Why the ‘Now’ is Not Sustainable and the Goldilocks Principle

I had conversation recently with LifeSize video evangelist Simon Dudley about how the work force is changing and becoming increasingly mobile. The Q&A below explores some of what we talked about and the implications of mobility on how we all work together.

Nicole Smith: With services like Skype making videoconferencing highly accessible to end users, do you think that those far-off predictions about ubiquitous telepresence are coming to bear?

Simon Dudley: I’ve been in the video communications space for over 20 years now. Every time I turn around, it seems that someone speculates that ‘THIS is the year’ video communications will finally take off. Just like nuclear fission, video communications was the technology of the future and always would be. Well, I can confirm the future is not what it used to be.

The trouble used to be that no one ever understood why they needed video until they tried it. Additionally, many customers thought the technology was only for the biggest of enterprises or international environments.

Those days are gone. Video is used increasingly to talk across cities as much as across continents. The cost is low enough and the ease of use simple enough that it’s now a viable option for any business looking to save time traveling while increasing communication and productivity between any location.

Smith: What’s some of the customer feedback you’ve received on what is truly needed in a telepresence experience?

Dudley: Customers claimed time and again that the quality of the experience needed to be of such a high quality that the technology disappeared to the user, to be indivisible from being there – like a window to another place.

Once the quality problem was solved, the next issue was ubiquity. After all, if I have the best solution in the world and you don’t have it, then it’s pretty much completely useless.

In fact, there really is an interesting set of compromises in play here. For example, three-screen, mirrored room. Telepresence solutions produce HD quality in the $300K-per-room range. While this technology is certainly interesting, it’s not exactly an everyday, mass deployment solution.

You mentioned Skype, and that brings us to the other end of the spectrum—desktop solutions. They are often very low cost but deliver reduced quality. While these free products have a huge range of users and are great when speaking to grandma, it is certainly not a business-class solution, particularly for groups, in which the technology needs to melt away for the user.

Smith: From my base in Central Texas, I work with Dell team members from California to Florida and India other countries. Some of favor email and conference calls, but it seems logical that teleprescence is going to become more vital as disparate groups try to maintain a sense of “team.” So, what’s the telepresence landscape today and where is it headed?

Dudley: What is needed in today’s ever-changing business landscape is something in-between the two extremes of HD and desktop solutions. HD quality to give the window to another place effect, but at a price point that allows mass deployment throughout a business or increasingly the supply chain.

Business video solutions like LifeSize hit the mark perfectly. With what used to be heavy tin infrastructure that was costly to install and maintain, the video communications industry is now moving to VM sliced solutions on Dell servers.

Smith: So where does LifeSize fit on the continuum from desktop solution to the HD telepresence experience?

Dudley: Both solutions fulfill one part of the puzzle but not both. What is needed in today’s ever-changing business landscape is something in-between these two extremes. HD quality to give the window to another place effect, but at a price point that allows mass deployment throughout a business or increasingly the supply chain.

Business video solutions like LifeSize hit the mark perfectly. With what used to be heavy tin infrastructure that was costly to install and maintain, the video communications industry is now moving to VM sliced solutions on Dell servers.

Technology that’s truly ready for primetime. Neither too big, nor too small, it fits in the Goldielocks range. Just right.

About the Author: Nicole Smith