In today’s business environment, it’s no longer enough to be able to video conference between conference rooms. With modern mobile technology, people are used to being able to communicate whenever they want to, wherever they are. That means your video conferencing solution needs to accommodate mobile users.
But mobile video conferencing is far more than simply an accommodation. With the right mobile video conferencing platform, you can improve collaboration and grow your business.
Mobility and Collaboration Go Hand in Hand
Mobility is good. It allows employees to be more productive because they can communicate and collaborate when they otherwise couldn’t. With a mobile video conferencing solution, if key people are on the road and can’t be in a conference room or hooked up to an MCU, they can still participate just as fully as if they were.
And if someone needs to schedule an impromptu video conference, they can pull together the necessary participants, wherever they’re at. When collaboration is needed with colleagues, vendors, or customers, the physical limitations of non-mobile video conferencing technology can keep it from happening. With mobile video conferencing, the collaboration happens when it needs to happen.
As employees, customers, and business partners use the platform and discover how easy it is to video conference—even on the spur of the moment—they’ll be much more inclined to seek collaborative solutions through conferencing, so the increase in collaboration will perpetuate itself.
Device Loyalty Isn’t Challenged
People come to love their own devices, and they don’t like to have to use other technology. This situation has given rise to the bring your own device (BYOD) movement, which is almost certain to continue to grow. Everyone wants to use what they’re comfortable with, even at work.
With a device-agnostic mobile video conference platform, you can let conference attendees use the devices they prefer. No matter what technology they use—browsers (on desktops, laptops, tablets, or smartphones), video software, room systems, MCUs, etc.—they can still join in the conference.
Allowing attendees to use the technology to which they’re loyal makes it much likelier that they’ll take advantage of the mobile video conferencing platform’s collaboration capabilities. It also means they'll probably get more out of the video conferences because they won't be working with technology that's awkward or deficient to them.
The Cloud Allows Scalability to Growth
Greater collaboration leads to greater internal productivity and improved customer relationships, which will spur growth. A mobile video conference platform allows you to foster that collaboration, and with a cloud-based platform, it won't even involve upfront investments in hardware and software.
For many small and medium-sized businesses, the low upfront cost of a cloud platform makes the technology feasible. You pay for the benefits of mobile video conferencing as you realize them—not all at once. Because the pricing is usage based, its cost is inherently scaled to your growth.
Takeaway
Mobile video conferencing solutions that are cloud-based and device-agnostic will facilitate and encourage greater collaboration within your company and with others. The investment risk is minimized because the cost is tied to your growth.
Mobile video conferencing is, without a doubt, the wave of the future. In a worldwide competitive market, convenience and efficiency are two buzz words that never go out of style. Mobile video conferencing embraces both concepts and provides you and your colleagues the flexibility needed to compete in the marketplace.
What is the Big Deal?
Cloud computing has opened up doors for technological advancements in the office and otherwise like never before. All you need is a device, including mobile devices, that has an internet connection and either an app or a browser that works. With a Easymeeting.net account, you can call a conference for an hour from now that includes up to twenty-five total end-users on any device with the above mentioned capabilities. Henry is out in the field on a business trip? No problem, he can use his smartphone to sign in. Jeanette is home with a sick child? No worries, her iPad will work just fine.
What is the Advantage?
Mobile video conferencing makes it possible for your company to stay competitive. Cloud based services are accessible from almost any device and utilize services that span the full range of available products, from web browsers to video chat apps and yes, even regular land-line phones. This is a serious advantage over your competition as it provides an avenue for problem solving to happen as close to real time as possible.
What about Personal Use?
Mobile video conferencing is just as useful for private reasons as it is for work-related conferences. Consider families today tend to spread out much further than they have in times past. It is not uncommon for parents to live in one city while each of their children live in completely different parts of the world. Scheduling time for everyone to have a quiet place to sit down and use a computer for a Skype call can be very challenging and it doesn’t leave any room for larger get-togethers. An in-person family reunion may not be possible this year but with mobile video conferencing it is possible to have a cyber-reunion. Soldiers who are deployed have the opportunity to speak with their loved ones, children and family members all at the same time.
The Bottom Line
Corporations, small businesses and families can all benefit from the technological advances afforded by cloud computing, including mobile video conferencing. Stay ahead of the competition and improve efficiency and relationships by utilizing this amazing technology.
I do more demo's of the Easymeeting services than I could possibly even begin to count. Our partners call me at various times with their various end users and I get the opportunity to show what we do, while meeting some pretty cool people around the world. This week has been what I can only describe as a "Super Demo" week. As I hang up from one call, I am often being immediately brought into another one.
