Video Conferencing – The Summer of Digital Transformation

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For most of our customers, remote work has shifted from an option to a necessity over the past few months. We’ve seen millions of students and traditional workers take part in remote learning and conferencing for the first time. Here are some of the most notable developments and platforms that have emerged.

RWA is your Information Technology partner for small and mid-sized businesses in and around the Dallas/Fort Worth area. We’re here to guide you through the rapid changes we all face in today’s Information Technology environment, transition more of your services into the cloud, and adapt your staff for remote work. Contact us today!

Zoom Meetings, “Virtual Rooms” in Teams, and Fed Chair Jay Powell on a secure Cisco video conferencing device

Zoom

The founder of Zoom worked at Cisco’s WebEx for many years, leaving in 2011 after his ideas for smartphone-friendly video conferencing were rejected. Thanks to low barriers to adoption, colleges and schools across the country instantly adopted Zoom as the favored telelearning platform of the pandemic era. Increased adoption led to significant scrutiny of their security standards, and they’ve promised to fix those issues as they attempt to maintain momentum into the fall.

Microsoft Teams

Here at RWA, we’re a Microsoft Partner and an early adopter of Microsoft Teams. In the wake of the pandemic, Microsoft placed significant focus on videoconferencing in Teams and making it available to more people – but the unique selling point here is the collaboration tools they’ve built, extending into SharePoint Online and the rest of the Office 365 suite.

Slack

With a focus on collaboration for digital products, Slack has unparalleled adoption among the silicon valley crowd. In additional to excellent third-party module support, Slack is where developer go to collaborate with other developers – over video, through text messages, or even using software development tools. Slack typically starts with the development crowd then brings the rest of a company in.

Google Meet

Meet is a key component of the GSuite offering, integrating will with Gmail and all of their other tools. Deep integration, along with privacy concerns, slowed adoption and growth in 2020 – but Google Meet has been a reliable tool for many years, and we expect Google to stay active in this space.

Cisco WebEx

Cisco provides world-class security and enterprise services, and WebEx is often used to connect those customers with nearly anybody in the world. We didn’t see significant uptake in this product during the early phases of the pandemic. However, for those who in the financial or government service industries, their presence is nearly ubiquitous.