Clearly, despite the incredible convenience of on-demand viewing, virtually unlimited program selection, and wide choice of viewing devices, traditional TV is still holding its own against TV streaming. That’s because broadcast still has advantages like familiarity, stable prices, and no strain on the family’s internet bandwidth.
Three lessons we can learn for the AVoIP market
The AVoIP market of today echoes the TV market of a few years ago, and we can expect it to evolve similarly in several respects. At this point, AVoIP has comfortably moved out of the early adaption stage and is now a rapidly growing market, particularly for mature organizations and large installations in government, education, and enterprise.
This means exciting times for AVoIP, with three key lessons from the TV market that apply:
- Traditional is good, but new technology has advantages – While traditional Pro AV will remain relevant for the foreseeable future, AVoIP has distinct advantages. These include flexibility and scalability, how quickly it can be deployed, the ability to support hundreds of endpoints, network security, remote support, and more. Plus, it doesn’t need special infrastructure and reduces the total cost of ownership, especially in large installations. Recently introduced standards enable more connected smart devices, cloud-based services, and mobile devices. This is placing increasing demand on IT network bandwidth, requiring them to evolve to support the load from AV applications.
- Existing equipment is (just) part of the equation – Leveraging existing investments is always a consideration, but it is also important to consider the current use cases and future plans. If there is good equipment or infrastructure already in place and the company is not looking to expand, then traditional AV can be a good choice. Where growth and new, hybrid use cases are anticipated, or the site is an entirely new build, AVoIP is the preferred choice due to its scalability and flexibility. This includes site expansions, such as additional buildings on a campus or new floors added to an office space.
- The two technologies will continue to co-exist – It’s not AVoIP or bust. The shift is happening, but in the enterprise AV market there is room for both AV and AVoIP, and there will be for many years to come. In fact, like most of us watch TV on more than one platform, in many cases, both AV and AVoIP will work together harmoniously, each filling their unique roles.
The bottom line, traditional AV still has uses, but the move to AVoIP has many advantages. For it to become the standard, however, AV and IT departments must change their mindset and work together to ensure the best solution is chosen for the long haul.
The question then is: how do you see AVoIP fitting in?