A mobile app from Orange Business Services promises a change in the videoconferencing experience, allowing video access to participants, no matter what device they are using or wherever they happen to be. “This is a good thing, claims Full Circle Motivation’s Victor Tardieu, because it brings our own video streaming solution; web based video conferencing system; and the delegate / conference app into sharp contrast”.
Conferences and meetings, even those with an international accent, are poised to become vastly more accessible. A raft of potential attendees, from employees and partners to customers, will benefit thanks to the new cloud-based technology from Radvision’s Scopia Mobile division. Attendees can take part in all video conferencing events hosted by Orange Business Service’s Open Videopresence feature, which is available in 107 countries.
The benefit lies in its cross-platform accessibility: it doesn’t matter whether attendees are sitting in front of a PC or a Mac, a tablet or a smartphone. The free app can be downloaded and participants can take part in a videoconference by clicking on a smart URL in an email or mobile device calendar invitation. The link recognises the device each participant is using and opens the precise application to join the conference.
Orange Business Services VP of Videoconferencing, Eric Monchy, said that the key to developing video usage lay in enabling access irrespective of device or location. He went on:
“Making access equally easy for employees, customers and partners, regardless of device or location, makes videoconferencing a go-to collaboration tool and not one that is reserved for special meetings. Orange Video Meeting (powered by Scopia Mobile from Radvision) enables one-touch remote access to videoconferencing in today’s environment of ‘bring your own device’ and mobile workforces.”
However, Victor Tardieu, Director of conference agency Full Circle Motivation argues that their collaboration with award winning digital agency Writemedia, enables live delivery of a company’s video and audio in real time to any location(s) in the world – because of their own independent video streaming solution. Furthermore, their live presentation system enables business teams to integrate video and audio with presentation materials, such as PowerPoint, real-time 3D graphics or a Q&A facility.
Video can also be streamed live to mobile devices with a range of services that cover all the current smart phones (iPhone, Blackberry, Android) as well as OS platforms for tablets (iPad & Windows e.g. Samsung Galaxy). This element of the service is independent of telecommunications providers. Tracking is made easy through statistics / audit packages and bolt on tagging features enable video to be tagged and accessed according to tag description.
Furthermore adds Tardieu; “the portfolio of products / services includes Wavecomms a web based low cost video conferencing / webinar system controlled from a PC or laptop. All that’s needed is a webcam plus access to the internet. The package:
- is completely portable and highly flexible;
- can be run from anywhere (even Starbucks or your hotel room) anytime, with any number of participants;
- allows for the uploading of any asset (Microsoft Office Suite, Jpegs, Video etc.);
- maintains all assets in a timeline for ease of access at any time post conference. The system also maintains a video recording of the conference in the timeline;
- provides for any participant to interact with these assets e.g. a new brochure design can be discussed and pasted onto the white board for participants to add their comments directly;
- is highly cost effective – there are no set up costs and users only pay for the bandwidth they use;
- allows participants to exchange notes in a chat room to any individual privately or to all participants in the conference;
- provides almost any interaction, just as you would have in a face to face meeting, but from any location around the world”.
Returning to the conference theme, Tardieu adds that the Conference app element of the portfolio has many of the above features as basic, plus the following features especially for the conference delegate: Q & A, voting, event feedback, event collateral, collateral requests, personal itineraries, event itineraries, attendee lists, push alerts and speaker biogs.
Conferences and meetings, it seems, have just become accessible to all interested parties.