Managed videoconferencing grows

Teeing off for growth: The London Golf Club is one of many unexpected customers using videoconferencing services

Videoconferencing as a managed service is finding friends in new and unexpected parts of the market, according to London videoconferencing services provider Mvision.

Terry Dwyer, managing director at Mvision, said that the firm had initially thought managed videoconferencing would appeal primarily to smaller or mid-sized enterprises, but was finding expanding interest in large enterprises and even the leisure industry in the wake of the recession.

Mvision has started delivering videoconferencing as a managed service to the London Golf Club in Ash, Kent, and believes the door is now open for its wider deployment.

“We did not expect enterprises to want it, but they wanted it very much. They did not want video on their network; it was used badly and they didn’t get true return on investment,” said Dwyer. “We have a number of big customers who have bought their own equipment and we still provide the management remotely.”

Meanwhile, the golf club deal showed that leisure venues as well as offices could benefit from videoconferencing, earning additional revenue from business customers who could hold meetings at the club, said Dwyer.

“They were holding a lot of meetings and conferences,” he said. “The London Golf Club is busier on a Thursday than a Saturday.”

Dwyer said business has been growing at 60–70 per cent a year, and is accelerating. “And with the Cisco acquisition of Tandberg, there is no going back,” he added.

Austen Gravestock, general manager at the London Golf Club, said videoconferencing had become common in the business world, but was rare in golf clubs thus far.

“It gives us a real competitive advantage,” he said.

“The managed videocon­ferencing-as-a-service from Mvision is an affordable way for us to provide access to such sophisticated facilities for our customers and enhance our event and conferencing offering.”