The last time you bought a phone or a phone system did you tell your friends “I can call anybody” ? Of course not. They would think you were crazy. Of course you can call anybody. With video calls, it’s different. With video calls, there are islands of connectivity today. You simply can’t call anybody (for a number of reasons). Polycom and its OVCC partners today announced their intention to solve this problem.
According to Polycom’s press release today, the goal of this new consortium is for OVCC members to provide secure, standards-based B2B connectivity to organizations and consumers connected to hundreds of service providers in countries around the world, representing the largest global video exchange of its kind.
What does this mean to most “end users” who simply want to make video calls? Well, it means a lot. Let me explain. What do you do when you make a telephone call? You dial a number and your call is connected. It’s that simple. It doesn’t matter who you call or what service provider your telephone number is registered with. It doesn’t matter if your phone is hardwired or mobile. You dial a number and your call is connected. For those of us who have video enabled media phones or video conference endpoints today, making a video call to someone else in your company is also pretty easy. It doesn’t matter if it’s a soft client, a personal telepresence endpoint or a room based system.
What is difficult today is calling outside your company. Polycom says that the OVCC will connect communications islands to accelerate market growth. That is exactly the problem that needs to be solved before “everyone else” will want to buy a video communications endpoint. Video calling will become pervasive, just as telephone calls are today. What is missing today is the “global video exchange”. The last thing you’d want if you sign up for a service is to only be able to call someone in the same service. You need to call anyone regardless of the service provider. Today, we have islands of connectivity. To overcome this, several problems need to be solved. Polycom has an excellent white paper explaining these issues. I’d highly recommend you read it. It’s available at www.polycom.com/ovcc.
Initiated by Polycom, OVCC includes founding members: AT&T, Airtel, BCS Global, BT Conferencing, Cable&Wireless Worldwide, Global Crossing, Glowpoint, iFormata Communications, Masergy, Orange Business Services, PCCW Global, Telefonica, Telstra, and Verizon—and is open to all other global service providers to join.
*** Update – OVCC now has a new OVCC web site ***
*** Update – OVCC now has a LinkedIn page ***
The full press release:
PLEASANTON, Calif. – Jun 01, 2011 : Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), a global leader in unified communications (UC), today announced it has teamed with leading service providers from around the world to unleash broader visual communications adoption by enabling interoperability and global business-to-business (B2B) connectivity for telepresence and video conferencing.
The broadest visual communications exchange of its kind, the new Open Visual Communications Consortium™ (OVCC™) organization will provide high-quality connectivity across service provider networks, making it easy for businesses, governments, universities, healthcare institutions, and other organizations using telepresence and video conferencing to connect with each other whenever they want without networking headaches. OVCC will be the first to establish a global standards-based, multi-vendor, multi-network visual communication exchange. Unlike proprietary exchanges, OVCC members plan to support the full spectrum of video systems from immersive telepresence and room-based systems, high definition and standard definition, followed by desktop clients and mobile devices.
Polycom CEO Andy Miller will discuss OVCC during a live webcast today at 11 a.m. EDT /8 a.m. PDT.
Announcement Highlights:
Global open alliance with unprecedented reach:
- Sponsored by Polycom, the OVCC organization includes founding members: Airtel, AT&T, BCS Global, BT Conferencing, Cable&Wireless Worldwide, Global Crossing, Glowpoint, iFormata Communications, Masergy, Orange Business Services, PCCW Global, Telefonica, Telstra, and Verizon and will be extended to include additional service providers in the future.
- The goal is for OVCC members to provide secure, standards-based B2B connectivity to organizations and consumers connected to hundreds of service providers in countries around the world, representing the largest global video exchange of its kind.
- As a proof of concept, OVCC members demonstrated the first multi-vendor high-definition (HD) telepresence call to join 18 standards-based systems across 12 service provider networks on January, 28, 2011. Polycom UC Intelligent Core™ infrastructure served as the foundation for this historic multi-site call. Polycom’s UC Intelligent Core technology is a key innovation platform for enabling service providers to drive visual B2B communications beyond corporate firewalls and proprietary video platforms.
- As sponsor, Polycom is leveraging its standards leadership, technology innovation, and industry relationships to help create the OVCC organization. This initiative furthers the Polycom UC Everywhere™ strategy – allowing people to communicate and collaborate around the world across multiple devices and deployment options.
Driving B2B applications and connecting communications islands to accelerate market growth:
- OVCC will significantly increase the business value of new and existing visual communications systems because it will open video communications to millions of enterprise users and consumers.
- Interoperability services delivered by OVCC members will further accelerate market growth and drive a network effect for users by bridging the islands of communication between enterprise, mobile, and consumer applications, which will help usher in this new era of widespread visual communications.
- Primarily focused on connecting the estimated 2 million standards-based video systems in use today, OVCC members will also provide even greater reach by enabling interoperability with non-standards-based systems.
- The market for enterprise UC solutions represents a significant growth opportunity for qualified service providers. Service providers and channel partners can create new revenue opportunities by leveraging OVCC services to expand existing offerings. According to an independent report from Forrester, Inc., the Enterprise UC worldwide market will grow from $3.75 billion in 2010 to $14.5 billion in 20151.
Catalyst for exciting new collaboration applications:
- Global B2B connectivity will create exciting new applications. Concepts include:
- Business: B2B telepresence will make it easier for businesses to offer complementary services from within retail locations. For example, a global provider of wireless solutions is already trialing in-store telepresence kiosks powered by Polycom to better serve small business customers within consumer retail locations.
- Education: Visual communications will expand distance learning programs. For example, a Polycom education customer is leveraging video to offer world-class instruction to schools across the U.S. and around the globe. These video distance learning programs are helping schools augment and supplement education programs in the face of funding deficiencies within public schools.
- Healthcare: Global connectivity with high-quality video will help expand the reach of telemedicine programs to improve access to care in rural areas and help elevate the quality of care in underserved countries through programs like Medical Missions for Children. OVCC could also be a catalyst for innovative healthcare delivery programs, such as those offered by Polycom customer NuPhysicia, which offers affordable, onsite healthcare programs for businesses.
Supporting Quotes:
- Andrew Miller, CEO, Polycom
“The growth and potential business and user value of telepresence has historically been stifled by interoperability and connectivity challenges. Today, Polycom and OVCC are rewriting the rules. This groundbreaking global consortium is transforming the connectivity model with a world-class global exchange that, over time, removes the barriers to ubiquity, thus further enabling our UC Everywhere vision.”
- Jonathan A. Zwang, Senior Directory Global Technology and Infrastructure, Tyco International
“Telepresence helps us stay ahead in today’s rapid business environment by streamlining business processes, improving productivity, accelerating decision making and managing costs. The ability to extend video use to partners and customers would increase the business value exponentially. We commend OVCC members and Polycom for leading this effort. We look forward to the future of borderless visual communications.”
- Rich Costello, Senior Research Analyst, IDC
“The need for an inter-company UC federation, of which video and telepresence are critical components, has grown tremendously. Progress around system interoperability is being made through industry forums and alliances, but true B2B interoperability will also require exactly this type of service provider inter-connectivity. The Open Visual Communications Consortium is addressing an immediate business need that will help drive greater value for customers and spur broader adoption.”
Availability:
- OVCC will open to new members beginning in the second half of 2011. The initial OVCC capabilities are expected to launch mid-year 2012.
Supporting resources:
