Is Video Conferencing Finally About to Take Off?

Many folks, me included, have commented that videoconferencing is a technology that's been about to become an overnight success - for the last thirty years. It's puzzled many of us that it's been so slow to "come of age."

But we might just - finally - be at a point where the quality and cost are making videoconferencing more acceptable, and more widespread. There's an interesting story in today's San Francisco Chronicle about the fact that Marriott is about to cut a deal with Hewlett-Packard to install HP's Halo system in hotel locations around the world ("HP to deploy 'telepresence' gear at Marriotts"). Ryan Kim is the author.

This may be one of those events we look back on someday as a pivotal turning point in the history of videoconferencing. Is it a tipping point?

I've had the good fortune to participate in one Halo videoconference, and I can tell you it's not like anything else I've ever experienced. The Halo studios (all of them are identical) have three large HD screens facing a table where you sit. The screens produce life-size full color images. Just as importantly there is no delay, and the sound is just as good as if the other folks were sitting across the table from you.

I understand that HP has about 50 Halo studios around the world, and that those studios are in use 12-14 hours a day. I don't know if HP is tracking usage versus travel costs, but the HP folks I've talked to are convinced the Halo is saving the company millions of dollars - even at $300,000 per installation and $20,000 a month in operating costs.

Actually, there are plenty of good reasons for the long, lazy growth curve that has characterized videoconferencing up to now. It's traditionally been slow, less-than-broadcast quality, and high-priced at the same time. On top of that, you had to go somewhere special to use it, and there weren't that many other sites you could connect to. Sure, there's inexpensive desktop versions available, and some online VOIP and instant message services like Skype and Yahoo Instant Messenger offer it for free.

Of course, you do have to go to a Halo studio, but the experience is so good that it's worth it. I don't know how many Halo meetings are one-on-ones, but I suspect not too many. Halo is for group meetings; each studio seats about four to six people, and can be linked to as many as three other sites simultaneously.

But if the choice is between a simple phone (or VOIP) call and a 2x2 jerky, fuzzy image of the person you're speaking to, it's no wonder that the world hasn't embraced videoconferencing. And when you are communicating with people you know well, audio seems more than sufficient - at least most of the time.

I mean, Charlie Grantham and I both have webcams, and we talk by phone several times a day when we're not together (he's based in Arizona; I'm in northern California). We know what each other looks like, and we just haven't felt the need to turn on the web cams. Those 2x2 screens don't add a lot of the kinds of information (facial expression, body language, etc.) that "being there" includes.

I will say, however, that recently we participated in a long (4 hours) meeting using a web-based collaborative platform that included video. We were the only two remote participants; there were about ten people in a meeting room in Michigan. We actually had a video feed, and I have to admit that it actually did make a difference.

While we couldn't see everyone, and we certainly couldn't see their facial expressions, it did help to be able to see where people were sitting, and to see the facilitator writing on the white board or flip chart. Of course, we couldn't read what he was writing, but it helped to know that's what he was doing. In short, having that crude video image of the group helped keep my attention. If I had been purely on audio for four hours, I can guarantee I would have been checking my email, looking out the window, and doing a whole lot of daydreaming. Just being able to see through that very small "window" into that Michigan conference room actually made a huge difference in my sense of being part of the group.

Now, if and when Halo (and it's competitors, most notably Cisco Systems' Telepresence system) become a whole more ubiquitous and even less expensive, I think videoconferencing really will come of age. And given the combination of the rising cost of fuel, growing concerns about greenhouse gasses, and increasing pressure to use time productively, I do think we're finally going to see an explosion in the use of videoconferencing.

One final note: the end of the Chronicle article mentions that HP is about to launch a "Halo light" system called Halo Collaboration Center that will be designed for two to four people. It will retail for about $120,000. That's still a bit steep for a small business, or a home, but it does mean that before long there will be many more local Centers where you can rent time for a reasonable hourly rate. The economics of demand and supply virtually guarantee it.