After a long run as a technological wannabe, videoconferencing seems to have made its move. According to the research firm Frost & Sullivan, sales of videoconferencing equipment will top $700 million this year—an increase of 8 percent—and should exceed $800 million next year. This growth is likely to continue into the rest of this decade. The reason, according to a recent Frost & Sullivan report, is that “the technologies required to deliver videoconferencing are finally moving into the realm of wide-scale deployment. The increasing pace of migration to IP networks has prompted new interest in multimedia communications, including videoconferencing.”

Researching for this Special Report, contributing editor David English said, “I found three factors shaping corporate videoconferencing: the adoption of video over IP; a shift toward data conferencing; and the emergence of wireless videoconferencing. The result will likely be continued growth for the category, with the potential for opening new markets. However, while these factors could help to accelerate the category’s growth, each has complications that could hinder the broad implementation of videoconferencing.”

As the Frost & Sullivan report concluded: “What remains to be seen now is how the cost barriers and the cultural inhibitions are overcome to promote a wider adoption of videoconferencing as a fundamental collaboration tool. In any case, the future holds promise of mainstreaming.” —Nick Dager

(Continue to Story: Face Time)

---

Copyright © 2001 Knowledge Industry Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

Keep up on the news with our weekly Pro AV newsletter!

---

[an error occurred while processing this directive]