When it comes to Audio Visual (AV) and videoconferencing installation CCOMM are one of the UK’s foremost specialists, having completed installations for some of the world’s leading companies (Shell, BP, Ford, 20th Centruy Fox and KPMG to name but a few) and for almost twenty years across the globe. However, if you haven’t thought about hiring AV and VC Installation specialists in the past then it is about time you started.

- The performance of the technology currently available is now of such a high standard that you will not be disappointed – and with bandwidth becoming less and less of an issue high definition video and audio quality is now a reality.
- Whilst performance levels of the products have improved greatly, the costs have gone down. There is a very competitive market with a wide range of products available – this has led to a reduction in costs and now any business, small or large, can afford it.
- Potential for Return On Investment (ROI) – especially with videoconferencing and digital signage all companies should see the products start to generate cost savings and start helping you to make a profit. A good digital signage solution can attractive visitors and inform them of special offers increasing revenue and videoconferencing can make huge budget savings by cutting out flights, expenses and saving time.
- Work place productivity should also increase greatly with the addition of new technology and a professional AV installation. Whether it be presentation screens, a videoconferencing system, improved microphones and speakers or simply a new smart whiteboard the collaborative working environment should greatly improve.
- Finally at CCOMM we only employee the best engineers – so when we undertake a project with you, you can rest assured that fully qualified technicians and engineers are providing you with a great installation.

Reduced Travel Costs
In a globalised business world and with the cost of travel getting more and more expensive and less and less glamorous there is now no longer the need to spend hours on a flight at a huge cost. Meetings can be made from the comfort of your own office and at high definition standard – it really is as if other participants are sat just across the table from you.

Corporate Social Responsibility
The carbon emissions saved by not travelling makes videoconferencing a near perfect “green technology.” With an emphasis on businesses to be responsible for their environmental actions an investment in VC can go a long way.

Gain A Competitive Advantage
With competition between companies at an all time high why not steal an advantage over your rivals by increasing productivity by creating a collaborative working environment. Also cost savings made through VC can be spent in other areas of the company.

More Efficient Hiring, Firing & Training!
The hiring process can be very lengthy and costly, especially when candidates are located in different cities. With video interviews time and money can be saved and also recorded and reviewed. Training sessions can also benefit through video as more people can join the session from the comfort of their own desk.

Increased Productivity
Use video technology to bring employees together wherever they are located. Research shows the participant involvement is 80% higher over video compared to audio.

When it comes to Return on Investment (RoI) it of course is dependent on the nature of the business and the adoption of videoconferencing and Telepresence equipment. If have have a look at vpod solutions model for RoI we can see that the argument is extremely compelling.

Figures

In order to calculate an accurate RoI (Return on Investment) for the purchase of a v3 unipod, usage data from the 8 pods was gathered over a typical month period, June 2008.
When reviewing the data, an assumption has been made that only 1 in 4 meetings has saved one person from travelling.

Data

Total calls for 8 v3 unipods
= 1204
Average calls per pod per month
= 150
Assuming 1 in 4 meetings saves 1 person from travel, total no. of travel savings
= 37
Example of an average cost for same day or overnight travel in Europe
= £800
Total travel cost saving
= £29,600

Results

Return on investment (ROI) per v3 unipod in months
= 1.7 months
CO2 reduction per v3 unipod
= 9 Tonnes
Travel time saved (calculated @ 8 hours per trip)
= 296 hours (37 working days)

On this very achievable model we can see that the pay back is under two months! Making the argument for installing a Telepresence or videoconferencing system even more attractive.

