Easymeeting.net, Video Conferencing as a Service (VCaaS) is proud to announce support for Android devices in their EasyConference Cloud Connect service. With the latest addition, end users can now connect into their video conferences with standards based video systems, pc’s, mac’s, iPads, iPhones, Lync clients, and now Android devices.
February 5, 2013
Mystic, CT
With its global headquarters in Tromso, Norway; and North American operations Mystic, Connecticut, Easymeeting.net prides itself on the user experience and total interoperability between the different end point solutions that small and large businesses use throughout the world. The services are available in different tiers based on the amount of same time participants a customer would like to connect into video meetings.
“Our platform is scalable, and flexible. We don’t believe in charging per minute, or per device. Whether you are joining from Lifesize, Radvision, Cisco, Apple, Android, Dell or a Polycom system- we believe you should be able to easily connect to your business partners and customers in the cloud.” said Evan J. Andriopoulos, CEO of Easymeeting.net.
“We continue to add the free services like mobile connectivity, our simplified dialing platform (EasyNumbers) and our Easymeeting Expert Customer Support to ensure that customers are able to connect, are comfortable to connect, and if they don’t know how to connect- they know where to get the help. The premise of Easymeeting.net is that dialing into a video conference should be just as easy as dialing someone on a telephone. Previously, the video conferencing world has over priced, and over complicated itself and we are trying to bring video back to the small and medium businesses” followed Raymond Sebergsen, Product Manager of Easymeeting.net.
The Android App is available in the Google Play store and can be used to access the Easymeeting cloud with the users EasyConference credentials provided through companies existing Easymeeting accounts. There are free trial options available to test the EasyConference Virtual Meeting Room services for a period of time for interested parties.
For more information of Easymeeting.net visit http://www.easymeeting.net or Follow the company on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Click here to view the original press release.
Often videoconferencing blogs are focused on selling one´s own product. There is another kind of blog that is very popular and it focuses on FAQs or frequently asked questions. You know... my screen is black what do I do type scenerios. One is created to sell, another to give tech support but what about considerations for a channel partner and their customers that go beyond the "great innovative product" and "tech support" argument? There are too few.
Channel partner strategies are so secret one would think they are so revolutionary that when the specific vendor rolls out his/her channel strategy that they will capture the entire world of resellers in one great swoop and 1000s of customers without coming up for air. The reality is quite the opposite. Most channel strategies are about filling segments of the "pie" eg. AV-integrators, Distributors and Value Added Resellers with the more the merrier model. In the end the channel strategy runs it´s course and for most this means lower profit margins, more neighborhood competition and less satisfied customers and partners.
Lets look at this from two sides of the coin 1-Channel Partner and 2-The End User.
1-The Channel Partner can very well come from any of those segments of the "Pie" however they are or should be most focused on the following areas:
a-Increases in Average Revenue Per
b-Strong product Mix
c-Cost of Sales
d-Increased Hit Rates
e-Increases in revenue per customer
f-Recurring Revenue
g-Increases in sale of core product
h-Increases in overall Gross Profit
i-Churn Protection
j-Strategic Value
k-Scalable
l-Stickyness
m-Risk Reduction
n-Customer relation
Each of these points one can go in depth on to discuss and is somewhat dependent on the make up of the sales staff. Not all videoconferencing reseller channels have a specific core product other than a specific product group made up of several brands. However with the market entry of VideoConferencing as a Service (VCaaS) these new clouds are helping sell core product. Easymeeting.net goes as far as offering suggestions of hardware bundles for desktop and conferencing rooms which goes in line with selling "core product" strategy and consideration.
One of the great challenges has been scalability and not necessarily only from a product perspective but from a sales and tech support perspective. Yes Polycom, LifeSize, Cisco etc... have global support centers from a tech perspective but not all have the scalability to support channel partners with little experience in selling videoconferencing products. What the main players have done is put the sales teams through training sessions however the customer needs and the technical requirements in order for video to work on a said network change as fast as the technology itself. There is not a day that goes by that I do not personally receive a question regarding something from a tech or use perspective that I have never heard before. A year in technology is a lifetime in other businesses. One has to consider how their sales staff will be supported locally and globally on deals.
