All For One

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	Network Ratings The dream of having all the conference participants connect through the Web is part of the larger trend of corporations moving their telephony over to IP. Polycom says it is firmly committed to IP. “All the products that we sell can connect either to IP or to ISDN,” says Semonite. “At the higher data rates, it’s almost true TV quality. The video looks great. That’s one of the things that we as an industry have done a poor job of communicating to the world.” He estimates that Polycom sales currently represent a 50/50 mix between ISDN and IP installations. “If you’re new to videoconferencing, and you have an existing data infrastructure, then you tend to run on IP. The larger companies that are moving their telephony to IP are also moving their video. For companies that don’t have a data infrastructure in place and are looking to call between a handful of offices, ISDN can be a simpler solution, because you can just order a line from the phone company.” [an error occurred while processing this directive] Web Services Growing While we generally think of electronic conferencing as either audio or video conferencing, much of the real growth in this area is from Web conferencing, where the emphasis is on audio accompanied by computer content. Microsoft signaled its awareness of this area’s potential when it purchased PlaceWare, which is “probably the number two player,” according to Latham. “This approach doesn’t rely so much on live video, but instead focuses on some sort of presentation or content from a PC,” he explains. Frequently the audio is handled by an ordinary phone call because everyone already has a phone. Companies such as WebEx offer this technology on a pay-as-you-go basis, while Polycom is offering a similar in-house capability through WebOffice. The company views this as another option for sharing information that can be integrated into its unified conferencing. “We look at the various aspects of the way people communicate as a pyramid,” says Semonite. “If you look at the bottom third of the pyramid—the widest part—that’s audio communications. To have any kind of conversation, you have to have audio. The next piece above that is data. Typically that occurs in the form of something that’s written or documented. That very often originates on a PC. The third piece is full-motion visuals. This can be looking at people, but it can also be looking at a product part, such as when an automotive manufacturer might need to look at a three-dimensional prototype to see if it will fit. You would probably want to turn it around and look at it.” Ready for Prime Time Based on Semonite’s pyramid analogy, you might assume that Polycom derives most of its income from audio conferencing. It’s the most pervasive form of electronic conferencing, and it’s the technology with which the pre-acquisitions Polycom was most closely associated. “From a revenue perspective, it’s actually the opposite,” explains Jim Kruger, Polycom’s vice president of marketing for the voice group. “If you look at the breakdown that we provide by division, video represents a much larger side of the revenue versus the voice group. However, from a unit perspective, audio is the bigger portion, though we definitely see that changing over time.” What lies ahead for electronic conferencing? “We believe in time that you won’t speak without seeing a person,” says Semonite. “Maybe in 25 years. Whenever you make a call, there will always be video associated with it.” David English covers the presentation industry from Greensboro, North Carolina. Source: AVVMMP Prev 1 2