All Eyes on Video MeetingsAll Eyes on Video Meetings

With the promise of click-to efficiency and broad reach, integration and partnership are core strategic propositions of today's communications platform providers gunning for a place in the modern enterprise. The evidence is plentiful this week among video conferencing and collaboration providers, many of whom are sharing news out of the InfoComm 2018 A/V conference taking place in Las Vegas.

Here are several examples of the latest integrations and partnerships related to video communications and collaboration.

Lifesize, Voicera Team on AI
If Lifesize has its way, meetings will no longer require participants to take notes madly while simultaneously trying to absorb the gist of the discussion. To solve that problem, it's teamed with Voicera, maker of Eva, an in-meeting artificial intelligence (AI) assistant that will take notes and create a searchable, actionable transcript for participants, Lifesize said.

Being able to invite Eva to a Lifesize video -- or audio -- meeting for notetaking is just the beginning, said Craig Malloy, the company's CEO, in a prepared statement. As AI matures, all Lifesize solutions will capitalize on the capabilities it enables to "make video conferencing more immersive and collaborative."

The Voicera integration follows on two product announcements Lifesize shared last week: Lifesize Dash and Lifesize Share.

With the software-based Dash, Lifesize aims to provide companies with a way to turn their huddle rooms and other mini spaces into full-fledged video meeting rooms, as Michael Helmbrecht, chief product and operations officer at Lifesize, shared in a No Jitter briefing. Leveraging WebRTC, Dash runs on a Chromebox and is optimized for presentation not on a laptop but for a larger room screen, he said. Dash works with approved USB cameras and audio devices from vendors such as Aver, Huddly, and Yamaha Unified Communications, and users can control the meeting via mobile app. It will be available in the third quarter.

Lifesize Dash

With Share, as the name implies, Lifesize is targeting the cumbersome content sharing processes that taint many meeting experiences, Helmbrecht said. Share allows meeting participants to present content, queue files, and change presenters from their laptop, tablets, or smartphones over a wireless connection. Once a presenter selects a Lifesize meeting, Share uses ultrasonic sound waves to detect the device and enable presentation on the room's monitor, he explained.

In addition, Share can serve as a secure wireless access point through which guests present content -- rather than doing so by connecting to the corporate network. Share is available now, starting at $499.

Highfive Greets Ingram Micro, Best Buy
Following on the February news that Dimension Data would be distributing Highfive products globally (as well as leading the company's third funding round), Highfive further expanded its partner ranks to include Ingram Micro and Best Buy for Business.

Via the deal, all Highfive products become available through Ingram Micro's worldwide network, comprising 155 distribution centers and 200 resellers. Among those resellers is Best Buy for Business, which will lead with Highfive as its recommended video conferencing system for customers, said CEO Shan Sinha, in a No Jitter briefing.

Highfive is particularly enthusiastic about the opportunity afforded it through the relationship with Best Buy for Business, which is a leading seller of TV sets into businesses in North America, Sinha said. "What's exciting about that," he added, "is there's natural demand that we're seeing to bring conferencing into all those rooms that have TV sets -- projectors are going the way of the dinosaur, and as rooms put up flat panels, there's great opportunity for us through this partnership."

Continued to next page: Zoom, Polycom, Google

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Zoom Ups Channel Commitment
Like Highfive, Zoom Video Communications is committed to growth through partners -- and in a nod to that strategy, the company has created a channel charter aimed at furthering its go-to-market program for its software-based Zoom Rooms solution. Via the program, Zoom expects to be able to "tackle new customer segments, use cases, and markets," said Laura Padilla, head of business development and channels for Zoom, in a prepared statement.

The charter program, which Zoom will be rolling out through August, comprises:

The channel charter adds to March integration moves, in which Zoom announced a technology ecosystem program and certified integrator program, as well as an agreement that has IBM not only reselling the Zoom video meeting technology but also embedding it into its Watson Workspace Plus collaboration tool.

Polycom Pads Zoom Connection
In one of a couple of announcements coming out of InfoComm, Polycom has tightened its year-old partnership with Zoom, through which it'd been supporting Zoom meetings on its Group Series and Debut video solutions. Today the company adds support for Zoom Rooms from its Trio conference phone. Polycom Trio can now run the Zoom controller interface natively, allowing the full Zoom Rooms control experience in any sized conference room, the company announced.

Polycom Trio

In the U.S., the Zoom Room bundles will be available in July from CDW and Insight. Availability in other regions will follow later this year, Polycom said.

Separately, Polycom announced that Trio will now be able to run high-end capabilities needed in larger meeting rooms and conference spaces. These include facial tracking, dual monitor support, advanced audio coverage, and simplified content sharing, via integration between Trio and Polycom video codecs. And, it announced a guest access feature for Polycom Pano, its wireless content sharing system.

Google Meets Up
Like others, Google has been slowly amassing integrations that beef up its communications and collaboration platform. The latest of these are meant to improve the meeting experience, shared Rany Ng, director of product management for G Suite, in a blog post highlighting new integrations for Hangouts Meet, Google Calendar, and Hangouts Chat.

For Hangouts Meet, Google has partnered with video conferencing interoperability specialist Pexip with the goal of easing the challenge of joining Hangouts Meet meetings from existing video conferencing equipment, Ng wrote. Via Pexip, users will be able to join meetings on Hangsout Meet using preferred video conferencing equipment from traditional vendors such as Polycom and Cisco.

Videxio, a video collaboration service provider that specializes in interoperability, will be one of the first companies to partner with Pexip for Hangouts Meet. (Separately, Videxio also announced this week that it has joined the Logitech Collaboration Program as an integration partner.)

Google also has committed to supporting third-party conferencing natively in Google Calendar, Ng wrote. Via these integrations, users will be able to create, view, and join -- via the Web or a mobile device -- video conferences directly from Calendar. Among the companies developing Calendar add-ons are Arkadin, Cisco, Dialpad, GoToMeeting, LogMeIn, RingCentral, Vidyo, and Vonage; once ready, the conferencing add-ons will be available in the G Suite Marketplace, Ng noted.

For the Microsoft user crowd, a coming integration will allow users to join Hangouts Meet meetings directly from the Skype for Business app. And, addressing the need for further interoperability between Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange, users will gain the ability to book rooms, equipment, and other resources across the two environments, Ng wrote.

Of course, as Ng wrote, "getting the right people in the room with the right setup" addresses only part of the meeting experience. Another critical component is real-time information sharing, which Google will address by allowing external attendees to participate in Hangouts Chat sessions.

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