The customer and what they are looking for and what benefits videoconferencing can provide are as numerous as blades of grass in a farmers field. Those ranking at the top can be summarized in one larger grouping - this grouping I call "Better Time". Save time, money, increases in collaboration and productivity, cutting the carbon footprint and a positive return on investment in months or even weeks are key. Add seeing body language while having a video call as very important. 60% of the way "you" are received is based on your body language only 6% based on what you hear. 94% in all is based on what one sees. Hummm so how important is a teleconference now?
Customers once bought on the notion of purchasing videoconferencing need to know in relatively simple terms "how does this support my company when I grow?"...and "how fast and easy is it to add more users?"... Can I use my laptop, MAC, smart phone and tablet or bring your own device "BYOD" ?
Channel Partners are looking for added and increased revenue streams while customers are looking to make an investment in something that will save them time and money while at the same time giving them an immediate ROI making them a champion internally. When selecting a videoconferencing service it is important to look at all of the points from a to n and all of the sub-points. Risk Reduction alone is a key factor in selection of new product for your portfolio. With VCaaS services there is no CAPEX (infra investment & development) needed as this is already made available by your VCaaS provider.
For Channel Partners and Customers there is an old addage that says "aim small, miss small" and this is something that Channel Partners and vendors across the globe have missed out on. It is better to get some business than no business - not every customer needs everything now... let them start small, show the benefits on a smaller scale and grow with the company. Customers start small, adopt into your internal communications practices and watch your investment pay for itself.
-Try it out 14 days
Ok you have read the subject of this blog post and your first thought is yet again..."has he lost his marbles?"... I can say... yes that happened years back when I entered the world of videoconferencing when planning new routes to market. That aside what does videoconferencing and farm/sea to table have to do with each other?
For those of you not yet familiar with the farm and sea to table concept, it a fast growing movement whereas local restauranteurs are focusing their menus on more locally grown, season produce, meats, fish etc... literally from the farm to the table or the sea to the table, same day, great quality and well again...change from the way "things" have always been done.
I started thinking about how different this is than the traditional chain restaurant that buys from big box distributor and how change is being forced on an industry that is as old as time itself via the customer. This movement is not only isolated to a few special niche restaurants in the Northeastern United States and Pacific West Coast but a global movement as customer´s demand support for smaller business (small local farms, fisherman, etc...) and want a unique product that they personally take ownership into. Ownership? yes... with pride and knowing you are personally supporting a local producer, local restauranteur and local fisherman also known in some circles as "think local" the customer feels as though they are personally contributing to their local economy for the betterment of all and not some company named xxxx located in xxxx who has little focus on the local business other than as a distribution point for their often bland, cookie cutter food that is well...not fresh and less appetizing. This has taken to the food retail market as well with The Market, Whole Foods and other grocery stores focusing more and more on locally produced product. Change is spreading to all corners of this once stoic industry.
Even though videoconferencing as a product has never ever really taken itself to the mass b2b market it has suffered from the same challenges as the food production and industry business. Offerings that are difficult to understand and use, and not sure what the benefit it provides the user when it is not available to the majority of users. Essentially it is packaged and produced "somewhere else" for someone else and not YOU.
Now in the videoconferencing industry change is happening and slowly in terms of revenue but all forecasts show this to be a 4b-8b USD industry by 2016 and most of the revenue coming from new cloud providers (VCaaS=video conferencing as a service). The traditionals like those large food distributors named xxxx, in our case Cisco, Polycom, LifeSize and name your band here...are not growing the market or meeting the demands of the user. Up and comers (outsiders) like Blue Jeans Network, Vidyo, easymeeting.net and Whygo Video and others are listening to the end user and offering easier to use services that the market understands thanks in part to technology giant Apple who spent decades creating a business platform based on "ease of use".
While there are challenges and it is easy to start following the proverbial "me2" strategy - in other words chase the money based on history data (sales of traditional video conferencing systems and services) vs this new strategy of going where the biggest pot of money is now. These outsiders are presenting something new, something fresh and something needed to an industry long stagnant. It is said..."change always comes from the outside" and it is. The traditionals are struggling to hold on to market share while the up and comers are aggressively pursuing new markets and routes to market for their service. Like a tornado if the outsiders begin to follow the me2 they will be sucked into the core and spun around by the traditionals whom are in a defensive strategy of trying to protect their market share.