Typically I will be on a large screen overlooking a conference table full of Scandinavian business people, then broadcast over 4 iPads throughout a company in London, and then make my way across the United States from East to West. It's too bad I can't acquire frequent flyer miles on the cloud -and let me tell you, there is nothing more nerve racking than realizing your face is plastered on a 65 inch plasma screen in front of 30 people you have never met. Needless to say, I have gotten pretty comfortable being on video, and accepting that everyday is not a perfect hair day.
Today I was on a demo with a company in Southern California for awhile doing some demoing and testing of the product. It's always interesting to learn what companies do and how they are thinking of using video conferencing. As soon as we said our goodbyes and finished up our convo on California's superior weather, I received a call on my video system from one of our other channel resellers, and I was suddenly doing a demo in the middle of a park in San Fransisco. The traffic was zipping by, and we were LITERALLY walking the guy's dog while talking about Easymeeting. Like I said, I am not often surprised by demos- but this, was pretty freakin' cool. Talk about the epitome of ad hoc meetings.
(A Snapshot from my iPhone of my walk through the park in San Fransisco, sorry- I didn't catch the dog quickly enough!)
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Our partner was on his new Samsung Galaxy S3 phone checking out our beta Droid app and cruising around San Fran. They gave me a little 360' tour of the park and what other companies were in the general area, and then of course- introduced me to the dog. He's not the first dog I've met over video, as we get to work with a lot of people who have the luxury of working from home, but he was the first dog I ever got to take on a virtual walk.
It's days like today where I get so excited about the technology that is available to us and think about the 100's of people that I have been able to meet from all over the world because of it. I did quite a bit of traveling throughout college and right after and miss the experiences that you have when you are soaking up the culture of a place that is not your own. Needless to say, I still miss traveling to new places, and am looking forward to a few upcoming trips, but I still get the experience of meeting people from different cultures, communities and countries. It's amazing and quite frankly very refreshing how often I get off a call and am amazed by how friendly the people I just met were.
Clearly, it's been a good day for me and our Easymeeting team and I am looking forward to another "Epic Friday" at the Easymeeting offices tomorrow! We hope you are experiencing the same kind of productive, efficient, and exciting job bliss. If your not; try something new. Remember: The definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"- Albert Einstein.
We often get calls from customers, or questions during demos that I automatically reflect to one of our tech specialists Grant Murdock. As Grant will tell you- almost anytime the word firewall is mentioned I am standing at his office door handing over the phone or dialing him into a video call. It works well this way, I think technically speaking it is called 2nd tier support- but here at our Mystic, CT office, we call it "asking Doogie Howser", whose nickname was assigned by our US Channel Sales Manager, Cody Loughlean, after we realized that Grant either already has, or can find the answer to just about any technical question we have tested him with.
With the being said- we thought it might be a good idea to enlighten our readers with some of those FAQ's that we get from our customers, and potential customers, as well as a few questions to learn a little more about Murdock too. Why question #5? Because with the copious amounts of hot sauce we have at the office... I need to know which one to keep fully stocked to keep our in house brainiac satisfied!
1. Are the Easymeeting services secure to use?
Yes, Easymeeting uses the same level of encryption that consumers use to protect their banking information online when shopping. Most room systems support encryption by default, but you should ensure your call is encrypted prior to discussing anything sensitive.
2. How many people can I connect with at one time from my video system or a mobile device?
Up to 28 continuous people can be seen at one time. After 28, the last 28 people that spoke on the conference will be the ones displayed on the screen at any given time. We had a 32 participant call on an iPad one time and it was fun setting up my transformers Optimus Prime replica to be a "participant."
(See Optimus Prime in a business meeting in the lower right hand corner)
3. How do you recommend setting up a videoconferencing system on a company's network?
It depends on your companies security posture. The easiest way is to set up a dedicated line on a public IP to allow a steady and reliable connection. Codecs don't hold the valuable information that our computers posess so hacking is not as much of an "issue". If you want to secure things a little bit more, you do have some options. They all have their plusses and minuses but two options would be opening ports or creating a DMZ for video conferencing equipment.
4. What is the latest, or upcoming piece of technology that you are the most excited about?
Technology in general excites me. Speed, capability, and features are getting crazy! Just yesterday I streamed an episode of The Walking Dead to my phone on my porch. With a few taps on my phone, I paused the show and moved the stream to my Samsung SmartTV right where I paused it on my phone! How cool is that?!
