Leading-edge videoconferencing is all about “nothing.” Seriously.
Think about your phone. Enter some numbers or a name and in seconds you are connected with another phone. That other phone could be a landline, an old flip phone or smartphone. It could have an Android, iOS or other operating system. It could be made by any one of more than 160 companies. It could operate on the CDMA network (US and Russia) or GSM network (pretty much the rest of the world), routed through any telecommunications company utilizing any available bandwidth (4G, LTE etc).
Pick up phone A. Enter some numbers or a name. You’re connected to phone B. With nothing in between. That’s how we do things today.
Videoconferencing? Not so much.
While most videoconferencing equipment adheres to some form of the H.323 standard, connecting different manufacturers’ systems can be challenging. Connecting systems using different protocols likely won’t happen. Historically, companies have invested heavily to standardize on one manufacturer’s technology to ensure companywide connectivity. From one office to the next it works great. Connecting with someone at another company? Maybe not.
Videoconferencing as a Service ( VCaaS )
Enter VCaaS – Videoconferencing as a Service. Most people are familiar with some form of this. Basically, virtual meeting rooms that act like a bridge allowing interoperability between systems and hardware. Schedule it. Everybody “calls” into a central point. And your meeting is underway.
Awesome! Except if we go back to the telephone analogy, it’s a lot like having Mable the operator hard at work helping to connect everyone.
That’s NOT how we do things today.
Which is why we thought you would be interested in StarLeaf. It’s a form of VCaaS. But it’s at the leading edge.
With StarLeaf, your videoconferencing system becomes point-to-point. Instead of scheduling and calling into a hub, you connect directly to the other videoconferencing system…in similar fashion as if you were calling a person’s phone. It provides interoperability between all video endpoints from all manufacturers.
This level and type of connectivity is exactly how today’s workforce thinks and works. Pick up a device and connect. There’s nothing in between.
Besides being completely aligned with the way we work; StarLeaf capability provides significant business value.
Real-World Business Applications
Mergers and acquisitions. While discussions are underway, the many different parties involved can be fully connected…no matter what type of video conferencing systems each may use. Need to have a quick meeting? Connect and do it. Once the deal is done, companies being acquired no longer need to throw out their videoconferencing technology and invest in the parent company’s solution. From day one, every department, group, team and individual from both companies are connected.
Migrating legacy technology. If companies have made the decision to replace their legacy videoconferencing system with modern equipment, StarLeaf can support the move by allowing legacy systems to remain in use and be phased out rather than having to do a total replacement all at one time.
Extending legacy technology to the desktop. Many companies will have a mix of desktop video conferencing (i.e. Skype for Business) in use across the workforce and legacy video endpoints scattered throughout their facility(ies) – boardrooms, conference rooms, huddle rooms etc. It’s a mix that is very similar to oil and water…it doesn’t. In this example, StarLeaf enables direct calling between Skype for Business desktops and existing meeting room systems.
Leading-edge videoconferencing? It’s all about point A connecting to point B with nothing (from the users’ perspectives) in between…not even Mable. That’s how we do things today.
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