Farm and Sea to table brings a great user experience and appreciation to each and every customer. Customers in record numbers are thinking different and in alternative ways to eat, live and support their local businesses eg. Simply Local. Change brought on by the customer, entrepreneurial restauranteur, the farmer and fisherman on how we think, eat and live.
Dinners at the Farm in Connecticut (2011)
Using alternative methods of communication that are good for the local business, local economy, knowledge sharing and collaboration, for the user and the environment are taking precendent and has now come to the videoconferencing industry via the customer massaged for years by Apple and other producers of easy to use technology. The start of this great journey has just begun.
Learn more about these great services by downloading the
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One of the biggest questions surrounding videoconferencing is not what the benefit is but the real return on investment and how to capture that information in real time. Since the beginning of "videoconferencing time" when the first systems were delivered to large enterprises as the latest, greatest in new communications technology videoconferencing has always been sold with the perceived benefit being "reductions in travel expenditures..." as more players entered the market the argument had to be re-enforced with additional arguments that still range from "increases in productivity, distance learning, better collaboration, and increases in productivity". However a well skilled "naysayer" to making the capex (capital expenditure) was and has been "well we need to increase bandwidth" and "it has to work over existing infrastructure/internet but if we need to boost our MPLS to support it... forget it...!" and so. Easily brushed off. Then add the fact the videoconferencing CAPEX has been made by an IT manager and the system is solely for "key meetings" use and the majority of companies never realized a positive ROI as the real beneficiaries have never been trained or allowed to use the system.
Over the past few years several providers from usually outside of the industry (non videoconferencing vendors) have offer measuring tools that show how often a system is used, even how many miles/kilometers have been "not traveled" and prior to the world economic crisis -Co2 emissions / carbon footprint data directly connected to you, the user not traveling on that plane. All great tools, all with some degree of success in proving return on investment (ROI) but none have really been able to funnel all of this information in one vertical portal (vortal). The folks behind easymeeting.net have thought about this and created their own corporate portal which is a tool that allows users, travel managers and of course CFO´s to monitor use of their videoconferencing systems. By comparing usage data from period to period one can see how often videoconferencing has been used and then can easily match it to their monthly travel expenditures report. Time Well Spent!
Additionally there are "soft ROI" features that should be considered. These are not necessarily those type that give an immediate bottom line savings but help support a long term ROI strategy for a company. The corporate portal affords in addition to drill down usage statistics, FAQ´s and Support information, frequently used videoconferencing numbers / systems by system and location as well as an announcement message board for users to post important messages and reminders. The corporate portal also affords a WebTV archive. WebTV is the recording service offered to easymeeting.net customers and the archive allows the user to store important video presentations. The connections center gives in depth information on sharing presentations and documents and more.
Security: Most Corporate Portal users require a user name and password as per internal corporate security to some if not all of the areas within the corporate portal. Many leave the main landing page open and simply require security for WEBTV, Connections, etc...
Examples of Success: easymeeting.net has a Fortune 500 strategic partner whom had a mix of hardware based videoconferencing systems from Tandberg to Polycom. With more than 90 global offices they were using videoconferencing less than 4 hrs per month across the globe. Once they became strategic partners of easymeeting.net they quickly became rabid users of the videoconferencing services and portal. As of today they average more than 100 meetings a month in Scandinavia alone! I am sure their ROI has been met! Why? they can monitor the use by location, they have a layer of easy to use services applied to their existing videoconferencing services and have embedded video meetings into their daily communications methodology!
Not until now has there been such a ROI tool with both hard and soft ROI features and one that helps the user have a great experience. If you would like to learn more about the easymeeting.net corporate portal please contact easymeeting.net by clicking here
I recently came across an article at Apple Insider by Dan Dilger and the chaos in the PC/Mobile video space. At first I thought.."well here we go another let´s toot our own horn vs everyone else´s horn" piece but I quickly found out it was the other way around. It was an eye opening "what the heck is going on" piece.