5. What is your favorite hot sauce?
I've been on a huge Sriracha kick lately, but I will go back to good ole' reliable - Frank's RedHot every now and then. If I'm feeling adventurous, nothing says hot like a 2oz. bottle of Blair's 3am Private Reserve. Signing a waiver to get it and reading a page long warning label basically telling you to not let it touch you or put it directly on food is a sure fire way to warm the soul.
If you have any Easymeeting questions, or want to tell us about your new technology kick or have a hot sauce recomendation for Grant-- give us a shout out! Want to follow Grant "Doogie Howser" Murdock on Twitter? Check him out @grant_murdock
We are currently in the midst of election season here in the US, which obviously means cartoon after cartoon about policies and debates. I have to admit, I don't read the Newspaper anymore- I don't even receive the newspaper at my house-- but the cartoons section was always a personal favorite of mine and thanks to the fabulous World Wide Web-- I can have all the cartoons I want, and not just on Sundays!
I was clicking through some the other day that were poking fun at the candidates and so on and so forth and somehow ended up perusing through some business cartoons. I found quite a few videoconferencing cartoons that had me laughing- maybe not out loud, but in my head at the very least. Just like politics(which I am by no means gettings ready to discuss here, don't worry!) videoconferencing sometimes gets a bad reputation, simply because poeople are just too confused by it and rather stay away from it.
I get it, I've been there, and I remember how painfully awkward my first Skype call was- especially when I realized how ridiculous my face looks when it freezes for 35 seconds in the middle of a word! But now I spend most of my days chatting away on video- and generally don't think twice about it. But like I said, I get it- I know how confusing, or overwhelming, or awkward the thought of a video conference can be in the beginning. I also know that things have gotten a little twisted about who, how, why and where video can be used these days.
So in honor of it being Monday, and everyone needing a mental break-- I wanted to share some of my favorites!
(This is how NOT to make videoconferencing work for you)
(Our cars might not fly{yet}, but at least some of the Jetsons future came true!)
(And last, but NOT LEAST! Dress Code Requirements- better hope the door bell doesn't ring!)
I know that was short and sweet- but isn't that what cartoons are all about! Now don't be selfish- let us know if we are missing one of your favorite industry cartoons! We all deserve a little humor during the day and there just aren't enough hours in the day to peruse through all the options.
If you want to try a videoconference without getting on a plane and without having to have a flying "Jetsons" car (we will make no comment about whether or not you are wearing pants- if you promise to stay in your seat) - then check out the 14 day free trial of the Easymeeting Services and have a multiparticipants video call from video systems, computers, iPads and iPhones!
Every once in awhile we like to give our blog followers a little something from someone different. You may remember one of our recent guest blogs from a customer at Risco, sharing his Easymeeting story in the Easymeeting of the Week Blog. Today- we have another guest blogger to share with you.
Gary Luhrman is part of the Easymeeting: West Coast Team. He has years experience in the video field, and has been inroducing our services to channels and end users in the land of California Sun. We have been hearing more and more questions and requests about SIP dialing and the Easymeeting services and wanted to share with you just how easy it is to connect via SIP into our cloud. We keep it simple, and we invite everyone, from SIP to H323, E164, Pc's, Mac's, iPhones and iPads... what else could you ask for!
So without further avail- here is a little something from Gary Luhrman about the never ending possibilities of Easymeeting!
"True story. Recently I was performing a live videoconferencing demo to an interested channel in the San Francisco area. We connected their LifeSize conferencing room to an easymeeting virtual room where our easyExpert – Caity Serra was waiting for us from our office in Mystic, Conn.
Caity put easymeeting through all the paces and demonstrated just how simple it was to bring in other systems to the video meeting along with PC´s, iPad´s and even iPhones. The customer was impressed and it was beginning to look like a done deal for a new channel.
Then, the customer grabbed a Polycom VX1500 videophone from his stock room and began to start it up, declaring “I´ve never seen this videophone work. Let´s see how it works with easymeeting!”.
I knew that Easymeeting was SIP friendly, but I had never actually seen it in action, so I sat back to watch the process. Caity kept her cool and explained that to connect a SIP device was as easy as dialing the easyRoom number along with “@easym.net”. SIP dialing: “####@easym.net”
It connected on the first try! We had systems connected using the standard H.323 and SIP protocols with no problems whatsoever. And once again, easymeeting had proved itself with unsurpassed connectivity and ease of use for resellers, and end users.
The contact was equally as impressed- as his company is a widespread IP integrator, not just video endpoints. Needless to say, there wasn't much more to discuss after that and we are now happy to invite Xtelesis into the Easymeeting Family!"
-Gary Luhrman
West Coast Channel Sales
Easymeeting.net
.... So there you have it, whether you are dialing via SIP, H323, Telephone, PC, or mobile device... Easymeeting has you covered!
