O and A on Video Conferencing

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Om and Andy (not Opie and Anthony) both had excellent posts today on Video Conferencing based on recent news from Microsoft and Cisco about their new Video Conferencing platforms. Both Om and Andy commented on the cost of the systems, from $3,000 per user for Microsoft’s RoundTable, to $79,999 - $299,000 for Cisco’s TelePresence - definitely not built for the average business user. Om pointed out that Cisco’s TelePresence is nothing more then a way to get buyers of TelePresence to upgrade their networks and Andy extrapolated on his idea of the era of “Instant Video.”

Adding to what they have already said, I believe that you will see hardware manufacturers like Grandstream, who recently acquired StepDigital, a video algorithm company, have an immense impact in this emerging market of Video Conferencing. Grandstream, who is known for their low-cost, high feature phones and telephone adaptors already have an IP Video phone, the GXV-3000. With the acquistion of StepDigital, it is not a far streach to see Grandstream putting out a Video Conferencing Server packaged with IP Video Conferencing Phones for an eighth of the cost of a Cisco or Microsoft solution.

In addition to Grandstream, mainstream players such as Linksys (whom Andy mentioned) and D-Link are in an excellent position to prosper from the marketing dollars spent by Cisco and Microsoft to push Video Conferencing into every business. I’d look for more on this from each of the three companies mentioned above as early as Janurary of next year.