22 THE CHANNEL MANAGER’S PLAYBOOK 2. Conversational AI Although they’re also built on NLP, conversational AI programs stand on their own. In simple terms, conversational AI refers to platforms that can chat and interact with users. That said, their capabilities stretch far beyond simple backand-forth communication. For example, voice-based virtual assistants can be used to streamline meeting management. Users can simply speak to their endpoints and apps to kickstart a meeting, turn on their camera, capture important items and control the experience from start to finish. Chatbots can also be asked to schedule follow-up meetings with attendees, assign action items, send automated reminders, and more. 3. Computer Vision (CV) According to Aragon Research, computer vision will have the biggest impact on intelligent video conferencing in the future. This type of AI uses algorithms to understand, analyze and reconstruct visual inputs from image or video data. This has several innovative use cases for meetings: • Optimized framing: CV can help participants stay in their cameras’ frame when presenting to colleagues and customers. By automatically tracking the speaker’s movements, the system keeps you centered in your video to eliminate unwanted distractions. In addition, multiple cameras in a room can now work together by switching cameras views to focus on the active speaker. The result? A cinematic video experience that follows the conversation from one speaker to the next. • Adaptive tracking: For meetings with multiple speakers, CV programs can ensure everyone is equally represented on screen. During webinars, cameras can adaptively track speakers as they move across the room or auditorium stage, ensuring that they’re always in everyone’s view. • Immersive presentations: Virtual presentations are challenging in hybrid settings. CV allows presenters to deliver more immersive content by automatically screen sharing in front of presentation materials. • Meeting zones: AI will soon use machine learning to automatically learn and frame your space based on predefined boundaries. This will ensure that distraction from passers-by are removed from the meeting in glass-walled rooms or open space. 4. Productivity Analytics People spend a lot of time in meetings these days. So, it’s important for organizations to ensure that time is well spent on valueadded activities and core business processes. Fortunately, AI-powered solutions are helping businesses capture meeting data and leverage it to their advantage. AI enhances data collection and offers users the power to evaluate key metrics. For example, platforms can record time spent on certain agenda items and activities, back-to-back meetings, and other real-time insights that can be delivered directly to employees to help improve their productivity. In truth, we are only scratching the surface when it comes to what AI can bring to the table. But, with the video conferencing market expected to double by 2030, it’s safe to say that AI-powered meetings will be a major asset for years to come. o Robyn Rawlings is director of campaigns & content marketing for Webex by Cisco. Source: Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) Biggest challenges to using the internet for primary WAN connectivity Artificial intelligence (AI) market size worldwide in 2021 with forecast until 2030 (in million U.S. dollars) Source: Next Move Strategy Consulting; Statista 250,000 500,000 750,000 1,000,000 1,250,000 1,500,000 1,750,000 2,000,000 2,250,000 0 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 Security risk Complexity of managing multiple ISP relationships (procuring, managing connectivity Lack of effective monitoring/visibility Overall application performance Instability across multipe internet service providers Skills gaps Inconsistent global performance across geographies (i.e., middle mile) Hardware complexity Lack of traditional service-level agreements None - we perceive no significant challenges 25.9% 19.2% 18.5% 17.3% 17.3% 16.3% 14.7% 13.1% 6.1%
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