Key points from the document -

Key Factors

Travel is expensive – in this rightsized economy, reducing costs is always a key factor for acquiring any new system or product. Travel costs far outweigh videoconferencing costs

Videoconferencing pricing has plummeted – we have seen videoconferencing systems costs go down by 15% to even 30% in the last 30 months, making videoconferencing a very cost effective face-to-face meetings

Web conferencing and conference calling are standard practice for meetings today. Videoconferencing is now the next logical step in the evolution of the virtual meeting environment now a part of our mainstream culture

Broadband and converged networks are here – IP is now everywhere and is flat rate. Bandwidth is now less expensive compared with the same 36-48 months ago Videoconferencing is now much easier to use and ease of use equals greater use and acceptance of videoconferencing in the market at large

Other Factors

Meetings are now recordable and have the ability to be played back for later viewing. Training via videoconferencing is “hot” for organizations requiring certifications and regular training

Everyone is now mobile – and videoconferencing is a way to connect individuals across large geographies without disruption

HD video is here – HD as we have come to embrace in the consumer market, is now available in the commercial videoconferencing space. Videoconferencing quality is now what you have come to expect from satellite and cable providers at 720p/30 frames per second and 720p/60 f/sec

Focusing on the key factors the document highlights the benefits of videoconferencing as being dramatic, bringing individuals together across the organization and speeding up business sales and processes,

To read the complete document, which is sponsored by Lifesize click here – http://resources.idgenterprise.com/original/AST-0016969_Why_2011_is_the_Year_of_Videoconferencing.pdf

CCOMM ARE PROUD TO BECOME A CERTIFIED RESELLER OF VPOD SOLUTIONS

Please see below for more details on vpod and be sure to keep returning to keep up to date on the latest developments.

Alternatively follow the following link to the vpod

PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

28^th January 2009

VPOD SOLUTIONS LAUNCHES VPOD,

CORPORATE VIDEOCONFERENCING IN A BOX

Technology workplace specialist, vpod solutions ltd, has announced the launch of vpod, a standalone, turnkey videoconferencing facility with an extremely small physical and environmental footprint.

vpod is a revolutionary concept that has been developed to function as a completely self-contained, pre-fabricated videoconferencing suite. The design includes pre-fabricated walls, acoustic panels, climate control, power, network connectivity, lighting and furniture, which includes a 50-inch high definition monitor.

Vpod is product independent and can accommodate next-generation videoconferencing systems, including telepresence-capable units, so customers can choose whatever system they wish to use.

The compact nature of the vpod unit means it can be located in small sections of unused office space, such as under utilised ‘break-out’ areas, atriums or reception areas, making the most of potentially wasted office space, as well as reducing avoidable travel costs, which contributes to its environmental advantages.

Vpod is already attracting considerable interest, with a number of corporate customers signed up to use the system as part of their VC strategy for 2009. In fact, early reports demonstrate a payback period on investment in the system of just six weeks.

A key benefit of the vpod system is its flexibility: it can be installed in around half a day and, because of its modular nature, it can be easily relocated if necessary.

A simple ‘walk up and book’ booking system sited on the outside of the vpod eliminates most of the bureaucracy and administration resource traditionally associated with booking videoconferencing time in traditional meeting rooms.

vpod also brings with it a number of hidden benefits, including associated issues relating to corporate social responsibility, carbon footprint, reduction in both travel costs and time, leading to improved productivity.

vpodcurrently comes in four configurations: the UniPod, with a footprint of just 7.4 square metres, can be accommodated in extremely small areas and is suitable for up to three users; the DuoPod has a footprint of under 15 square metres, accommodates up to six users and can be installed against internal or external walls to save space, whereas the TriPod comes in at under 22 square metres and can hold 9 users; finally, the QuadPod is designed to deliver four separate conferences for up to 12 users. The unit is designed for installation in free circulation areas in or around receptions, atriums or breakout areas and has a footprint of just 30 square metres.

“Both HD end points and the ability to connect videoconferencing systems to IP networks has made the virtual conference room a serious proposition for any business,” says vpod’s Vice President of sales and marketing, Mike Entwistle. “But for many companies vpod makes the idea of a dedicated, high-quality videoconferencing facility a reality, even for relatively small companies.”

The vpod units are available now, via a global reseller network. Prospective customers can see demonstration units at the vpod offices in St. Alban’s, UK.

Entwistle concludes: “The product development plan for vpod is very exciting and new designs and applications are already underway.”

