Video goes business class

A recent Cisco survey has shown that over two thirds of South African enterprises believe they can achieve positive results through the use of HD video conferencing as it will reduce travel costs improve relationships between geographically dispersed colleagues.

More than two thirds of of South African enterprises (69%) today believe they can achieve positive impact from business class video – technologies that allow people from different locations to view and talk to each-other using HD video cameras, monitors and microphones.

According to a new survey by CIsco, organisations believe that the greatest benefits would be the savings on travel costs and the improvement of relationships with geographically dispersed colleagues. There are several areas where it could be particularly useful to business: 70% believed business class video could improve conference and speeches: 61% felt employee training could be improved using business class video.

According to the research findings:

Says Conrad Steyn, Product Sales Specialist Cisco Collaboration: “Today, technology is making it easier to connect and collaborate with colleagues, partners, and customers in South Africa from any location and reliable, high-quality, interoperable video ‚Äî as opposed to video that’s webcam-based, unreliable or incapable of scaling ‚Äî will play a significant role in the collaboration mix.

“The Cisco research findings are in line with the changing mindset we have observed within South African enterprises. Whichever way you look at it, the sheer scope of video technology and its current application potential is breath-taking, particularly when it comes to the collaborative benefits it can deliver for South Africa both in and outside of the day-to-day office. When it comes to fields like education, healthcare, and government services the benefits will have a really positive impact for all South African citizens.

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