2015 is poised to be yet another big year for video conferencing, with the latest estimates revealing that at least 200-million people will be collaborating with video conferencing, says Nicolette Kruger, country manager for NFS Technology, a company providing solutions for the hospitality and video conferencing markets.“The market is clearly getting bigger. A 200-million usage figure is starting to look pretty impressive,” she says.
According to Dr Albert Mehrabian, author of the book Silent Messages, the latest statistics show that 7% of any message is conveyed through words, 38% through vocal elements, and 55% through nonverbal elements (facial expressions, gestures and posture).
But video collaboration goes beyond video conferencing. It is also a medium for people to forge business relationships – to see clients or colleagues, face-to-face, and to interact with one another in a new environment that can reach around the world.
Kruger says that with video it is easy to work across departments, across diversely spread branches – and even across continents.
“It is a tool that streamlines the business process, including business relationships, both internally and externally. It effectively brings people right into your boardroom, or onto your screen. People can literally have face–to-face interaction, no matter where in the world they are. This is the power of video conferencing as a business tool – and this is why there will be 200-million people making use of video conferencing this year.”
Meanwhile, Cisco estimates this number will grow steadily by nearly 20% over the next three years.
Interestingly, the biggest area of growth in the video conference industry is taking place on the desktop as more and more people acquire access to high-speed connections, using desktop hardware to more easily communicate privately.