A short time ago, our IE account team met with a customer to show-off the new SparkBoard from Cisco. When challenged by the customer that they were pretty much already set on a competitive solution, I made the comment that they should at least entertain our conversation because the newer video units were now more affordable than ever and amazingly easier to use than their predecessors. The customer was skeptical and told me, “I’ll be the judge;” so we set out to make our case.
The History
In 2012 Rowan Trollope joined Cisco as their Senior Vice President over collaboration. As he tells the story, he had repeated offers to set up his office with voice and video when first coming onboard at Cisco. He declined all offers and said that he wanted to set it up himself. He quickly realized the complexity of the solutions and got to work. Rowan ended up leading the refresh process of the entire collaboration technology portfolio with an emphasis on ease-of-use and business-enabling technology. We now have video systems with “one-button to join,” video that automatically follows a speaker in motion, low-cost and easy-to-use room video that has just two cables (PoE and HDMI) and can be dialed with an iPhone, easy transition from mobile to room video, integrated whiteboards and much, much more. Each of these solutions comes with the optimum in video and sound quality you would expect from the leader in voice and video business solutions.
Cost
With all this technology improvement you would think costs would go up, but the opposite has happened. In many scenarios, the equivalent price for a comparably-equipped solution is half the price of its complex predecessor. The cost is driven down even lower when the solution is registered to the Cisco Spark (cloud-based) network, as the bulk of the cost turns to an Op-Ex monthly charge spread out over time. This provides you with a top of the line solution without breaking your budget.
Options
It would be impossible to show each current video unit in every fashion that Cisco offers, right?… Or would it? The team at Cisco put together a website that lets you visualize all your options based on the scenario, product or intended experience. While designing an appropriate solution for unique personal or room requirements, budget and other factors are still best tackled by talking to a video professional, this website is a great place to start and explore.
Our skeptical customer was the judge and jury that day. Our IE team led with a demonstration and presentation of preliminary costs, and afterward, he completely changed his tune. We can make a believer out of you too. An IE representative will guide you through the process by asking the appropriate questions and proposing unique options that you might not have ever considered. It’s even quite fun to experience the options personally, so reach out to our IE Team and ask about our inexpensive video solutions built on the latest technology. Man, I sound like a sales guy; maybe we’ll throw in a free air freshener or something…
About the Author
Jaymes Krueger, CCIE is a Solutions Consultant with Internetwork Engineering with over 30 years in the industry. Before coming to IE, Jaymes worked for over 10 years with our partner, Cisco. He has two kids, plays soccers regularly, and teaches a seminary program in his free time.