When I did my dissertation project for a Masters degree 20 years ago on video conferencing, the market and business were not prepared to accept the technology and its cost for cameras, speakers and high-speed links which were too expensive. However, this has changed and become part of every business and individuals daily life.
The global video conferencing industry is expected to gain traction during the coronavirus outbreak. As enterprises and government organisations consider video conferencing as an ultimate solution to connect with remote workers, customers and employees; and, at the same time, it prevents direct contact with the people.
There are several factors that have been driving market growth during the last decade, such as the increasing focus of companies towards expansion of their businesses in the global market and in the management of the workforce in various subsidiaries.
However, the outbreak of coronavirus has impacted the video conferencing market positively. The ban on travel has limited the reach of enterprises in foreign markets, which in turn, has increased the adoption of video conferencing software.
Companies are now adopting an innovative recruitment process by engaging video conferences. The government, on the other hand, is using video conferencing software to connect with doctors and administrative people of their region and also of other countries.
Global video conferencing industry report is segmented based on its end-user into government and commercial sector. As the countries are announcing a lockdown of their respective states continuously and urging enterprises to offer work from home to its employees, the adoption rate of video conferencing software is increasing.
The governments of a number of countries have put a restriction on trade and travel, owing to which the MNCs are adopting video conferencing software to engage their clients. Such moves are expected to trigger the video conferencing market during the pandemic.
In addition, the effect of Covid-19 on the video conferencing industry is analysed from a geographical standpoint by including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and rest of the world in the report. Asia-Pacific is playing a major role in the growth of the video conferencing market during this pandemic situation.
China, Japan, South Korea and India have been experiencing damage in the economy due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
Chinese economy was hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak and the country has locked down itself for more than a month. Moreover, after the severe outbreak of Covid-19 in Europe, countries including Italy, Denmark, Spain, Germany and France are under complete lockdown. The government is engaged in arranging a platform for employees and students to revive the country from this outbreak.
Video conferencing is one such solution that has been called out by the companies and government organisations under this arrangement. The market players are also reaching out to the enterprises and government organisations to expand their services in the country. In February 2020, Zoom Video Communications has lifted the 40-minute limit on video calls for its free version in China.
The author is a Bahrain-based management and technology expert