal opportunity to share ideas, show detailed images and data and make decisions much quicker – all in real time.
Immediate access to industry experts
Implementation of VC technology enables the company to access key people at any time with no need for travel. Training, translating, consulting and troubleshooting are all made simple, and sessions can be recorded for future use.
Uniting the organisation
Just because an organisation has many different offices, each need not be isolated from the rest and feel disconnected from major projects, deals or decisions. VC provides a virtual meeting room for mutual collaboration and brings together all members of a global team.
Improving work/life balance
As a whole new generation moves into the workplace, organisations know that they need to satisfy their staff’s expectations in terms of achieving a healthy balance between home life and work. VC not only severely reduces long-distance travel, it also enables people to work remotely – whether on the road or from home. All in all, VC makes people’s lives easier, with no loss of productivity and with less costs to the company.
Contributing to a greener planet
Reduced travel equates to a greener world. According to a white paper by Mvision, ‘Eight Steps to Understanding the Possibilities of Video’, a break from commercial air travel for 24 hours would save 41,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, and that’s without stopping road and train travel.
Let the Whole Organisation Get Involved
Aside from the many benefits VC technology affords an organisation, it is a flexible solution that can be used to great effect in many different company departments, such as:
Corporate
Hold face-to-face board meetings, virtual seminars, trade shows & presentations and stream / record CEO briefings.
Sales
Let your sales executives conduct meetings with prospective and existing customers from anywhere in the world, saving hugely on travel and improving productivity.
Development
Meet virtually with the R&D team, clients and partners at any time, speeding up operational processes and getting problems solved quicker, with everyone ‘in the same room’.
HR
Your managers and HR teams can interview and train new employees located in different cities or countries, with interactive communications.
Finance
By collaborating in real time, the finance team can easily share news and make decisions, extend their expertise to clients in remote branches and offer training and consulting services.
Reasons for the Adoption of Video Conferencing Solutions
Businesses globally are choosing to adopt Video Conferencing solutions for their companies because the technology enables them to:
- MEET BUDGET EXPECTATION
VC has helped organisations lower their travel-related expenses by up to 40%. Companies implement the solution by simply converting half of their traditional meetings into video conferences. - INCREASE EFFICIENCY
With VC and other collaboration services, organisations become more productive and efficient by resolving disputes more quickly if not tied to the traditional 9-5 business schedule. - MAKE VISUAL PRESENTATIONS
VC is a form of visual communication which businesses are using to their advantage. Businesses utilise VC solutions to stand out amongst competitors and increase client loyalty through rich, visual interactions. - IMPROVE IDENTITY AND COMMUNICATION
VC can become an extension of a corporate identity and image. Businesses who adapt quickly to innovative technologies can be seen as leaders in their industry.
Justification for any technology implementation is useful for an organisation to have, and the ROI for VC in your business will be just as important. VC needs to be driven from the top down, with senior executives needing to approve and agree to use it for it to be a workable and successful solution; for this they need to know what the return on their investment is likely to be.
The Case for VC Implementation
The ROI of VC technology largely depends on the travel habits of each individual client. Consider that a client with heavy air usage could be one with an employee who travels business class to the US on a regular basis; each individual trip could pay for one boardroom system at your organisation. Or ten salesmen who travel to the Head Office once a week could save 200 miles’ driving time and half a day’s travel time by calling in to the company network from their desktop software.
The decision to implement a VC solution is often done on the basis of cost and benefit and should demonstrate the potential for tangible business results, however the difficulty of attaching an actual monetary ROI to the benefits of visual communications continues to prevent large-scale investments.
“The misconception that video-conferencing services are communication tools aimed at large enterprises is hindering its adoption among small and medium businesses,” says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst, Iwona Petruczynik.
Calculating the ROI
Once you’ve identified the ways your own organisation could potentially use this technology, it’s worth calculating the time and resources you currently spend on these activities, and then working out the ROI of replacing these with VC. For example, you could look at:
- How many people are travelling to meetings?
- What does this travel cost?
- How could your staff use their time to better effect through travel reduction?
- How long does your organisation need to take a product to market, complete a consulting project, hire a new employee or troubleshoot a problem?
There’s a great ROI calculator on http://www.businessadvantagecalculator.com, where you can assess how much your organisation is spending on travel, based on the number of people on the road, typical distances and average salaries. You can then see the potential savings to be made in these areas using VC technology.
“Within two years, the vast majority of companies will have some form of video conferencing in place,” says Dennis McCafferty onCIO Insight. “Consider this a lasting byproduct of the recent recession, when CEOs sought cost efficiencies in all areas of operations.” CIO Insight offer a very interesting slide show:Video Conferencing: Finding the ROI, which shows the results of a survey that involved 630 executives.
Two of the main issues in VC adoption have been B2B and interoperability. As usage increases, companies want to maximise their ROI by making video available to a more and more diverse base of endpoints and clients, for both internal and external use.
New scheduling solution for leading Egyptian law firm as The Arab Spring brings changes to the region
Hafez Avocats, a premier Middle East law firm with offices in Cairo and Paris, has found that recent changes in Egypt have created new opportunities for the company. As they were expanding and developing their business, Hafez sought a new booking system for internal and client meetings.
Rendezvous Workspace, the web-based scheduling software developed byNFS, was the solution they chose.
The pre-arranged software implementation dates for Hafez coincided with The Arab Spring in Egypt, so a decision was made to implement and train Rendezvous Workspace via Video Conference, given that both companies had already invested in this technology.
“A winning combination of VC, flexible working and real commitment from the two teams made the implementation a resounding success,” says Luis Desouza, Managing Director of NFS. “As a company we were able to respond flexibly to the integration of Rendezvous Workspace with other business applications, such as Accounting and Practice Management, and as a result a solution has been created with great potential to make operations more efficient, ensure costs are correctly captured and charged, and ultimately deliver better customer service.”
Previously, Hafez used a dedicated legal-practice software solution which caused issues with cost recovery and chargeback for meeting rooms and other services. They also knew that by having accurate information about availability of rooms, staff could be more productive and improve their meeting plans. Now, with the help of NFS’ dedicated scheduling software, employees are able to allocate client meetings and events more effectively than before.
Motaz Hassan, Applications Support Specialist for Hafez Avocats, says, “We wanted a browser-based application to centralise Cairo technology, and the deployment of Rendezvous Workspace has made it possible to roll out IT across multiple sites. Also, by having the software deployed on iPads, we could quickly move to a room-based booking module, where staff can book and check for rooms available now and in the future without having to go back and forth. Everything is accessible on the iPad, with a very simple user interface.”
Now that installation is complete, Hafez have the ability to profile their clients from anywhere they have an Internet connection and also control user access due to the seamless integration of Rendezvous Workspace with Active Directory.
In this way certain people can only enter certain buildings, or book certain meeting rooms.
“We look forward to extending our use of the software into more management functions, such as utilisation reporting, and gaining a better understanding of profiling at all our facilities in order to make more learned decisions when it comes to property and other resource requirements, such as AV,” notes Hassan.
We hope you enjoyed reading our latest collection of news and would value your feedback about any of the issues raised, as well as ideas for future topics. Should you require any further information or copies of articles, just let us know.
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Email david@nfs-hospitality.com should you want help with any of these questions.
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