Being in the video business, we have grown accustomed to the pervasive nature by which video can be consumed.
With applications running on our desktop, laptop and mobile devices we are not only used to having access to easy video conferencing, but are actually quite comfortable with it. In fact, at times, the idea of picking up the phone isn’t only burdensome, but seemingly disappointing when we know how much better communication can be.
In a recent report in the Digital Journal, a study found that by the year 2016 video conferencing is going to be the number one way that businesses seek to communicate. This trend is going to need a major push in the coming years because today video isn’t even in the top 2 with email being the overwhelming favorite and audio conferencing coming in as number two.
However, based on the research of the study done by Redshift Research, in just two short years the use of video conferencing will soar to a new high and supplant the currently preferred methods mentioned above. This begs a question; what is the major factors driving such a big change in such a short period of time?
The More Obvious Forces Behind The Change
Over the past few years there have been 2 major factors that have been driving the adoption of video conferencing. The first being the rapidly evolving technology driving networks and high speed connectivity. The second, which is directly in line with the evolving technology is the reduced price by which video has become available.
The impact of lower pricing has been further exacerbated by the rapid proliferation of free and freemium video services such as Skype, Google+ and Jabber (Cisco).
While these trends have largely driven the growth of video to where it is today, the next big growth is going to be in response to a different trend.
Mobile: The Largest Force Behind Videos Growth and Adoption
As much as some people hate to admit it, generations young and old are attached at the hip to their mobile devices.
With 91% of people sleeping within arms reach of their mobile device and ¾ of use admitting to using the phone while in the bathroom, the growth of the second screen as a part of our everyday life speaks volumes as to why it will be the next big force in making video the most sought after form of business communication.
If you consider the top forms of business communication today and then relate them to the mobile industry the trend may immediately pop out at you.
The growth of the mobile device has made email more accessible than ever. Now the number two way of communicating (voice) has taken a back seat as access to our email from anywhere has become ubiquitous with our lives.
In the early days of the mobile device, it was merely a way to make calls from outside your office and therefore email being something you needed to be at your desk to do, took a back seat. When the Blackberry grew in popularity and then email became accessible from even the cheapest mobile device, it rapidly took over as the next great means of business communication.
With powerful cameras now on the fronts and backs of many popular mobile devices, video has become easily accessible on mobile. Furthermore, top manufacturers of video solutions such as Cisco as well as emerging technology companies such as Pexip and Starleaf are making the movement toward video on mobile devices a seamless transition where a simple app can make any mobile device an endpoint for high definition video conferencing.
The future of video while unclear is most certainly going to become more and more an everyday part of our lives. Mobile will be the driving force, but don’t take it from us…like you, we will just wait and see if our little prediction proves correct.
This post was first seen on Visitec Marketing’s Blog. See more at: http://visitec.com/blog/entry/mobile-will-be-the-force-behind-video-taking-over-as-top-communication-method#sthash.CuKblWu9.dpuf
