Video conferencing in dire need of simplification, study shows

Polycom has released 'Streamlined Videoconferencing Strategy Drives Business Results', a November 2018 study conducted by Forrester Consulting on Polycom's behalf.

The study found that video conferencing is growing in usage, in the number of solutions, and in overall complexity for end users and IT alike.

These findings showcase the need for consistent, simple experiences to fast-track the start of meetings and simplify IT's job managing the solution infrastructure.

Key findings:

• 74% say video conference calls have increased over the past two years.

• 84% reported using two or more cloud-based video conference solutions.

• 78% reported having two or more video conference endpoints in their conference rooms.

With the study finding the majority of companies surveyed are using multiple vendors for both endpoints and video cloud applications, complexity is increasing, not decreasing, as new solutions continue to enter the market.

In fact, the study showed 96% already face challenges managing their video conferencing solutions.

The result - a web of services for IT pros to manage, poor user experiences, and mounting frustration for IT and employees alike.

According to a Forrester study on call quality, delayed video calls can cost a company more than $1 million in lost productivity annually.

A look at Australia

The Forrester study revealed that 78% of Australian companies say that video conference calls have increased over the past two years and 83% reported two or more cloud-based video conference solutions.

Not only that, 83% of Australian companies now have two or more video conference endpoints in their conference rooms.

In line with the global findings, 96% of Australian companies faced challenges like connectivity issues and poor sound quality when managing their video conference solutions.

"Customers are relying on video conferencing to make employees more interactive, collaborative, and efficient," says Plantronics product and solutions management executive vice president Tarun Loomba.

"The technology and services they use need to streamline, not complicate, the experience, but this can only happen if video conferencing is a simple, easy, and consistent experience. Polycom Trio is the simplest way to connect, communicate and be productive using video conferencing, with flexibility for IT professionals and  great video conference experiences for their employees.

The impact on IT

According to the study, globally, IT professionals are facing increased costs and challenges of managing multiple cloud-based video conferencing systems.

Those challenges include difficulty in connecting from conference rooms to calls, delayed video calls, poor call quality, and inconsistent user experiences.

To combat productivity challenges specifically, 77% of IT pros want a consistent user interface and experience across video conference systems.

Within Australia, the findings were similar, with 75% of IT professionals calling for a consistent user interface.

Flexibility for IT pros was another key finding.

With 68% of companies seeing increases in the number of video conferencing applications being used in their infrastructure, 67% want increased flexibility from all the solutions for employees and partners.

The flexibility is critical to productivity, as the pace of innovation in the collaboration space is at an all-time high with new competitors, solutions, and features coming to market at a rapid pace.