19 Jul, 2020

How the Pandemic Has Become a Windfall for Video Conferencing Platforms

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PALM BEACH, Florida, July 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The face of video communication has changed dramatically due to the global pandemic. In 2020, there’s a huge range of video communication platforms to choose from based on your needs… which is spurring the growth of the global video conferencing markets.

A recent report from MarketsAndMarkets said that the global video conferencing industry is expected to gain traction during the coronavirus outbreak. As the enterprises and government organizations are considering video conferencing as an ultimate solution to connect with remote workers, customers, and employees; and, at the same time, it prevents direct contact with the people.

The report said: “There are several factors that have been driving the market growth since the last decade, such as the increasing focus of companies towards the expansion of their businesses in the global market and in the management of the workforce in various subsidiaries. However, the outbreak of the coronavirus has impacted the video conferencing market positively. The ban on travel has limited the reach of the enterprises in the foreign market, which in turn, has increased the adoption of video conferencing software.

Companies are adopting an innovative recruitment process at such time by engaging video conferences. The government, on the other hand, is using video conferencing software to connect with doctors and administrative people of their region and also of other countries.” Active companies in the markets this week include Vuzix® Corporation (NASDAQ: VUZI), Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO), salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM).

The report continued saying: “As the countries are announcing a lockdown of their respective states continuously and urging enterprises to offer work from home facilities to its employees; the adoption rate of video conferencing software is getting increased. The government of a number of countries has put a restriction of trade and travel, owing to which the MNCs are adopting video conferencing software to engage their clients. Such moves are expected to trigger the video conferencing market during the pandemic. 

In addition, the effect of COVID-19 on the video conferencing industry is analyzed from a geographical standpoint by including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World in the report. Asia-Pacific is contributing a major role in the growth of the video conferencing market during this pandemic situation. China, Japan, South Korea, and India have been experiencing damage in the economy due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Chinese economy hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak and the country has lockdown itself since more than a month.”

Vuzix® Corporation: Vuzix®, a supplier of Smart Glasses and Augmented Reality (AR) technology and products, today announced the availability of enhanced Zoom and Webex Connector applications for its M-Series Smart Glasses based on feedback from Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses medical users who have been live-streaming surgery with it or using it in emergency rooms and ICUs to treat patients.

In the emergency room or ICU, where every second counts, smart glasses users will now be able to join Webex meetings using a “re-dial” to simply join recent meetings without requiring a new meeting URL or meeting ID, including voice control for hands-free operation. Users can also customize their Webex welcome screens to remove unused buttons and to match their workflow.  Other upgrades to the Zoom and Webex smart glasses connector software applications include the ability for users to optimize the video from the 4K, 13MP phase detect auto focus camera of the M400 Smart Glasses by zooming in or out during video calls and lightening or darkening their outgoing video, among other feature enhancements.

Zoom Video Communications, recently announced Zoom for Home, a new category of software experiences and hardware devices to support remote work use cases. In a time where employers are grappling with what the new normal of work will look like, Zoom for Home elevates employee experiences to connect remotely and be productive.

The future of knowledge work will be a hybrid of virtual and in-person experience. In a recent study by IBM, 81% of respondents—up from 75% in April—indicated they want to continue working remotely at least some of the time. More than half—61%—would like this to become their primary way of working. Major corporations around the globe have already indicated that they do not foresee a return to pre-COVID ways of working. Additionally, according to a recent study by Morning Consult, almost half of adults who are able to work remotely believe that virtual meetings are at least as effective as in-person meetings. Zoom for Home meets the needs of the present shelter-in-place and the new normal of hybrid workforces.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) recently announced key Webex enhancements to help, including: industry-leading security and compliance capabilities, intelligent and actionable insights to deliver consistent user experiences, and an integration with Box. Additionally, the integration of Epic for healthcare will give patients choices for engaging with providers key to their wellness.  As a long-time market leader, Webex continues to support the changing needs of our customers. In April, Webex supported half a billion meeting participants who generated 25 billion meeting minutes – more than triple the average volume.

“Keeping employees, heads of state, healthcare providers and many more securely connected and productive is at the heart of what we do. Even before the pandemic, Cisco was one of the world’s largest collaboration providers, supporting nearly half the world’s video conferencing. Now we’re supporting 3X the normal volumes.” said Javed Khan, VP and GM, Cisco’s Collaboration Group. “We are proud we could be there for our customers when they needed us most, and we will continue to be there moving forward as we navigate through these times.”

Twilio Inc., a cloud communications platform, recently announced the results of a global survey measuring the impact and outlook of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses’ digital engagement strategies.  To better understand the magnitude of COVID-19 and the lasting effect it will have on business and customer engagement, Twilio surveyed over 2,500 enterprise decision makers globally to gauge the effect on their company’s digital transformation and communication roadmap. The COVID-19 Digital Engagement Report is a snapshot of how businesses have addressed the complex challenges posed by this crisis and how they will continue to evolve moving forward.

“Over the last few months, we’ve seen years-long digital transformation roadmaps compressed into days and weeks in order to adapt to the new normal as a result of COVID-19. Our customers in nearly every industry have had to identify new ways to communicate with their customers and stakeholders – from patients, to students, to shoppers, and even employees – essentially overnight,” said Glenn Weinstein, Chief Customer Officer at Twilio. “Cloud scale, speed, and agility are enabling organizations to innovate faster than ever. We believe the solutions being built today will be the standard for digital engagement in the future.”

salesforce.com, inc. While companies, governments and organizations are slowly returning to their offices, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the future of work forever. In fact, nearly 70 percent of people believe the pandemic will permanently change the nature of work and more than 50 percent say that flexible work locations are very important to them. An all-digital, work-from-anywhere world is becoming the new normal. That’s why Salesforce, the global leader in CRM, recently introduced Salesforce Anywhere – bringing together powerful new technologies and platform services to help organizations unlock new levels of productivity and customer success for this new normal.

“The COVID-19 crisis has taught us that companies must be able to sell, service, market and collaborate from anywhere, and that won’t change in a post-pandemic world,” said Bret Taylor, President and COO Salesforce. “With Salesforce Anywhere we’re empowering customers of every size, location and industry to digitally transform with confidence in this all-digital, work-from-anywhere world.”