"Video Will Replace Voice and Text" for Business Communications in 5 Years"

Video will become the new business norm for communication and collaboration over the next five
to 10 years, says Henry Dewing, Forrester Research analyst. In fact, says Dewing, "video will replace voice and text communications as the preferred method of communication in business and personal life."

Those of you accustomed to technology projections might agree that the direction is right, but the timing is probably wrong. Still, three years ago, most buyers and users perceived the predictions of impending video traffic as all hype, says Dewing. But a combination of technology maturity, end user demand and competitive pressures are driving interest.

As often is the case, the initial business case starts with saving money on travel costs. "Every business case for video starts with time and travel savings and describes the more effective communication possible with video, but the real value is in improving the way firms operate and conduct business with their clients to build competitive advantage without breaking the bank, says Dewing.

But if you are familiar with the business case for IP communications and IP telephony, it was the same there. People understood they could save money. But all the other advantages remain a bit unclear.

Hard dollar savings like travel costs are being used to pay the bills for all types of communications and collaboration solutions, he says. "Many businesses we speak with struggle to define the value of video beyond travel savings from implementing videoconferencing," he notes.  "The value of digital signage, video blogging, broadcast state-of-the-company speeches, and even video-enabledcollaboration is still fuzzy in the minds of IT planners today."

The hurdles might be even worse than that. Business owners might not be able to measure the "soft" advantages from collaboration very well, if at all, as generally is the case with IP communications, where, no matter what anybody tries to say, still is seen as a cost-reducing innovation.

Business video use will ramp steadily over the next five years as employees who experience video at home will demand it at work. After successful deployments at work, employees will demand more video solutions and make video a standard mode of communication, Dewing says. Follow-on deployments will occur rapidly when use is easier, when resolutions deliver more lifelike images, and when reliability makes video dependable.