Let´s Jump Right in:
The technology around videoconferencing has long been ready to support at the very least "basic -standard quality" videoconferencing via the PC, MAC,Phone and of late Tablets and to an extent it has and some business class service providers can stake the claim that they offer High Definition videoconferencing on these devices. However the great challenge has been to offer a service that works across all technical boundries or "openly compatible". Apple with FaceTime, Skype, Google and Jabber from Cisco and even Adobe for allowing their technology to communicate easily or at all with the "perceived" competition.
Why...to blame technology is not even close to being an accurate assumption of why. If I look at the market and reasons videoconferencing in the business segment has not really taken off as is it is because of yes... proprietary technology and the want and will to keep ALL users inhouse as there are just not enough out there to go around. This is a vry valid statement especially considering the fact that the videoconferencing industry from a traditional hardware based perspective has not grown more rapidly and is still far under 10% market saturation globally. Everyone in the industry talks about "taking marketshare from xxxx" and "winning over an old xxxx customer" but no one talks about how to open doors to the greater market or the 90+% of the market .
Apple which undeniably creates great intuitively designed products and services is trying to stick to the centralized and secure/authenticated communications model, while Skype, Google and others are focusing on peer to peer technology that is not really designed in ANY way to support professional or business class videoconferencing nor will it or has it helped "open doors" to the 90%.
From here one can ask... "where are the professional videoconferencing vendors?" They who know best how to develop and support this great technology? They are no where to be found. Ok maybe they are only focusing on the business to business segment -fair enough but here they are doing a less than stellar job as well. Look at the facts... 10% or less have videoconferencing and no one is waiting in line to buy a telepresence solution. The most interest has been around cloud services and how to get your IPAD, PC to be videoconferencing friendly.
The chaos is the lack of a truly open standard (open compatbility) and a global operator. It should not matter what brand you have, what device you have... they should both be able to communicate with each other easily. As of today the "same device, same software - it could work" model is not growing the business and is contributing to as I like to call it "The Great PC/Mobile and Videoconferencing Challenge".
Lets take it to a more comfortable daily work tools level...imgaine if your IPHONE could not call your husband´s HTC? Your Nokia cannot connect to your Blackberry? now take it down yet another level and this would mean..AT&T cannot connect with Verizon or BT or Telia or ChinaTelecom as well..."different make - no compatibility".
Now I have to "toot" my own horn and tell you that easymeeting.net services do just that. Connect your PC, MAC, Tablet, SmartPhone and even videoconferencing system easily via the "dial tone" of the industry. Simplify your use by getting an easy to use "fixed number" and for multi-participant meetings dial into your 6 digit conference room via ANY device.
Ok enough on what we can do...while Google and Microsoft fight over "standards" companies like www.easymeeting.net and others that are in the video conferencing as a cloud space are forcing change on the industry. It has been said "change always comes from the outside".
If you would like to read entire article @ appleinsider please feel free to click ARTICLE
We often get ahead of ourselves and start designing complicated systems for a customer and usually this customer comes from one of two "families" as I like to call them. 1-large enterprise used to hearing and expecting complex solutions,
2- a business that has just begun their adventure into video conferencing.
We do this because we are so excited to tell the world what we are doing, the endless possibilities at hand and of course because the more you sell the more money to your company. Question: Is this the best practice for the customer and your business?
Answer is... NO!
To over sell is to make 100% sure that you will not have a satisfied customer. To over tell is to make your relatively simple solution so difficult the customer can only say "NO".
Videoconferencing has always been focused on acquiring enterprise level customers. The fortune 500s as "they have budget" and want to buy "dings and extras" making the sales rep look like a champion. Lets win a deal worth $250,000 or even $1,000,000 with a gross profit of 5%! Yes!!! What else could cap off a 12 month sales process?
What has been forgotten is the 95% of the market that are not fortune 500s. While they may only have budgets for $4-10,000 they are waiting for you. Ok now off my podium...
Looking at this from the customer´s perspective anyone within that 95% space is looking at ease of use, intuitively designed, quality, and a clear picture of what the real benefit is of videoconferencing vs the web conference, vs tele conference, vs face to face meeting is? and what should I, the customer buy?
