Max first joined InFocus Corporation in San Diego as an applications engineer, providing pre- and post-sales high-level technical support, requirements definition and training for conferencing needs. Today he heads the VAR channel training and certification program (InFocus University) efforts for InFocus. He has 12 years experience supporting A/V equipment, computers, computer networks, telecom, and videoconferencing systems.

Manager of Training & Certification

It's almost impossible to do anything today without thinking of the current economic situation and even more difficult putting out of mind the recent tragedies that struck our nation in New York, Washington D.C. and in Pennsylvania. I won't even try. So let's talk about what I've noticed since then. I know I'm not the only one who has noticed and I'm sure I won't be the only to write about it, but here goes. I've noticed that videoconferencing has become the top buzzword again. I just hope that it is not because we have vultures among us in the AV industry that are preying on the fear factor across the nation, our world for that matter, in regards to travel. I hope that it is out of the true emergence of a valid necessity and a solution that has finally met its time. I hope that it is because during this economic downturn people are looking for an alternative to travel that meets all of their requirements.

So what are the reasons videoconferencing seems to be flourishing when so many other technologies are being challenged? The following will be the world according to Max and five reasons why I think videoconferencing is having its hay day.

Reason #1: It's cost effective…Duh!!! I know how much I hate reading the obvious but stay with me, there's more. As part of being cost effective we can see these benefits in a different light.

Cost effectiveness:

- Less trips to a given single location. While it is obvious that would be a cost savings, you may also want to take into account that you can "face to face" with this same customer more often than if you didn't have videoconferencing

- You'll never replace the importance of a firm handshake and some good old eye contact; but even though you are traveling to them less, your customer will realize they are getting more attention from you than they ever had.

- If you are considering reducing your travel here are two ways to look at it: You can just add up all your trips and subtract a few out and come up with a new reduced budget or you can keep the same number of proposed trips but visit a broader base of customers/potential customers - then you get to calculate the return on investment. The later of the two is my preference. I have an easier time asking for the same budget and being able to say that I'll be able to do more this time around. I have a hard time asking for less money.

Don't forget when you look at cost effectiveness you need to calculate a lot of things. Here are some of the considerations for your calculations: loss of man-hours to travel time, travel costs, travel support cost, increased cell phone bills during travel, etc…This list goes on and on, but you get the idea.

The upward momentum found today in videoconferencing reason #2 is one I've plagiarized from the person I think of as one of THE videoconferencing industry gurus, Scott Sharer a consultant with Communication Design Group. Scott has notably said we need to shift the way of thinking from videoconferencing being almost as good as being there to BETTER THAN BEING THERE. We have advantages to videoconferencing we sometimes fail to realize. Here is an example, I was on a business trip to Houston from our Washington D.C. office. I had my briefcase full of supporting documents and a presentation that would have even the stingiest of venture capitalists opening their checkbook. At the end of the presentation, when I was just about to drive the whole thing home, somebody in the back of the conference room asked for the sixth year Performa. Well that particular document was back on Joe's computer and I had a hardcopy in my file cabinet. The answer wasn't right there. If I were doing a videoconference, I would have been able to turn around reach in that file drawer whip out the document and show it on the document camera. I would have had the answer right away…BETTER THAN BEING THERE.

Reason #3 for videoconferencing's new found success: It's collaboration v. COLLABORATION. One of the best uses for videoconferencing today is collaboration. It takes us far beyond the talking heads of yesteryear. With the ability to share files back and forth, you can get a lot more done in today's videoconference than ever before. But, the old saying still rings true, "buyer beware!" There are videoconferencing manufacturers and their partners out there that push collaboration as being the ability to capture a static image of a

PowerPoint Presentation and send that static image to the other videoconferencing system on the far end. Not much in the way of two way information sharing. So now you can understand why in the classes I teach, when we reach the point in the class where we cover videoconferencing, I jokingly ask the question "do you want to collaborate or do you want to COLLABORATE!"

Now we come to reason #4: videoconferencing is finding its place in today's marketplace (in the world according to Max). The advantage we find is in the time to implementation. I look at this one on a couple of levels as well. With a set-up time of almost nil, especially with the proliferation of set top systems and IP capable systems we don't have much to worry about. Set up is a snap, as long as you have the support of your local IT hero. And with the individual meeting set-up time being reduced by multiples, this is a huge advantage. For example, imagine we have a meeting, with me on the West Coast and you on the East Coast. How long will it take for us to synchronize our schedules and make the travel arrangement to achieve such a meeting? Now try and imagine arranging this same meeting over videoconferencing. It's just become a million times easier. In the world of digits and data, time stands still.

Now, last but not least, let's talk about reason #5 (in the world according to Max) why videoconferencing is making its mark today. Believe it or not, I encounter more and more people making this one of the reasons they choose to use videoconferencing in their infrastructure. The reason is encountered when they compare audio conferencing they have now to what they know of videoconferencing. This is where the AV industry as a whole can shed some light to this phenomenon. Here are two truths in the AV industry that explain this well. Truth #1, a picture is worth a thousand words. Visuals are key to effective communication. Whether it's a pie chart, a facial expression, or some body language, they are all parts of true communication. And these parts all get left out of traditional audio conferencing. Truth #2, a picture with great sound will always "look" better than one with mediocre sound. Imagine this - we are showing identical DVDs in two identical rooms on the highest resolution we can produce. We are showing one room with a Bose or JVC or some other buzzword brand and the other system is using the 3 watt speakers that come with the projector (don't get me wrong, the 3 watt-ers are great for conference room presentations with multimedia content, but compared to a 5.1 or 6.1 surround sound 200 watt system...well?…come on? you know what I'm saying right?). Even though these images are exact, the system with the booming sound is king, every time. So what am I getting at with that example? Well, if we combine an excellent audio system, a high end projection system, and a kick-butt videoconferencing system then we are truly enhancing communication, even if it's remotely. How often have you caught yourself slumping over in front of an audio teleconferencing system yelling to the other end? Is that what communication is meant to be?

To sum all of this up, I'd like to say this: today, more than ever, we find ourselves in need of videoconferencing. Just make sure that you are dealing with a dealer, manufacturer, or even a customer that is doing it for the right reasons, even if their reasons are not one of my five. Don't deal with a Vulture. The good news is…I don't know of any AV dealers, integrators, or consultants I deal with that fit this category. They seem to do it because they love the work, not taking advantage of world events.

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