Videoconferencing
The market for desktop teleconferencing solutions is poised to take off, fueled by the continuing declines in cost, improvements in quality, and the need for business solutions configured as personal computer add-on devices. Although all segments of the videoconferencing market are covered, this study focused primarily on two application areas: desktop videoconferencing (DVC) and data conferencing (audiographics), PC- based teleconferencing solutions which make it easier to work collaboratively while being physically distant. The market for teleconferencing products will benefit from social and environmental factors which are making it more attractive and more acceptable to work at home, to telecommute part time, or to work in a remote corporate office or telecommuting center. These factors are not prime driving factors for videoconferencing, but videoconferening will benefit from the computer and communications infrastructure which telecommuting will cause to be built. Overriding all of the technology advances detailed in this report, however, is the fact that videoconferencing will not become a widespread application unless it meets a widely perceived need. There is indeed a danger that videoconf
Most of this experience is positive, and only 15% of the respondents indicated that had no plans to buy additional equipment. These machines also include more and more subsystems as 'standard' components, including CD-ROM, speakers, high speed modems, some with simultaneous voice and data capabilities, audio codecs, etc. These are becoming cheaper, more standardized, more capable, and more widespread. We now see a similar pattern for desktop videoconferencing (DVC). It is worth noting that while the expected market figures reflect explosive unit growth, the driving factors are also creating havoc, and the results are not necessarily attractive to all vendors. In contrast, 5% of the DVC users said they had no plans to buy additional equipment, vs. A third way is to use videoconferencing and data conferencing as a technology enabler and build solutions that meet the needs of defined customers. Intel stands to gain handsomely if the interest in desktop videoconferencing spurs demand for Pentium-based machines. There is still a better-than-even probability that two-way, video-enabled personal communications will never reach the corporate mainstream. One source described the position of being an independent DVC vendor as having one foot in the grave, and the other on a banana peel. As an example, based on assumed changes in technology and pricing for all the components which make up a desktop conferencing kit (details in chapter 17), the following represents Forward Concepts' view of the unit cost for a POTS-based videoconferencing kit, including camera and modem. Data conferencing will stake out a large customer base at the lower end of the market, where voice and data communications are sufficient for collaborative computing or where price concerns are paramount. Opportunities for growth exist for those who can capitalize on fast changing technology and who can establish meaningful distribution channels. Both data conferencing and DVC will ride the wave of multimedia desktop computers.
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