Movial brings HD to the PC

In conjunction with NXTComm08 this week in Las Vegas, Movial Communications released the Movial Communicator PC 7.2, bringing high-definition (HD) video capabilities to the PC. Designed for both small and medium-sized business conferencing and one-to-one communication, the software incorporates presence functions with PC-to-PC and PC-to-mobile video calling.

The operator-branded, real-time platform reduces bandwidth consumption by allowing users to run multiple unified communication (UC) applications at the same time, including group chat, file transfer, Instant Message, SMS and MMS from the PC and avatars. The technology also uses tight lip-synching of video and voice to minimize latency, as well as voice processing technology and HD two-way video.

Victor Donselaar, president of Movial, said the trend of high-speed Internet connectivity becoming more ubiquitous and video capture and display costs simultaneously decreasing has opened the door for much richer multimedia face-to-face like communciation experiences. Movial has been working on UC applications for the last eight years, but he said this is the first time customers are really ready for it. Operators, typically slow movers, have been followers in the Internet space, launching services like to this as me-too platforms to compete with Internet Service providers (ISPs).

Now, the company faces competition not only from ISPs, but also, soft-phone vendors, as well as big names in teleconferencing like Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard. Donselaar said the advantage Movial has is through offering telco-grade quality video that is designed for the face-to-face communication that SMBs need rather than the expensive, complex telepresence requirements of large enterprises – Cisco and HP’s target customers.

“It is the IT world coming to telco world,” Donselaar said. “If they have the backend, then on the front end they can work with us for one unified look and feel.”

Movial currently has 15 operators worldwide using its first release of the Communicator 6.0 that target the technology to various audiences. Optimus in France, for example, uses the platform to extend its mobile play to its teenage market that spends between two and four hours a day behind the desktop. The software lets them do everything they would do on the mobile handset on the desktop, creating an easier communication experience. Other customers launch the service as PC-to-PC only targeting the enterprise through Outlook integration or over VoIP networks, as is the case in Taiwan.

“Our end goal is to have unified communication on any device,” Donselaar said. “The more devices you support, the more communication you can do. That is what makes 95% of the money – not something like ringtones. It is competing in new Internet world…Every operator needs a PC play, an IP play. The end goal is clear – you are a bit pipe or a service provider. If you are a service provider you want to have your brand and as many pipes as possible.”