Seeing the person you are speaking to, reading body language, better preparation for a meeting, and no real multi-tasking opportunity without being perceived as RUDE etc... The old perception that it is expensive is now long gone...for the most part. Video Conferencing as a Cloud providers offer fixed monthly rates starting in a low hundreds of dollars per month which is right in the sweetspot of most.
Web Conferencing has long been a little more complex to work with and manage. Basically a slight upgrade on an audio conference with the ability to present a document etc... all too often there are too many buttons to push and this scares away many of even the most tech savy dislike these types of conferences. Audio... well it allows multi-tasking and lack of focus on the conversation. How many times have you been in a conference when you can tell the other party is doing something else? There is always someone that needs something signed etc...and this interupts the meeting.
Best business practice is to provide the customer what they need today and to inform them of the
scalability of the solution. "More users when you have a need" - this transparency will help cement a great customer relationship and allows the customer to organically evaluate and grow while your sales teams focus is on properly managing them and your ability to support them with an evenly applied "information flow" so when the time comes they know whom to contact!
Here is a customer case: Customer A has four locations and none of have videoconferencing today. Historically one would offer a hardware based solution which gives HD quality and comes with a realtively high price tag. Let´s call it 1 conference room hardware solution and 3 smaller hardware based solutions. The customer has a budget of $20,000.00 which essentially means $5,000.00 per location. Is this possible? Possibly with VERY aggressive discounts and at the sacrifice of no other bells or whistles (user training etc...). Then add maintenance agreements for the hardware which accounts for anything from 15-25% of the purchase price year and the $20,000.00 budget has been shattered, throw in installation etc... How to win? The normal sales practice is to push harder and try to get an accept at a higher price over their budget. Closing rate? ca. 20-25% best case normal 10%. Need to juggle several cases with sales cycles nearing 12 months.
For the user: higher than expected costs, little support or training, little use. Expectations of videoconferencing are not met = unsatisfied customer.
For the seller: Got the deal (if in the 10-25%) at perhaps a 5-10% GP (gross profit) look for next prospect and in the most likely case have an unsatisfied customer = Churn.
What is optimal? They need to connect four locations. Ok how? via their PC/MAC, Iphone, Android and or Ipad? or must they be hardware based? They would like to have a system in the conference room but again their budget is $20,000.00. Show them the benefits of video first and foremost so they really understand the value of videoconferencing- drill down and show the benefits and possibilities in using mobile in addition to traditional room based hardware solutions. All four locations you find out do not need to, nor will they ever connect to the same meeting. One suggestion could be a hardware based room system for the conference room and a 3 same time participant license so they can use their PC/MAC, IPHONE, IPAD etc... Total cost of ownership with training, support, set up and maintenance a under budget! Decision maker is a champion in their company! WIN WIN!
A prospective customer: What Questions Should I ask?
1-Is this a scalable solution?
2-Do I receive additional user training?
3-If I want to connect to a video system or user that is from outside of our company can I easily connect?
4-Can I show presentations?
There are many more perspectives one can look at from a customer side to a sales side. Purchasing and selling videoconferencing is about affording the user the right solution for their needs and one that can grow easily with the customer´s needs.
Video conferencing as a cloud providers are tearing down the barriers that traditional videoconferencing vendors created. For the first time
solutions are being
offered with the customer in mind. Easy to use and scale giving an immediate return on investment. From a channel reseller perspective winning more customers and lowering churn are keys to survival. Happy customers = Good Business.
As communication improves much in thanks to the internet, the world as our parents use to say "is getting smaller" and it is. While there are pockets of global collaboration between schools in the United States and the world the greatest challenge other than time zones has been shockingly enough technology and it´s related costs.
Global collaboration has long been localized in the wealthiest of school systems and this not just isolated to the United States but everywhere. School budgets are being slashed or are not scaling with the growth and needs of the ever changing world. The schools that need it most are found in areas that do not have the budgets or infrastructure in place. These students will be the majority of tomorrow´s tax payers and salary earners. Budgets and such aside...
