Prejudice hits video conferencing adoption | Comms Dealer

The perception of video conferencing by senior bosses as inflexible and costly is preventing many organisations from adopting the latest collaborative business practices, according to a survey commissioned by Vidyo.

The research found that senior managers in UK companies are constrained by outdated, prejudiced views of video conferencing, so much so that not even the infamous Icelandic volcanic ash cloud prompted greater uptake, noted Justin Blaine, Managing Director of Vidyo distributor Neowave.

"Video conferencing adoption should have erupted because of the travel restrictions caused by the ash cloud," he said. "But many senior executives misunderstand the technology, believing it to be too immersive, costly, inflexible and time consuming."

In a frank admission that personal prejudice towards video conferencing remains a significant factor, senior management's 'personal dislike of video communications' was an objection cited by 29 per cent of survey respondents.
At 68 per cent, 'cost fears' topped the list. However, 42 per cent of the respondents also cited 'indeterminate or unquantifiable benefits'. The suspicion that 'facilities may be available only to a few staff using dedicated rooms' was held by 39 per cent with 'network bandwidth concerns' cited by 39 per cent.

Only 77 per cent indicated that a formal cost benefit analysis formed part of the decision making process, and just 49 per cent agreed that such an analysis is the decisive factor, suggesting that the respondents themselves may be better informed than their boards in respective of the costs of video conferencing solutions.

In July Vidyo lifted the lid on The VidyoWay, a free interconnectivity service to support multi-vendor, business quality video conferencing for multi-party or point-to-point meetings.

Fraser Dean, Head of Sales for Vidyo in the UK, believes that solutions such us this should overcome the concerns highlighted in the survey.

"The reality is that high quality business grade video conferencing is available for a small fraction, perhaps 10 per cent, of what such systems used to cost," he said. "Video conferencing no longer requires huge investment in single purpose telepresence rooms, standing by idly waiting for someone to use them.

"Worries about network performance are also out of date. Since the Internet and mobile devices can be used to deliver high definition conferencing then it should be clear that a corporate network isn't likely to be put under any pressure. In fact the network is simply going to deliver a higher return on the investment in it.

"Personal bias against video conferencing, whether or not it's for one of those reasons, should also be put to bed now. Most people under the age of 35 are perfectly comfortable with video communications in the workplace because they're used to using it privately, on their smartphone, laptop, or tablet. Since cameras exist on a vast proportion of the devices used by their staff today, senior managers should be asking themselves, shouldn't we be using videoconferencing to bring my people together using those devices?"

Source: http://www.comms-dealer.com/industry-news/prejudice-hits-video-conferencing-adoption

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