The VidyoWay Video Bridging Service

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1 RESEARCH NOTE / EVALUATION Visual Collaboration & AV Subscription Author(s): Ira M. Weinstein, Saar Litman October 2014 The Distribution Note: The non-exclusive, public distribution of this subscription-only research note has been sponsored by Vidyo. Background Sometimes an interesting news item falls through the cracks and receives less attention than it deserves. Such was the case for the VidyoWay cloud-based video bridging service. Launched in mid-2012, VidyoWay is a FREE hosted video bridging service provided by industry disrupter Vidyo. VidyoWay provides users with 25-port virtual meeting rooms (VMRs) that support the following types of connections / devices / users: - Group video systems (H.323, SIP, and Vidyo Room systems) - PC video users (H.323, SIP, and VidyoDesktop) - Mobile video users (ios and Android) Given the compelling price point, the test team at WR decided to take this service for a quick test drive. Our goal was to determine whether this $0 / month service could, in fact, cover the video calling / bridging requirements of the typical enterprise. Hands-On Testing To use the VidyoWay service, users must first register for a free VidyoWay user account at The registration process is quite painless, requiring the user to: 1) Provide his address, first name, country, and password 2) Wait for a registration activation 3) Click on the activation link / URL within the A few moments later, the user will receive a Welcome to VidyoWay confirming that his account has been activated. There are three (3) ways to create VidyoWay meetings; (1) via the VidyoWay portal, (2) using the Outlook plug-in, and (3) using the VidyoWay mobile app. WR tested each of these options. Wainhouse Research 2014 Page 1 of 9

2 Creating a Meeting from the VidyoWay Portal To create a VidyoWay meeting (or conference or VMR), the user needs to log into the VidyoWay portal, navigate to the Create a Meeting tab (see screenshot below), enter a meeting name into the Meeting Name field, indicate whether he wants to use a PIN code, and select one of the following: a. Create a meeting for Outlook creates and automatically opens a meeting invite in icalendar (.ics) format that the user can then save to his calendar and/or use to invite others to the meeting. b. Create a meeting for Webmail presents the user with an on-screen window containing instructions for how to join the VidyoWay meeting. The user can print or select (for cut and pasting to send to others) the onscreen information. The resulting VidyoWay meeting can then support up to 25 participants using group video systems, desktop video clients, mobile video clients, or the telephone. Despite the ability to create an.ics file, and despite the fact that the VidyoWay-generated Outlook invitation contains a suggested date / time for the user s convenience, the newly created VidyoWay meeting is not actually scheduled for a specific date or time. Instead, it is a 25 connection video meeting room (VMR) that remains active and available for use, either one time or multiple times, for up to one (1) year after last use. The Outlook meeting invite (see screenshot below) provides detailed information about how users can join the meeting from their PCs, a video conferencing device (e.g. Cisco, Polycom system), a mobile device, or via the telephone. Wainhouse Research 2014 Page 2 of 9

3 Creating a Meeting from within Microsoft Outlook Vidyo offers a Microsoft Outlook plug-in (compatible with Outlook 2003, 2007, 2010, and 2013) that allows registered users to create VidyoWay meetings directly from within Outlook. The plug-in (a 15 MB exe file) can be downloaded from the VidyoWay portal or the Vidyo website. As a part of the installation, the user is asked to provide his account information (see screen shot at right). The user can also select whether the system should create PIN codes for each meeting. Once installed, the plug-in creates a shortcut button on the Outlook tool bar (see screenshot below). Wainhouse Research 2014 Page 3 of 9

