Video conferencing: the future is here

We all watched the movie “Back to the Future 2”, where Marty McFly spoke with other characters of the film, standing in front of the monitor. Then it seemed fantastic. Now it is a reality.

My name is Minaev Sergey, I represent the company VISTLAN , and today I would like to tell you about the possibilities and advantages of modern videoconferencing.

Questions about why such a connection is needed and how it differs from conferences on Skype or other similar free software solutions are often asked to me. Even experienced businessmen do not always understand the advantages of this type of communication and why large companies prefer to use such solutions.

That is why I decided to write this article, to which I plan to send in the future everyone who asks, as practice shows, a very popular question: “Why do we need video conferencing? What are its advantages over skype or video chats? ”

What is video conferencing?

It is very important to understand that corporate video conferencing is much more than just a combination of a video camera, a computer, and software. Under this type of communication is given a special room in which are located:
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1. High-quality video camera with a high-resolution picture, with sensitivity adjusted specifically for this room, with good color saturation, with color adjustment, which is also carried out at the time of installation of the equipment. When you communicate, you get not just an image of interlocutors, but an image of very high quality.
   For example, the picture does not give glares that distract attention from the interlocutor. Most likely, you yourself noticed how, when communicating via Skype, it often glitters and even strangely glows the baldness of a person. There are two reasons for this: poor image quality and poor lighting.
   When using video conferencing, you get high-quality detail, at least high-quality, thoughtful lighting. As a result, nothing distracts you from communication and does not interfere with perceiving a person and his words as if he is near.
2. High sensitivity microphones . The arrangement of microphones (like cameras) is thought out specifically for this room, taking into account the fact that a person can move there in the process of communication or choose for different communication sessions different places for installing a chair, a projector and other accessories.
3. High-quality speaker system. The sound is adjusted so that the person who is in the room, felt that the interlocutor displayed on the screen, as if standing behind this screen. The quality, direction and volume of the sound are also meticulously calculated in advance.
4. Room acoustics. This item is directly related to the previous one. Without a good acoustics to achieve the effect of presence at the sound level is impossible. To some extent, the correct acoustics depends on the choice of room, but for the most part it is created in the process of repair work, in which materials for covering walls, floor and ceiling are correctly selected.
5. Lighting in the room. It should be such that the camera shows your interlocutor the most natural and realistic image.
6. Screens Arranged so that you and the interlocutors are "on the same level" when communicating. Your conference should be as close as possible to a meeting in reality, where the interlocutors simply sit at the same table. In a similar way, not only screens are synchronized, but also cameras, so that the interlocutors also receive the most realistic picture, which would create the feeling that they are all sitting at the same table.
7. Interior. Arrangement of furniture in the room is also quite important and thought out in the process of designing a room for a conference call. Table, chairs, screens - all of them should be arranged in such a way as to maximize the effect of presence. Auxiliary interior items and additional equipment should not reduce the acoustic characteristics of the room or interfere with proper lighting.

Corporate video conferencing is a combination of various technologies that together allow you to take remote communication to a qualitatively new level, at which the effect of presence is achieved.

As a result, the feelings of the interlocutors when communicating are not much different from the real meeting. This saves a tremendous amount of time and money, which travel and work on organizing meetings take. In addition, high-quality operational negotiations or meetings with colleagues, who are currently thousands of kilometers away from you, become possible, which is also very important in any business.

Important: to organize a conference call, you will need a high-quality, high-speed Internet channel.
No equipment will help to create a presence effect if, due to low Internet connection speed, your interlocutors start to “hang” on the screen or “stutter”.

As system integrators, we offer not only the full installation and configuration of corporate video conferencing, but also work on setting up a distributed network.

Thus, we will help prepare the infrastructure for video conferencing from and to: starting with the delivery of equipment and software and ending with the configuration of routers for high-quality data transmission over Internet connections.

Why is videoconferencing better?

Corporate video conferencing was designed specifically to increase the efficiency of information exchange between employees, customers and partners by creating the maximum possible presence effect.

We all actively use the telephone, we communicate via voice and video on Skype. But, nevertheless, when solving important issues, people today also strive, if possible, to organize personal meetings and communicate live.

The reason for this choice is obvious and clear: in person, it is much easier to reach a mutual understanding, since all the senses are involved in the process of communication.

Scientists have proven that a person perceives information not only by ear, but also by focusing on the movement of the speaker’s lips, based on his facial expressions, gestures, posture, and other non-verbal signals. Therefore, we all strive for realistic communication options, and there is nothing better than a personal meeting today.

Corporate video conferencing is a solution that allows you to transfer remote communication to a higher level and get the maximum approximation to the effect of presence.

