Reseller joins with Indian vendor to attack mobile videoconference market

Tata Communications has teamed up with reseller Arkadin Australia to bring videoconferencing capabilities to smartphones, tablets and computers.

The Indian telecommunications vendor developed its new Jamvee videoconferencing app following a decline in the use of fixed videoconferencing rooms.

Tata vice-president Anthony Bartolo said the decline in video conferencing rooms was brought by the growing adoption of bring-your-own-devices.

"There's a large shift from scheduled conference room videoconferencing," Bartolo said. "The BYOD strategy is driving billions of those video-enabled laptops and smartphones."

"We see it because we have most video conferencing and telepresence rooms connected to our network.

Tata is working with service provider Arkadin to launch its Jamvee service in the Asia Pacific. The application leverages Tata's global fibre optic network to deliver videoconferencing to smartphones, tablets, notebooks, PCs and videoconferencing rooms.

Bartolo claimed the network separated Jamvee from other solutions. One-fifth of the world's internet traffic is routed through Tata's communications route, which includes "the only fibre optic cable ring around the globe".

"Building the app is the easy part of this solution. It's that underlying [global] network that is paramount."

Jamvee can facilitate a conference call between up to 82 people – 46 over video with 36 additional participants over audio. It supports up to 1080p resolution, can display presentations across devices and will automatically zoom in on whomever is speaking.

"We allow all employees access to video meetings. The opportunity is available right across your enterprise," Bartolo said.

"You do no preparation when you come into a voice conference call. We really did spend a lot of time making it simple."

Tata partnered with Arkadin because the provider offers support in 18 different languages, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Arkadin recently appointed Richard Knott to lead its ANZ business strategy. Knott's credentials include past roles at Telstra, Orange Business Services and Tata Communications

He said the Australian investment would be the largest in the Asia Pacific due to the country's enthusiastic adoption of technology.

Arkadin was founded in France in 2001. It has a global network of 51 operating centres in 32 countries servicing 37,000 customers.