Monday, January 7, 2013

Stampede Predicts 2013 Is The Year Unified Communications Becomes A Practical Reality


The November 2012 announcement by Vidyo that its innovative software platform is being incorporated into Wii UTM Chat, a video communication service that is included with every Nintendo Wii U console, opens the door to a future where peer-to-peer communication will become a daily part of every consumer’s video game play, according to Stampede President & COO Kevin Kelly, and this reality speaks volumes about what lies ahead for profitable peer-to-peer communication in business.

In fact, Kelly predicted today, Vidyo’s announcement represents the tipping point that now transforms a trend toward low-cost video conferencing into a ‘stampede’ toward widespread, peer-to-peer Unified Communications that promises to create unprecedented new business opportunities for ProAV dealers who are equipped and educated to take advantage of all the new field offers.

“Over the last several years we have all seen and experienced how video conferencing has become an increasingly important part of our lives,” Kelly explained.  “What began as high-end video conferencing through dedicated tele-presence systems from companies like CISCO has evolved through lower-cost dedicated VC systems that can be leased for under $100 a month to software-based PC video conferencing solutions, to device-based conferencing. The fact that all of these different conferencing systems can now be combined at any given time, and in a variety of different configurations, is what makes the old era of video conferencing the new era of Unified Communications.”



Kelly believes that 2013 will be the year that Unified Communications becomes a major new growth opportunity for dealers in virtually every vertical market, offering end-users a wide selection of product offerings that cover every need from dedicated enterprise-wide video conferencing systems to software-based, PC-attached solutions.



Even more importantly, according to Kelly, dealers now have the opportunity to benefit not only from the sale of VC hardware and software, but also from the associated sales of displays, audio equipment, and other components that users of VC software surely need to have. Also, the ongoing service contracts on video conferencing systems create annuities for VC dealers that are unheard of in any other sector of the ProAV industry.



“The increased number of video conferencing endpoints is changing the way that people view the need to videoconference, and more people are taking notice of the endless opportunities that VC offers,” added Kelly. “The responsibility now lies with VC dealers to learn more about how Unified Communications can benefit them and their customer base, so that they can be prepared to offer the absolute best in the coming year.”



About Stampede

Known for its value-added distribution, Amherst, New York-based Stampede is the leading distributor of presentation equipment including LCD/DLP projectors and flat panel displays. Stampede provides a complete range of brand name presentation equipment to a variety of audio/video, computer, and home theater resellers and integrators in the United States, Canada and Latin America. These resellers rely on Stampede for value-added services in distribution, marketing and solution- based sales. Stampede annually produces the “Big Book of AV,” an 816-page catalog and companion website (www.BigBookofAV.com) providing hundreds of sales, installation and spec tips for Stampede’s dealers in addition to product details on more than 5,000 SKUs. For more information on Stampede, log onto www.stampedeglobal.com.


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