Videoconferencing in the classroom has always been the most ideal end user for the manufacturers of videoconferencing for various reasons. From "seeding the future customer" to "being in tune" with those whom are most "comfortable with technology" and those whom ahev developed and adopted "e-learning" and "distance learning" into their teaching models. Again comes the budget, the technology, the usability factor and well for many who have not yet experienced videoconferencing the why and how.
Videoconferencing in the classroom is an evolving teaching method, albeit for the few now...but a method that students are forcing school systems to look at further. The students of today have taken their private technology into the school system and later into the workplace. They, the students are using Skype, Facetime and other free video chat tools that are the juvenile variant of video conferencing but a necessary launching pad for the future user of business quality services. According to Wainhouse Research, a leading videoconferencing research firm, about 25% of school systems in the United States now have videoconferencing of some type as a supplement to their curriculums with video education.
Why?
VideoConferencing breaks down the barriers of time, location and expense. No longer does one have to plan far ahead to schedule a meeting/call. Visual communication eliminates distance and location challenges - seeing body language. Re: expense as in investments in videoconferencing have come down significantly and via cloud services one can essentially purchase a subscription for the services and even hardware at a low monthly investment.
However as with any corporate user of videoconferencing the effectiveness of depends on the teacher and how well they utilize it. We have all seen videoconferencing system after system sitting on a shelf and full of dust. A relic of yesterday.
So what are some of the benefits other than those already given here?
- Connect remote students to their teacher (classroom or individual student)
- Knowledge Sharing (bring experts into the classroom)
- 2-way Communication
- Foster new interest and excitement into learning
- Re-foster new interest and excitement into age old subjects now considered less interesting (History, Language)
- Create visuals of specific topics (Putting a face on a topic)
- Training (Practice Language Skills)
- Visual Dialogue (See, Learn, Teach language and culture)
And more...
There are some drawbacks or perceived ones from poor infrastructure & internet quality creates poor picture quality, echo & audio issues, support and service... I call these perceived ones because with little investment most can be rectified such as improvements in internet (infrastructure) quality, Sound, Audio, Support and Service are now for the most part covered by the new wave of videoconferencing companies. With cloud based services certain providers like easymeeting.net offer service and support in all packages in their subscription models. The video host (operator on video) will help train, connect and support the classroom videoconferencing service so dust will not collect on the system.
That being said what does it cost? Well it depends on what your needs are. Many classrooms use a simple desktop version which consists of a standalone videoconferencing system (all in one) that is ideal for small groups of students which runs from the $100-200 a month range plus a basic services package (depends on size) to conference room types that include displays, mounts etc... from about $400.00 a month and up again dependent on hardware needs. Some use web based or mobile device (fewer of these due to the fact that they are pretty new) and these come in all shapes, sizes and prices depending on the number of users.
One can say it will be commonplace in the next 5-10 years for students to meet same time classrooms in Paris and Morocco while in New York practicing their french, english and exchanging dialogue on what they did, what they bought and where they are going next weekend on video.
If you feel videoconferencing in the classroom is something for you... why not reach out to a videoconferencing company near you for more information. The future is here...embrace the technology that will create a better tomorrow.
Videoconferencing has long been measured based on the number of end points (videoconferencing systems) sold over a period. Revenues were measured mainly based on service/maintenance agreements. When sales of end points started to flatline the industry started adding other hardware components and services such as installation, support etc... however for the channel partner they were still to be measured on "end points sold". The resolution for the vendor was to sign up more channels to market creating a very aggressive environment where "price" was the strategy. I like to call it the "I do not care who sells the box as long as it is sold" model.
Loyal channel partners realized a price press which meant sinking gross profits and an immediate need to locate added value offerings to help foster new revenue streams. Some took on additional brands but followed the same model as mentioned above while others started to embrace adding new levels of support and service to their existing offering. Over time none has been sustainable and growth has come according to a recently published report from leading growth analyst firm Frost & Sullivan "the main growth for vendors and channel partners in the market has been for cloud-based multipoint video conferencing and managed services only." The report also pointed out more focus and revenues from the sale of traditional videoconferencing systems due to the growth in videoconferencing as a service. This basically equates to "awareness" of videoconferencing as a product and service = greater sales of "everything" videoconferencing over time.
