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New Global Survey by Wainhouse Research and Polycom Finds That the Use of Video Conferencing as an Enterprise Productivity Tool is Growing
Posted on Monday, March 18, 2013
Key findings include: Productivity ranked as the top business benefit of video conferencing; Meeting with customers and partners has become a key application; and deployment plans say the market is set to grow.
 
ENTERPRISE CONNECT 2013, ORLANDO, Fla. – March 18, 2013 – Video conferencing is evolving rapidly – how it’s used, where it’s used, by whom and for what – and its use as an enterprise productivity tool is also growing rapidly, says a new survey of almost 5,000 enterprise video end-users around the world, fielded by Wainhouse Research and Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in open, standards-based unified communications and collaboration (UC&C). The survey results, published under the name “End-User Survey: The ‘Real’ Benefits of Video,” reveal some notable insights into the business benefits of video conferencing, deployment trends, use cases, adoption and insights for future growth. These include:
  • The top benefit of video conferencing is increased efficiency/productivity (94 percent), followed by increased impact of discussions (88 percent), expedited decision making (87 percent), and reduced travel costs (87 percent).
  • When asked how their companies are using video conferencing today for specific, newly emerging use cases, “Meet with Customers and Partners” is the top response (71 percent).
  • Quarter of respondents say they video conference daily, 39 percent weekly, 21 percent monthly, and 14 percent every few months.
  • Multivendor environments are the norm, so interoperability is critical – 60 percent say they “primarily use” more than one vendor’s equipment or software to videoconference; 32 percent use three or more.
  • Video helps remote workers feel more connected to their colleagues. Of the total respondents who work from home, 87 percent strongly agree or agree that the use of video conferencing allows them to work from home without feeling disconnected.
Key Findings by Wainhouse Research and Polycom
In December 2012, Wainhouse Research, underwritten by Polycom, surveyed 4,737 end-users of video conferencing systems. The survey respondents represent all global regions, with 63 percent from North America, 27 percent from Asia/Pacific, 9 percent from EMEA, and 1 percent from Latin America. All company sizes are represented, from small businesses with 1-49 employees (20 percent of respondents) to very large companies with more than 10,000 employees (17 percent) and all points in-between. Vertical industries are also well represented. Click here to download a copy of the full report.
 
Video Anywhere: Users leveraging video conferencing across devices, environments – in the office in conference rooms and on PCs, and increasingly at home or remotely on mobile devices
  • Desktop PCs and laptops are the most common device used for video conferencing (71 percent of respondents), followed by room/group video systems (65 percent), tablets (34 percent) and smartphones (33 percent).
  • Conference rooms are the most popular environments for video conferencing today. 79 percent of respondents use video in conference rooms, 69 percent use video in offices.
  • The fastest growing video conferencing environment is “on the road” – which includes airports, hotels and client sites.
  • PCs are the #1 device for video, but the age of mobile has clearly arrived. Over 90 percent of respondents have a Smartphone, and 75 percent have a tablet. More than 77 percent of respondents use their smartphone for business, and 50 percent use their tablet for business.
  • Respondents expect the use of mobile devices for video collaboration will continue to surge over the next year.
For video to grow, it needs to be available to more people, and integrated into business processes.
  • Leading drivers for increasing use of video conferencing include equipping more people with video (94 percent of respondents), more accessibility of video (85 percent of respondents), more integration of video in business software (83 percent of respondents) and availability in IM/UC clients such as Microsoft® Lync™ (80 percent).
“The longstanding misconception is that travel reduction is the only ‘real’ driver of video conferencing.  This survey, however, shows that soft benefits including improved efficiency and productivity and increased impact during discussions play a prominent role in the video conferencing value proposition,” said Ira M. Weinstein, senior analyst and partner at Wainhouse Research.  “In addition, the survey highlights the value that end-users place on several of Polycom’s focus areas including ease of use, integration with presence and IM, and support for video on mobile devices.  By focusing its efforts on these hot spots, Polycom continues to make video easier to buy, easier to deploy, easier to manage, and easier to use.”
 
Learn More at Enterprise Connect 2013, March 18-20
At Enterprise Connect 2013, attendees can visit Polycom in booth #1719 to discover how Polycom® RealPresence® Platform® solutions are improving the way people connect, collaborate and work, and experience live demonstrations of the new RealPresence CloudAXIS™ Suite, RealPresence Mobile and Polycom® VVX® Business Media phones. Polycom solutions will also be showcased in booths of key partners including AT&T, Comcast, Microsoft and Verizon. Attendees can learn more about Polycom’s open, standards-based RealPresence solutions in multiple Enterprise Connect conference sessions hosted by Polycom UC&C experts.
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Douglas Fearing- Co-Founder / President

A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.

Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.

Lois Fearing- Co-Founder/Accounting, Human Resources

A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.

Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.

Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.

Ehren Tresner-VP of Technology and Innovation

Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.

Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.

Ben Voeck-Director of Commercial AV

With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.

By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.

Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.

Chris Matson-Senior VP of Sales

Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.

Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.