40 years ago the first video call took place, when AT&T introduced the Picturephone at the 1964 World’s Fair in America. Viewed as a fascinating curiosity at the time, it never actually became popular and was too expensive to be practical for most consumers. At its peak, the Picturephone service had only 500 subscribers, and the service faded away by the mid 1970’s.

Now, nearly four decades later, video conferencing has come of age, with manufacturers such as Polycom, Tandberg and Life Size routinely selling tens of thousands of units a year worldwide. It’s a growing market. In 2005 video conferencing was worth about $1.15 billion globally, according to Frost & Sullivan. Now the market is expected to reach $3.1 billion by 2010, growing at a compound annual rate of 22.1 per cent. Another research firm Gartner is even more bullish, projecting the video conferencing industry to be worth $12.8 billion by 2011.

The success of YouTube and the rise of social media networking driven by sites such as Facebook and MySpace has made video today’s tool for smart, modern trendy users. Video overcomes the distance barriers and has ‘stickiness’ for today’s Y generation. Hundreds of millions of YouTube videos are watched each day, and even organisations are routinely posting their corporate videos on the site as a means of tracking comment and generating greater user familiarity. For example, companies such as Cadbury’s are fully embracing the new technology as demonstrated by the recent advert featuring a drum-playing gorilla, which gained more than 1 million views on YouTube.

All this activity, not to mention the environmental pressures, has made video conferencing an accepted method of communication as organisations of all sizes try to save time, and reduce their emissions and carbon footprint. Environmental issues have turned the spotlight on the excesses of corporate travel – not just airlines, but simply say, from one side of the county to another. For example, CCOMM works with North West police forces including; Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Cheshire, who use video conferencing for weekly staff meetings. Lancashire Police Constabulary covers quite a wide geographically dispersed area in the North West of England and found it was wasting an enormous amount of time, resource and money, while officers drove for hours just to reach these meetings. Video conferencing has saved each Constabulary time, travel budget, enhanced general communication and addressed some of their ‘green’ concerns.

Time spent traveling is time wasted, so organisations are looking for an alternative. It’s not so much air miles that are in demand these days, but carbon credits and video miles as a necessary measure of ‘greenness’. With carbon footprint reduction an increasingly important consideration for today’s businesses, video conferencing is one solution which can help meet corporate environmental goals by reining back on travel, especially once finance directors start seeing details of their likely ‘carbon allocations’.

According to one recent Gartner research note, “Gartner recommends carbon footprint reduction as a more sustainable long-term objective than carbon offsetting (such as planting trees to compensate for carbon dioxide output), and video will be a key component of that reduction strategy for many enterprises.”

However, it is not just green issues that have driven take-up of video conferencing. Technical developments too have made video conferencing a more user friendly and practical solution, less expensive than before to implement, and now offering better quality, on the desktop. These developments mean video conferencing is no longer solely the domain of the multinational. SME users too, hard pressed in running their own businesses, with no time to waste on travel are also prospective users. That’s why analysts believe video conferencing will continue to grow during the next few years, spurred on by instant messaging (IM), desktop collaboration, and the casual and more-frequent use of video conferencing as a mere click from the desktop.

As an integrator of video conferencing solutions, we are also really starting to see the industry fly and we are gaining more enquiries year on year about our services and the end-users knowledge and understanding of the technology is certainly improving dramatically. There is no longer any mystique about video conferencing. Organisations want to be able to use it: not in video suites where they have to rely on a technician to use smoke and mirrors to get it to work, but on the desktop, where using it is ‘as easy as making a phone call’, integrated with key desktop and networking software.

In fact, video conferencing should no longer be seen in isolation but as an element of real-time collaborative communications which also include video, data and the Web, delivered through partnerships with Microsoft, Cisco, Avaya, and Nortel which help create efficient, high quality, more scalable solutions for business users.

Many IT executives already consider their organisations to be a ‘virtual workplace’ with, in some cases, over 60 percent of employees working remotely from their supervisors. The rise of IP video conferencing, whether from desktop or room-to-room, now provides a more cost-effective way to communicate with remote employees than ISDN-based video conferencing, with estimated paybacks ranging from 12-18 months for companies that replace ISDN video conferencing with IP systems.