Focusing moreso on Australia the report mentioned that 28.7% growth in the industry in 2011 vs 2010 was realized with the majority being at Cisco Systems and Polycom however up and comers to the industry had "popped" into the radar. Companies like Vidyo have appeared for perhaps the first time. Although the big two, Cisco and Polycom dominate the traditional or "red ocean" market like no other their intercom type services model whereas videoconferencing is to be used internally and not meant to communicate with systems outside of the intercom is not fueling expansion of the market but savvy vendors like Vidyo, easymeeting.net and others are.
Easymeeting.net focuses on offering added value sales and services to traditional videoconferencing resellers, a new and battle tested easy to sell, buy, use services model which is ideal for new to videoconferencing resale companies as well as those looking to invest in their very own services offering. Companies like easymeeting.net have focused more on bringing a hire level of service at the right price and moreso than just offering yet another "option". Easymeeting.net and similar VCaaS providers help improve the channel´s bottom and maturation into a new more simple and sustainable model.
Videoconferencing as a service is delivered over the cloud collaboration platform as it supports scalability, which enables a large number of users to access the same video content in real-time and eliminate hardware costs. Due to this service delivery model, organisations need not invest heavy amounts, which will show in the bottom lines, and still collaborate better despite long distances. This is also ideal for videoconferencing integrators, and hardware resellers whom have realized that gross profit shrinkage over the past few years.
It has been said "change always happens from the outside" and this is happening today due to the Videoconferencing as a service offerings from companies like easymeeting.net
Now back to my preaching the easymeeting.net gospel. Whilst I try to maintain only a slightly opinionated blog on the videoconferencing industry once in a while I am pushed to well "toot" my proverbial horn and those in our industry that have come from outside and are forcing change.
Videoconferencing has long been a hardware based difficult to use technology that is ideal only for IT Managers and those interested in infrastructure and networks. The user has been left in the back-seat. Then came TelePresence. An interesting idea and perhaps for the first time in videoconferencing´s early existance has the videoconferencing been presented on a silver platter to the "C" level of each company. Ok the "C" level at Fortune 500s and a year or two later the Fortune 1000s but still it reared it´s head in the boardrooms and executive conferencing rooms of the corporate captains of their respective industry. However again (yes tooting my horn) it was not adopted or even offered to the real true beneficiaries... the "other" users. This was "too good" for the true beneficiaries and too cost for "them" to use.
Ok off my soapbox. I recently received a link to an article on Telepresence and why Cisco and Polycom (the big two) are in trouble. After reading it I had a hallelujah experience because someone else got it too!
If we briefly look at Telepresence and in all honesty ALL OF THE TECHHOLOGY the traditional companies like CISCO and Polycom offer it is meant to communicate based on the 1950s intercom model. Even Don Draper of MAD MEN was already using "newer" tools for communication.
The market´s potential is great but the current market that has adopted videoconferencing is still miniscule. Why? ... there are many reasons but partly because each of the traditionals CISCO and Polycom among others have decided that the market is small and we need to "lock up" the business. We speak about interop and we speak of "standards based" so that all different systems can communicate with each other but in reality this in their mind works only 1-on paper 2-if the customer or the global Telco buys lots of hardware infrastructure to make it work. That being said... lets "lock `em up". This is the same as your IPHONE not being able to call your HTC or your HP PC not being able to communicate via the internet with your DELL PC. Is this strategy going to win more business and expand the market? I think not.
Remember Tandberg bought the UK based Codian and both were bought by Cisco, LifeSize by venture caps and then sold to Logitech, Radvision bought by Avaya and so on... they want to strengthen their positions on the "existing" market space. "Lets take marketshare from Polycom or CISCO... and not about how to sell more "easy to use" technology.
It is about collaboration, it about change in the way we work, the way we communicate and the way we embrace easy to use technology and not the "how can I lock ´em up" model. Companies like easymeeting.net, BJN to an extent and companies that have not even started yet are those coming from the outside forcing change to this industry that cannot seem to find it´s way out of a wet paper bag.
That being said...easymeeting.net does not look at CISCO, Polycom and you name it as competitors we look at them as partners. They just do not understand it yet. The question is... will they in time? or will it be too late? You can answer.
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