We are very excited to welcome the Xtelesis team on board as a new Easymeeting reseller in California, Washington, and whereever video can reach! To check out Xtelesis or sign up for an Easymeeting trial through them, visit www.xtelesis.com
I always start my morning with a cup of coffee as soon as I get to the office. Sometimes, as soon as I walk in the front door I head for the keurig(aka my best friend) and fire things up. However, this Thursday morning--- my day began with a different kind of jolt.
One of our channels was pitching to a rather large customer who has been searching for a way to bring 25 endpoints together, specifically with the capability of a high quality call from and to iPads. In our initial introduction, you would tell that they hardly believed us, "Oh yea we can do that, no problem"!
So as every good sales person does, they asked to see it. And we showed them. Now, being an International company means that we are not all typically in our offices at the same time. I normally have til about 10am EST to chat with our Norwegian counterparts - so we started early- and this, is what happened.
- 1-6. Polycom System, Lifesize System, 3 Radvision Systems,and a Droid Phone, in Tromso Norway
- 7-8. Lifesize System and a Radvision System in Oslo, Norway
- 9-11. Mac Laptop, iPhone, and a Lifesize System in Stockholm Sweden
- 12-13. ZTE System and a Droid Phone from Berkshire, UK
- 14-23. 4 Radvision Systems, 1 Lifesize System, 2 Mac's, an iPad, an iPhone and a PC from Mystic, CT
- 24. Lifesize Softphone in Buffalo, New York
- 25. Radvision System in Santa Cruz California
Thats 16 standard videoconferencing systems, and 9 Mobile Devices, captured below in an iPad Screen shot. And yes, as you can see below- we have room for three more endpoints on continuous presence!
The real beauty of this is how easy it was. We pulled together an ad hoc meeting in less than 15 minutes with 25 endpoints, from four different countires in 5 different time zones. Anyone who knows traditional video, knows that to create this kind of call would have required your company a large monetary investment on the infrastructure, hiring an IT whiz, or an entire department to handle the calls, a whole lotta' bandwidth piped into your office, and probably a lot of planning. With Easymeeting's managed videoconferencing as a service offering-- it was easy, peasy, lemon squeezy- at a quite literally, a fraction of the cost!
If this kind of show stopping technology doesn't wake you up in the morning- than their isn't a coffee in the world that will get you excited about anything at work. But we get pretty excited about what we do here at Easymeeting.net, and I just couldn't not share this particular proof of concept with our readers.
If you want give it a try yourself, check out our free 14 day trial. We can help you find the services that are going to enable your company to work efficiently, and internationally, without having to leave your home office, or your praised Keurig machine. Don't be afraid to reach out to our team during the trial process and ask how we can help solve specific problems in your company by connecting over the cloud!
TGIF! It's August- much of the world is coming back from holidays in July with sunburn and hopefully refreshed spirits! Today's Easymeeting of the Week is brought to you by partner inspiration, rather than the normal customer inspiration! Our partners and dealers are an extension of the Easymeeting.net family, like the cousins you always wished you could swap out with your little brother.
As you may have seen, we have recently signed a new strategic partner, www.PicturePhone.com, here in the US- and we have had a lot of fun demo'ing the Easymeeting way of life to their dealers and customers all over the world. We love seeing customers reactions to how easy it is with our services to bring in a lifesize system, and radvision system, a polycom system, a computer, a tablet, an i phone, and now our Droid BETA tester, all into one call. When our customers get excited, we get excited. To make demo'ing the Easymeeting services just that much easier- we recently set up a demo camera overlooking the beautiful Mystic Harbor- which happens to be directly outside of our office. Our partners now have the ability to call our sales reps, our Easymeeting Experts, our conference rooms, and to check the weather in Connecticut- all in the name of showing the customer the abundance of Easymeeting feature options. Our Easymeeting Experts are always available to touch on different feature questions, and help the customer get the feeling for how they can use the services by showing documents, setting up recordings and inviting far end participants.
If you call into our demo cam at the right time(s) of day, you will see the Amtrak train streaming past; headed to or from New York, and may even catch the Amtrak bridge doing a 360 degree turn to let in the boats entering into the harbor from the open ocean. It's a nostalgic little town here, and we like it so much- we wanted to share it with the entire Easymeeting network!
Thanks to all of our Partners for a great year so far, and to keeping the momentum going! If you are interested in learning more about becoming an Easymeeting certified partner, check out our partner page and fill out the "Contact Us" form!
If you are a reseller already and haven't seen the new camera--- call easyNumber 842 and check it out! Should be a lot of action on a beautiful Friday afternoon like this!
