Video is everywhere — from CCTV cameras for security, traffic, monitoring and weather, to the most basic Webcam now embedded in most laptops. Some people embrace it and want to use it. Others just ignore it, and some want to stay out of it.
“Where video is ubiquitous,” explained the Open Video Alliance’s media coordinator, Adi Kamdar, in an email to Wired.com, “everybody has access to low-cost, or even free, tools and software, and open standards allow all devices to be interoperable. It’s also a future where everybody knows how to manipulate video, and where video is freely created, edited, shared, remixed, quoted, and archived. Participation is king and free expression is the norm.”
That is one of the main issues with video: participation. If people do not participate they see video as a threat to their privacy and work environment. Just think about employees in offices, retail shops and restaurants: They hate to be observed by cameras all day, but they understand the basic need for them.
The evolution in the quality and bandwidth of enterprise networks has made the configuration, maintenance, and utilization of video far more reliable and simple than just a few years ago. Creating video content and capturing events via video is also easier through the reduced production costs made possible by using videoconferencing end points and recording and streaming servers. The use of video within enterprises varies by organization, but some uses can be easily identified: for training, for conference calls and for broadcasting messages from executives to the rest of the company.
It is important to highlight the advantages of video and make people aware of the number of potential uses. For example, if we can convince staff to start using video conferencing — now that it is almost free and available in most desktops — people might not be so reluctant to have video cameras at the workplace.
Video is proving more popular in the enterprise as companies see a need for better collaboration and better training and sales tools. Many companies do not want video just for surveillance or static education, but rather to tap into “the wisdom of the crowd” and capitalize on multiple editing and content tools. Enterprises can benefit from broadly distributing video if they have the right infrastructure and distribution model in place.
Still, many people will persist in seeing video as an invasion of privacy. Take the issue of the proliferation of street cameras. According to the BBC, there are up to 4.5 million CCTV cameras in the United Kingdom — about one for every 14 people. Many citizens quarrel with this wide distribution of cameras, in part because these cameras can be used against drivers committing parking violations. Cameras in England started to be trained on places where motorists were stopping illegally, driving in bus lanes or just parking close to corners. Today, many municipalities in the United Kingdom are making millions with the system. Sometimes drivers have a legitimate reason to stop because of a car malfunction or the need to take an urgent phone call. Cameras can't judge the circumstances, as a police officer or a judge might: They just show a car where it shouldn't be. Originally, the CCTV system was deployed by the British government to fight crime; it was never meant to enforce parking regulations or spy on people.
Having given the negative side, video can be a magnificent ally in many fields — including the enterprise. Used to document processes, development cycles, factory efficiency, company presentations, conferences, events, parties, etc., the important success factor is participation and making people comfortable with its presence.
When faced with video cameras a number of people try to stay away, but once they’ve had positive experiences with video, it’s possible for them to come to accept it and relax.
Despite the numerous advantages of video in the enterprise, one of the main problems is the lack of a standardized system to capture, create, and store content. This can create more chaos for many organizations, which already have to deal with different types of digital data. It is necessary to establish corporate-wide policies and standards, such as archiving procedures, keywords, and search systems to make it easier to access the information and video files. Otherwise, organizations will only perpetuate the spread of unusable content in the enterprise.
For further information, see:
Five Best Practices for End-User E-Training
Employee Web Monitoring: How Much Is Too Much?
Dell Camera & Digital Imaging Store
        | 
 |
