VoIP Evolution

VoIP Evolution Report Dispels SMB Video Conferencing Hype

Serious excitement surrounds the SMB (small to medium-size business) video conferencing space these days. In June and July alone, no fewer than eight companies – 8x8, Blue Jeans Network, BroadSoft, InFocus, LifeSize, Polycom, Telesphere and Vidtel – announced new hardware, services, tie-ups or some combination thereof. All of the announcements represented significant investments of time, effort and resources. And together, they indicated a widespread optimism that the market is about to take off.

Even in pre-takeoff mode, though, the market has already spawned a hefty body of conventional wisdom. Most of it takes the form of ardent convictions surrounding clouds and interoperability. One of these is the belief that cloud solutions are the ideal way to meet almost every SMB video conferencing need. A related one is faith that providing interoperability is the surest route to success for cloud providers. A new VoIP Evolution report, SMB Video Conferencing: Getting Beyond Clouds & Interoperability, both explains why it's necessary to get beyond such conventional wisdom, and provides a method for doing so.

Adding PSTN Connectivity Advances Nefsis Video Conferencing Service

Nefsis offers an excellent illustration of the growing power and capabilities of Internet video conferencing services for small to medium-size businesses. The San Diego-based company offers a cloud-based conferencing service with document and app sharing, text chat and the like. The highlight of the offering is high-quality video conferencing via Web cam-equipped PCs running downloadable client software. It offers 1080p resolution, 30 frames per second speed and effortless firewall and/or proxy traversal, for meetings with as many as 20 or more participants. Given that the service runs over high-speed Internet connections, it's natural that the audio portion of the conference uses VoIP by default.