Unified Communications

Integrated solutions that allow presence, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing and desktop sharing will feature strongly, especially within SME’s. Solutions like Microsoft Lync that promote collaborative working will help make business communications even more effective and efficient. You can find and communicate with the right person, right now, using familiar and easy to use applications and break down the barriers between telecommunications and computing. Office and remote workers can stay in touch simply and easily, with greater control, whilst increasing productivity and efficiency.

Video Communications

VC was fast growing in 2011 and we think this will continue, the technology is becoming more widespread due to the reduced expense, increased acceptance and the compatibility of different technologies.  Video is now able to adapt to needs of users and increasingly it's benefits are realised as being more than reducing travel costs and environmental footprints. AVM believe video conferencing will becomes a more natural way of how business gets done and a realistic alternative to in-person meetings.

In particular, the widespread availability of low-cost video peripherals is sure to bring video conferencing to educational institutions as well.

There is also likely to be a focus on managed services. Hosted services are predicted to gain momentum as they are ideal for those with limited bandwidth, IT resources or budget to build their own video conferencing solution. Companies can achieve reliable, secure, high performance video conferencing, with little or no effort and less impact on resources.

IPTV

This will be increasingly important as a communication tool for diverse content as enterprises seek to deliver media across the organisation. This will be dependant on diverse and distinct needs, depending on the company’s display technology, network capability and the range of content they need to deliver.

3D TV

Applications of 3D TV are increasing rapidly. In particular areas such as hospitality, healthcare and education will be likely to increase adoption this year and implement 3D TV distribution.

Lampless Projectors

For over a year Casio have had the majority of the lampless projector market to themselves but we are now seeing this category grow. So far the majority of take up has been from the education sector due to the limited requirement for maintenance.  People are now starting to realise the benefits of a significantly lower total cost of ownership. Many more manufacturers are now choosing to develop lamp-free lightsources and this shows evidence of market acceptance and increasing demand.

Gestural interfaces and augmented reality

Augmented reality may have just been an attention grabber in 2011, but it seems that this will change in 2012, with more intuitive control of computer applications, manipulation of digital content and information.

Natural interfaces can now combine elements of gesture, movements, location, voice-command and probably soon even our moods and our thoughts. This all leads to interaction that’s more intuitive, natural and easy for consumers to adopt.