We created the AV Technology Thought Leadership Roadmap Series to provide you with updated perspectives from manufacturers and solutions providers within the AV/IT industry.
Several times a year, we ask thought leaders representing the full range of products and services integral to the AV/IT ecosystem to share insight into their company’s roadmap. Sometimes we will ask for responses that focus on a specific technology or category, and other times it will be broad-stroked.
Below, we are spotlighting one company’s response to a specific question. Check here to see the continually updated list of all companies and the roadmap question.
BlueJeans by Verizon Product Roadmap – Re: Pandemic
AVT Question: How, if at all has the pandemic shaped your company’s product/service offerings? [October 2021]
Thought Leader: Peter Verwayen, Vice President, Product Management, BlueJeans by Verizon
We have long marketed BlueJeans as a video conferencing and events platform that enables teams to collaborate and communicate effectively—internally and externally—from anywhere. What has changed over the past 18 months is that more organizations are proactively adopting a hybrid model, shifting more meetings and events from office-centered to distributed gatherings.
The pandemic solidified the notion that virtual and hybrid events are here to stay, but it’s also clear that they’re not working in their current form. BlueJeans is seeking to change that. According to a recent Forrester Consulting survey of key decision makers of marketing event strategies, 66 percent of firms are struggling to achieve the same success from virtual events that they would get from in-person events, with 94 percent having experienced issues with their current virtual/hybrid events software.
In light of this, we began innovating with the end user in mind. The pandemic highlighted the need to make these tools more experiential and user-friendly for the non-AV/tech-savvy moderators now taking charge of using them. By tapping into our expertise in video interoperability and meeting simplicity, we’re removing the complexities associated with hosting and producing virtual events at scale, so that you don’t have to leverage IT or a production team to execute your event flawlessly. Furthermore, this shift to hybrid events puts more focus on video and audio quality, reliability, and security—strengths that Verizon and BlueJeans together can deliver very well, given Verizon’s extensive 5G networks and BlueJeans’ heritage as a video conferencing innovator.
Ultimately, the future of virtual events will emphasize purpose-built and specialized tools that are both rich in analytics and can provide immersive experiences by integrating augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR). This will help ensure the event is as natural-feeling as possible—or possibly even better than being there.
[ Verizon Business Enters into Agreement to Acquire BlueJeans ]
