Note from Kelly Curnow, Small Business Community Manager: Businesses everywhere are embracing high definition video communications because it lets them do more and travel less. Sometimes all it takes is a quick face-to-face chat with your employees, suppliers, and key customers to build relationships and your business. However, the time and expenses you save by not traveling won’t seem worth it when you can’t even get the camera to work and you’ve already sunk the majority of your IT budget.
There continues to be buzz around HD video conferencing. Casey King*, Chief Technology Officer of LifeSize Communications, provides some great insight into the new generation of HD video communication products.
Busy schedules and no time to fly
Like you, I usually need to be in at least two places at once. I work with customers, employees and partners all over the world. Working with complex and time-sensitive issues, I need frequent, face-to-face interaction to gain understanding, solve problems and move our business forward.
Air travel is miserable. Fuel costs and surcharges are making it more expensive, and service just keeps getting worse. Recently, two of my flights were cancelled in five weeks. But more than that, flying means valuable time away from both the office and my family. It’s disruptive, and time to do something different.
Rather than spend a week to travel to one overseas location, I routinely visit people on four continents in a single day via high definition video communication.
What’s new now: high definition
The same technology that makes HD home theater systems so much better than a regular TV, is now taking video communication to a whole new level. High definition video communications technology delivers a rich, immersive, interactive communication experience – often at zero incremental cost over your existing broadband network.
Non-verbal cues like eye contact, facial expressions, and gestures help us brainstorm. From anywhere in the world, the whole team can see immediate feedback on new ideas.
Who can benefit?
Small and medium businesses are at the leading edge of HD video communication. Around the world, businesses are using video in all kinds of creative ways. Rural hospitals use video to connect specialists with patients. Attorneys at regional law firms can meet and take depositions over video. Banks and investment firms use video to have clients meet with advisors. Almost any organization that has multiple locations can use video to bridge distance and time and to leverage the expertise of your organization, wherever it is.
We’ve done it at LifeSize – using HD video, we’ve built a truly global company faster than even we thought possible. We’ve worked to make the high definition video experience available at a price that is affordable and accessible for every room in every business.
*Casey King, Chief Technology Officer, LifeSize Communications
Casey King has over 20 years of experience designing and building video technology products. As CTO, Casey is responsible for driving LifeSize's technology innovation and strategic product vision. LifeSize combines the best HD experience with unique flexibility for customers and industry-leading price performance to make telepresence accessible for everyone.