Mobile Video Collaboration Growing for Enterprises

Mobile video collaboration solutions are beginning to show signs of wider acceptance in the enterprises, largely thanks to sanctioned bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies which have allowed highly capable mobile devices to expand across workforces, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics.

“Although the mobile video collaboration market is still relatively small, support for mobile devices is becoming a core component of nearly every enterprise video collaboration solution on the market and enterprises are clear on how improvements in communication are wins for worker productivity and work flow efficiency,” say Kevin Burden, director of mobility at the firm. “Enterprises will need to prepare for the impact that such a resource intensive application will have on its infrastructure and budget which will undoubtedly include optimizing Wi-Fi network capacity and corporate liable data plans.”

BYOD is credited with accelerating the adoption and use of mobile devices throughout all levels of the enterprise, the firm noted.  BYOD has also been a key force pushing many applications developed for the consumer market into corporate use: Video chat services such as FaceTime and Skype laid the foundation for users to where mobile video collaboration is now beginning to feel the corporate pull.

The ways which workers communicate have gone through dramatic transformations over the past decade as mobility transforms communication from one physical location connecting to another, to workers connecting through voice and data wherever they are. Strategy Analytics said that video collaboration is next in line to be transformed by mobility.

“Mobile video collaboration solutions allow live video captured with a mobile device to be streamed to other mobile devices, PCs or room-based conferencing systems,” it noted in its research. “The current worldwide user base totals less than half a million, but is expected to grow to more than 20 times that size over the next five years now that many of the essentials are in place. These include wireless broadband networks, pervasive Wi-Fi, a growing base of compatible mobile devices and an increasing acceptance of BYOD policies.”