IT Working to Make Seamless Video Interoperability a Reality

When a workforce is global, when teams are working across language, operating systems, regulatory environments and media – connecting and collaborating via video can be challenging. In a perfect world, video meetings, collaborative projects –  any work function with a video component – would be easy to use and enhance workflow, no matter where the participants are in the world. That perfect world is on its way, with seamless video interoperability.

Ease Of Use

When it comes to technology upgrades, end users value ease of use as the number one factor of importance.  With any new technology — especially a collaborative video application — the average user has less than zero patience for overly involved onboarding. Most want to be able to open an app, log in quickly, and use the device in a familiar way without a steep learning curve. They don’t want to download multiple third-party add-ins, and they don’t want to waste the time it takes adapting to an entirely new system. People are used to thing just working right. Enterprise tools need to be just as efficient as other off the shelf apps.

Successful seamless video should be able to function on a variety of devices and operating systems without having to download anything extra. When it comes to collaboration through seamless video interoperability, users are most concerned with the basic functionality on the minimum download. Once they become more comfortable in the user environment they will explore more sophisticated functions.

Cloud Connectivity

Cloud based services can be a great cure for many IT headaches. As video conferencing and other video-based collaboration functions become more and more popular, cloud connected services have become indispensable. As more businesses are recognizing this reality and moving from mountains of in-house hardware and software into the Cloud, Polycom Realconnect for Office 365 is leading the charge on this transition. RealConnect’s options allow you to transition their services at a pace that makes sense for your business, and does so without interruption to service, even working without interruption in the event of a weather emergency or local outage.

One concern with new video conferencing tools – will we need to rip out and replace existing hardware? With video interoperability, the old days of rip-and-replace upgrades are over. That model was inefficient when it began, and was bound by the inflexibility of proprietary technology. With cloud connectivity, keeping familiar devices in place is easy.

Eye On The Outcomes

At days end no one will ask how the picture quality was during your meeting, or if the files transferred easily and quickly. None of those elements matter when they work, but they make a huge difference when they don’t. What matters, ultimately, is whether or not your united communications actually improves measurable business outcomes. That’s the same attitude you should bring to the process of preparing for interoperable video. UX has to be intuitive and feel familiar — so intuitive and familiar that the user doesn’t even notice it.

We’re moving from an environment where video tools – recording, conferencing, editing, content management – were isolated. Now all of these functions are being integrated. That’s what end users want from seamless video interoperability.

From Dream To Reality

Ease of use, cloud connectivity, with an eye on outcomes – this is how IT is creating seamless video interoperability and enhancing collaboration, so your global workforce can easily collaborate to innovate, grow profits and get things done. Simply put: seamless video interoperability allows great people to do great work.

This article was first published on HB Communications.

Lisa Remo

Lisa is the marketing manager at HB Communications, among the largest and most innovative Audiovisual System Integrators in North America. HB designs, builds, and supports audiovisual communication environments for organizations around the world.