Unlike the old perception of video conferencing as expensive to implement and jerky to watch, today’s desktop-based, IP friendly solutions are even flexible enough for someone to be patched into a conference while still in their car. You can even start with a phone call, and then ‘add the video’. That’s a long way from booking a video conference suite for 10.00, and asking your colleague more in hope than expectation if the call will start by 11.00.

The image quality offered by video conferencing has also improved markedly, to the extent that, with high resolution HD images, it is possible even to view stitching on products, or faults on printed circuit boards. That too has increasing ‘video conferencing’ marketability in the manufacturing sector. Audio bandwidth too (22 KHz) is now of the same quality you’d expect to have on your home audio system.

Looking ahead to 2008, organisations want to make collaboration more natural for staff who typically may be working in remote locations: from home, at other offices on a large campus, or with business partners in their offices. Voice or video on the desktop, at users’ fingertips, offers the prospect of potential ‘instant’ collaboration every time the phone rings and avoids having to book a room for video conferencing. Such a desire for instant collaboration, allied to more efficient use of working time and the need to cut greenhouse gases and rescue the environment, means it is no exaggeration to describe video as ‘the communications medium for today.

What does HD mean for business users video conferencing? They will see people clearly, in full-size, with no fuzzy image. They will be able to see facial expressions and body language clearly, hear everything and share multimedia presentations with ease. In essence, they will love it and the usage and return on investment will increase dramatically.

The video conferencing industry is undergoing an exciting transformation. High definition (HD) video codecs and flat panel display screens have made traditional videoconferencing virtually obsolete. Every form of video is moving to high definition, so arguably no longer should any video communication investment be made without the capability to use higher definition at low bandwidths.

The good news is that you can maintain existing SD investments and move to the next generation of HD video conferencing. With HD video conferencing you will see nearly 10 times the quality for the same cost as legacy videoconferencing systems. And, new generation HD video systems will work with SD capable systems because they are both standards-compatible.

Questions to better understand the need for HD Video Conferencing

1. How will we use video communications? What do our users want the most out of this experience?

The applications for videoconferencing are endless. A growing number of people no longer work at a corporate headquarters and are highly distributed. And, over 60% of communication is non-verbal; therefore meeting face to face over distance enhances understanding and meeting outcomes.

Users want the experience to be as close to a real, in-person meeting as possible. They also want it to be reliable and simple to use.

2. What type of information and content will be shared during the meetings? Will there be several people in the room?

People want to walk into rooms and easily connect a PC that everyone can see clearly and interact with naturally. At times there may be one or two people in the room and other times 15-20, consider size to help in selecting the right solution.

3. How much bandwidth will I need to run higher definition video communication? Is it too much, do I have it?

The new generation of videoconferencing products provide dramatically better resolution and motion handling at all bandwidths from 384K to over 1Mbps. Typically you will need between 1 and 2Mbps to run HD video conferencing. Most businesses and even home users have plenty of bandwidth for exceptional video.

5. How will my new high definition video conferencing system interoperate with my current installed base of systems?

Invest in only standards-compatible systems. HD systems are interoperable with SD systems and work well for users. This transition to HD will not happen overnight but it is happening.

6. Can you really run higher definition video over the public Internet?

Yes, do not let anyone tell you that you this is not possible. Organisations should work with a qualified network service provider to plan the right network and opt for certain service levels as the application permits – but it is hard to argue with the cost of the public Internet.

7. Is high definition video communication cost effective?

That depends on the vendor you partner with. New generation HD systems are available at a £6 – 10K price range with all options included. It does not have to cost tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds per system or room.

8. Where does Telepresence fit relative to high definition video communication?

High definition is the most important enabler to a Telepresence experience, enabling people to be the full size onscreen and scalable on a 16:9 display(s) without losing resolution. Some boardrooms and applications will require a fully integrated Telepresence room and others will use high definition video systems and large displays to meet the need at a lower price point.

10. What should I do next?

If you feel that video conferencing will benefit your business then you we would advise that you see a demonstration. Compare market offerings and invest in a future-proof solution for the next 5-10 years.