Thus, corporate conferencing is the only so far real alternative to a personal meeting, at which the level of perception of information is as close as possible to that which arises when communicating in reality.

To compare video calls on Skype or in other messengers and modern conferencing, I often use this allegory:

Imagine that you are watching a movie at home on TV, even with a large diagonal and with high-quality sound, or the same movie, but in a cinema where the screen is huge and the stereo effect of the sound series works at a professional level, i.e. sounds are heard literally from different sides of you. Naturally, in the second case, the immersion in the film will be much more, you will plunge deeper into the plot, feel all the special effects, feel "inside" what is happening on the big screen.

So when using corporate conferencing. This is not just an enhanced quality, it is a completely different level of communication and perception, compared to traditional remote communication options. Your immersion into the process of discussing the issue will be much greater, and, as a result, the perception of information will be much deeper, and the level of mutual understanding will be much closer to the level of a personal meeting.

Thus, corporate videoconferencing allows you to almost completely replace personal meetings, so you can significantly save time, which is a very important factor in business. And, of course, this method of communication helps to achieve maximum mutual understanding when communicating professionals who are at large distances from each other.

Types of video conferencing

For different purposes, conferencing is configured by various methods, but there are only 6 basic types (variants, modes) of video conferencing:

1. Tet-a-toe. Communication between two subscribers who see and hear each other at the same time. In addition to the quality and level of comfort when communicating is not much different from the usual Skype.
2. Video conferencing with voice activation. With this type of communication, the camera and microphone react to sound, i.e. the person starts talking, and the picture automatically focuses on him. All participants of the conference can hear each other at the same time, but on the screens everyone will see only those who are speaking now. This type of conferences was supposed to hold trainings, webinars, courses where one or two speakers speak, but the “hall” may ask questions.
   This type of communication is practically not used. The reasons for the negative attitude to this type of communication: any extraneous sound (movement of the chair, cough, phone call, etc.) serves as a signal for changing the image. As a result, for the qualitative work of this connection, all participants should sit as quietly as possible, and this is difficult and inconvenient for people, especially if communication is planned for a long time.
3. Symmetric video conferencing . In fact, in many respects it resembles the classic TV bridges, which until recently were very popular on television. The essence of this type of conference: all participants of each other can hear and see at the same time.
   This type of conference is most convenient for holding remote meetings or brainstorming, where all participants are equal in the opportunity to express their thoughts, communication and exchange of opinions is a conversation, and the regulations are regulated by the head as needed without the use of technical means.
4. Selector videoconference. Here everyone can hear the speaker simultaneously. See on the screen is usually the one who speaks. And only one person can speak at one time. In this case, the management of the rules of the conference organizer produces manually.
   A very convenient option, for example, for webinars or remote courses. The organizer gives the floor to the speakers in turn. They hear and see them all, everyone in the time allotted to him. But at the same time, no conversations interfere with reading the report (lecture), after which it ends, the floor is given to the next participant.
5. One-to-many conference. In this embodiment, there is one speaker and many listeners. In this case, the speaker is seen and heard by everyone, he can hear each of the participants separately, and among themselves the listeners cannot see and hear each other.
   This type of conference is often used for distance learning, lecturing, etc.
6. Video broadcast . In this case, all participants see and hear the speaker, he does not see or hear anyone, and the participants cannot communicate with each other. This kind of communication can be compared with a video chat in real time: a person knows that he has viewers and listeners, but he has no connection with them.

Modern video conferencing has long gone beyond just sound and video. All of them are complemented by text chat, the ability to share files and other features. Thus, with high-quality corporate conferencing, you get the effect of being present, but you can always quickly and simply send a document to one of the participants or even to everyone at once, write some complicated term or an important slogan, time and place for an event or any other important information.

Another important feature of the conference is cross-platform. You can participate in the conference not only from stationary computers or from special premises, but also connect from a tablet or even from a smartphone. Of course, you will not get the full effect of your presence, but still be able to take part in an important meeting or listen to the report you need, even while on the road or away from the workplace.

Corporate video conferencing: is it expensive?

Many small and medium business owners believe that video conferencing is a very expensive solution, available only to large corporations. In fact, it is not. Already today there are solutions that allow with a relatively small budget to achieve quite acceptable quality.
At the same time you get a decent comfortable video conferencing, which has all the advantages listed above. As a result, you get a significant saving of time and money due to the rejection of a significant number of meetings and trips.

That is why high-quality video conferencing is the future that has already come today. And tomorrow, such a connection will become as common as computers or mobile phones.

In the next article I plan to talk about video conferencing based on Cisco and Polycom products, about the equipment and technologies that are used by Cisco and Polycom to work with video conferencing.