by Mary Bakija
The world seems to get smaller every year, and integrators are a necessary part of the equation. People rely on our industry world-wide to help create innovative collaborative technology solutions, and the need is only growing.
“Looking at our market studies, conferencing is going to be very strong,” says Randal A. Lemke, Ph.D., executive director and CEO, InfoComm International.
At yesterday’s industry panel, “From Communications to Collaboration,” sponsored by ClearOne, the panel agreed that the market is expanding. Several panelists cited a major factor for increased adoption: a new generation of employees.
“Cultural shifts push change,” says Andrew Davis, co-founder of Wainhouse Research. “Kids who grew up with the internet and various technologies are coming out of college and entering the workforce, and they expect more, and that opens new doors to technology in the workplace. We believe video will be the next major thing.”
However, he cautions that demand is shifting from standard room conferencing systems to personal systems. “It will change the way we sell systems,” he says, “and that’s a challenge for all integrators.”
At this year’s show, attendees will find everything necessary to prepare for the future of the market. For the first year, every single manufacturer of telepresence technology is on hand at the show, and you can see demonstrations from all of them. The Unified Collaborative Conferencing Pavilion, sponsored by the IMCCA, is dedicated to spotlighting companies offering solutions in video-, audio-, data- and webconferencing, telepresence, high-def and streaming technologies. It’s quite possibly one of the most interactive areas on the floor.
