Forget video-data's the thing to see: Videoconferencing marketing turns to collaboration

Seeing the person just isn't good enough anymore in the videoconferencing market.

Once the domain of bulky systems with few features reserved only for high-end executives, videoconferencing is making its way down the corporate ladder. And as it does, new features are being added to systems that let users do a lot more than just talk, listen and see. This week's TeleCon show in Anaheim, Calif., will feature several vendor introductions that also let users collaborate on documents.

One company, Octave Communications, is chucking the idea of video altogether. Founded in April, the Salem, N.H.-based company stocked with executives from Picture Tel is just one example of a new mindset hitting the traditional videoconference market.

Instead of using its collective experience to improve current videoconferencing products, the company focused solely on audio conferencing and data collaboration.

Its first product, which will be introduced at TeleCon, is a 20-inch cube unit that allows carriers to offer 1344 ports of audio conferencing and data collaboration such as whiteboarding.

"If you have audio and data, you have 80% of the value add right there," said Robert Scott, president, CEO and co-founder of Octave. "If you add video, I don't know if it adds a whole lot to the conference, but it adds a whole lot of complexity."

To be sure, the company sees video as very useful in some applications, but for the moment it's holding off entering the market. Part of the hesitation is the H.323 standard, which originally was developed for videoconferencing but has now been modified for IP voice use. By contrast, the T.120 family of standards, used for sharing data between geographically dispersed locations, has become much more robust, according to several vendors.

"To us, video is just another application," said Arthur Leondires, vice president of engineering and another co-founder of Octave. "As far as H.323 is concerned, we're in a little bit of a wait-and-see mode. We're not sure where it's going to go."

Several veteran videoconferencing companies also have data collaboration plans on the fast track. Polycom Inc., which recently signed a deal to provide videoconferencing systems to Sprint, is using the TeleCon show to unveil its WebStation collaboration tool. Connecting one end of the box to a LAN, users can make presentations appear in multiple locations simultaneously while also participating in a video or audio conference.

Polycom, which distributes through carrier channels including SBC Communications, MCI WorldCom and Sprint, said adding data collaboration to its video capabilities gives carriers a second or third service to target business. "[Carriers] are looking at the business model of supplying the equipment as well as providing incremental line capabilities," said Kim Kasee, vice president of marketing for Polycom's video division.

StarVision, which has geared its videoconferencing system specifically toward high-quality applications such as telemedicine, also will jump into data collaboration with a new package developed specifically for corporate users. StarCorp, which uses many of the same elements of its distance learning package, allows users to share documents while participating in a videoconference. However, the company is adding data-sharing capabilities more as an option than a feature.

"Focusing just on data is more of a position that is opportunistic," said Grant Henderson, director of product marketing for StarVision. "From a truly collaborative perspective, humans are naturally visual. The whole point of collaboration is to replicate a face-to-face meeting."

Those shifting to a data-centric approach say they have the same objective.

"An ideal meeting is when you don't even notice our products in the room," said Ardeshir Salaki, vice president and general manager of Polycom's data conferencing division.

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