The Easymeeting and PicturePhone Partnership Announcement: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/8/prweb9759683.htm
This past weekend I headed home to Central Pennsylvania for a family reunion. I know most people gripe about their family reunions, but I actually really enjoy ours. We spend the afternoon sitting down by the lake at my grandparents house eating crabs and drinking beer while doing a little bit of catching up, and a lot of good old family teasing. My family members come from a variety of different career paths, but none of which include videoconferencing. This of course, gave me the stage to explain what I do, and what it means when I say I work for a videoconferencing service provider. I wish I would have thought of this before the reunion- as it would have saved me a lot of time trying to convey the magical idea to those less techie, but on my six hour drive back to New England I came up with the "what you need to know" about Easymeeting- videoconferencing as a service.
- We connect video systems, pc's, mac's, smartphones and tablets into "virtual meeting rooms" to have multi participant, HD quality, videoconferences.
- You can have anywhere from 3-125 participants in your meetings, depending on each companies need.
- We do not compete directly with the large manufaturer's like Polycom, Lifesize, and Radvision. We work with them because our services can work with their products
- Our model is very similar to a cell phone carrier, in which you choose the service package and possibly hardware that is right for you, and pay for the services on a monthly basis to have access to your "virtual meeting room".
- The idea behind Easymeeting is to keep things as seamless and easy to use as possible for our customers. This is clear in everything from our easyNumbers, to our Easymeeting Expert live support, to our Easy Catalog, and our user friendly interfaces.
Because video as a service is still an emerging concept, even some people in the traditional video world have a hard time wrapping their heads around it, not just my family. In the past, for a company to have the capabilities and options available through the Easymeeting services, they would have to invest a lot of money to do so. On top of the initial investment, everything would be hosted within their company, and fall on their IT department to manage, and their bandwidth to host. This disincluded so many companies, and even industries that did not have the up front budget to handle such a heavy financial commitment.
Easymeeting is trying to break the barriers of the traditional video world. You don't need to invest in $200,000 on infrastructure for your office, you don't even need to be in your office. You don't need your tech guy to set the conference up for you before you walk into the room to avoid IP address dialing, just dial a quick six digit easyNumber. We are hopeful and eager to watch the "industry standard" of how many participants are in a typical call start to grow. Right now, the average is between 4.2 and 4.7 participants-- but with new capabilities to connect from the road, the airport, and home- we think that number will continue to grow.
Imagine having the capability of conversing with a business contact from across the world, but feeling like you are sitting just across the table from them. No planes, no trains, just business.
Easymeeting is offering a no commitment 14 day free trial to interested companies. You can use the trial on existing video hardware, or on mobile options like computers and iPad's. During the trial period, our Easymeeting Experts will be available to answer questions and do introductory trainings to teach you about some of the available features with our services. You've got nothin' to lose!
Another week, and nearly another month has passed as we only have one full week of July left on our work calendars. Is it true that the older we get the faster time passes? Because it sure feels like it!
For this weeks Easymeeting(s) of the week I wanted to introduce some of the industries that have started using our videoconferencing services as a wonderful example of how Easymeeting and vcaas can be integrated into so many different companies and working atmospheres. As I have mentioned before, we love getting to meet new people on the Easymeeting cloud, but we love it even more when they begin to introduce new "proof of concept" examples to us on how they can use our services. Here are a few examples of some of the action that we have seen recently in the Easymeeting Cloud...
- Many incubators and start-up facilities have begun to offer the services so that start-ups can connect to investors, customers, and partners all over the world without the travel and expenditures that they cannot yet afford.
- The fashion industry uses us to connect with partners and customers and share looks, colors, and textiles through our mobile iPad and video system connections.
- The law industry has been connecting from computers in a courtroom to a far end video system to share documents that were part of evidence to far end participants.
- An International Automotive company used our easyConference services to connect their team from all across the world and make faster decisions, in the cloud. With the ability to document share and present programs running on one's desktop, they can make real time decisions from China to Atlanta and back.
- Healthcare and Nursing Homes have started to adapt the services to allow residents to communicate with many family members at one time.
Traditionally, enterprise level video has not been for everybody, but with Videoconferencing as a Service, now video really can be for everybody. We used to have to deal with the risk of investing into complicated infrastructure and hiring an IT professional to manage everything internally while hoping to see an ROI. Now, we can apply our services platform immediately and have you connecting to the World, today!
We look forward to learning more about how our customers our using our services and making smarter, quicker business decision becase of it. If you have seen your companies communication quality increase because of our services- tell us about it. If you haven't tried the Easymeeting way of life yet, well- what are you waiting for?