4 To create a meeting, the user simply clicks on the shortcut, enters a meeting name, and clicks OK. A few seconds later, the Outlook meeting invitation opens on-screen. The user can then save the meeting to his calendar or add meeting participants as he would with any other Outlook invite. WR tested the installation and use of the Outlook plug-in on our Windows 7 PC running Outlook 2013, and the feature worked as expected. Given how easy it is to create meetings this way, we expect that most Outlook users would take advantage of this capability. Creating a Meeting using the VidyoWay Mobile App Mobile users can also create VidyoWay meetings via the VidyoWay mobile app. After installing the proper app (ios or Android), the user needs to 1) Log in with his VidyoWay credentials 2) Click on Schedule a New Meeting. 3) Enter a meeting name and indicate whether he wants a PIN code for the meeting. 4) Select the calendar app he wants to use (assuming he has more than one calendar app loaded) 5) Adjust the meeting entry as desired (e.g. update subject, change date / time, invite others, etc.) 6) Save the meeting within his calendar WR tested this method of creating VidyoWay meetings on both our ios and Android mobile devices, and once again we were pleased by the results. Using the VidyoWay mobile app, users can create meetings in less than a minute. Note that the VidyoWay mobile app used to create VidyoWay meetings is the same mobile app used to attend VidyoWay meetings. Connecting to VidyoWay Sessions To test VidyoWay, the WR test team used the following video systems / clients: - 2 x standards-based (H.323 / SIP) group video conferencing systems - 1 x Windows 7 PC running Cisco Jabber software - 1 x Windows 7 PC running the VidyoDesktop client - 1 x Mac OSX PC running Polycom RealPresence software - 1 x Mac OSX PC running the VidyoDesktop client - 1 x iphone 6 running ios and connected via Wi-Fi - 1 x ipad 3 running ios and connected via Wi-Fi - 1 x HTC One smartphone running Android and connected via Wi-Fi - 1 x Samsung Galaxy Tab running Android and connected via Wi-Fi For the mobile devices (iphone 6, ipad 3, HTC One, and Galaxy Tab), when prompted by the VidyoWay web page, the test team visited the appropriate app store (Apple App Store and Google Play) and downloaded / installed the VidyoWay mobile client. To test the ability to connect from a PC using the VidyoDesktop software, the test team installed the VidyoDesktop client on our Windows and Mac PCs. In all cases, the devices connected without issue to the VidyoWay service. 1 1 Although WR does not have a VidyoRoom system in our lab and thus could not test this function, our understanding is that VidyoRoom systems now support calendar integration and can connect to VidyoWay conferences with a single click. Wainhouse Research 2014 Page 4 of 9

5 Testing Notes: 1) NAT / Firewall Traversal - VidyoWay does NOT include an H.323 or SIP registration engine and thus cannot provide NAT / firewall traversal for H.323 or SIP hardware or software clients. This may be an issue for organizations that have not configured their environment to support video calls to external destinations. The VidyoWay Call Experience Depending on the endpoint in use, the call experience provided by VidyoWay ranged from excellent (when using the VidyoDesktop or VidyoMobile clients) to good (for H.323 / SIP connections). Video Quality In terms of video quality, the WR test team noted the following: Connection Vidyo Software Users (Desktop or Mobile) Standards-Based (H.323, SIP) Callers Mobile Callers Video Quality Users connecting with Vidyo software (VidyoDesktop or VidyoMobile) enjoyed an exceptional video experience of up to HD video resolution and 30 fps. Users connecting from standards-based (SIP or H.323) hardware or software systems often connected at lower than optimal video resolutions and frame rates (e.g. 480p at 15 fps from an HD capable group video systems). In some cases, the video quality for the non-vidyo connections depended on how many other non-vidyo systems were connected to the session. Given the need to transcode the non-vidyo connections, and the associated processing requirement and cost, this was not surprising. During a few test calls, our standards-based callers experienced network-related issues that slightly impacted the video experience. We expect that our testers using the Vidyo software clients faced similar network issues without video artifacts thanks to Vidyo s network resiliency capabilities. We were especially impressed by the high quality, full motion video we enjoyed on our ios and Android devices. The only issue we noted was that the control icons (e.g. change settings, select camera, mute, etc.) within the VidyoWay app on our HTC One were too small to use. This appears to be device-specific as we did not have this issue on our Samsung Galaxy Tab. Wainhouse Research 2014 Page 5 of 9

6 Audio Quality While the video quality during VidyoWay meetings was generally excellent, the audio quality was acceptable but not exceptional. VidyoWay supports wide-band Speex audio for Vidyo clients, and G.722 and G.711 for standards-based endpoints. During our testing, our H.323 and SIP systems connected using G.722 at 7 khz, which technically speaking is wide-band audio (2x the frequency of a standard phone call). This, however, pales in comparison to the ultra-wide-band audio (G.722.1, G.722.1C / Siren- 14, MPEG-4, etc.) we use on a daily basis. Content Sharing VidyoWay supports high quality content sharing between all connected users and devices. Unlike traditional multipoint video calls that support only a single shared content stream (H.239 or BFCP) per meeting, VidyoWay meetings support multiple content streams. Note, however, that non-vidyo users and systems (H.323 and SIP) can access only the first shared stream. Vidyo software users, however, can choose which shared stream to view. To share content during a VidyoWay session, mobile users on large tablets (8 or larger screen) can use the free VidyoSlate application. This app allows mobile users to share content from various sources (photo album, Drop Box, Box, and Google Drive), and annotate over content. Unfortunately, both of our Android devices have screens smaller than 8 inches. Therefore, we were only able to test VidyoSlate on our ipad 3. The VidyoSlate installation proceeded without issue on our ipad 3. Once VidyoSlate was installed, we were presented with two options for joining VidyoWay meetings with VidyoSlate. - Option 1 - Clicking on the iphone / ipad link within a meeting invite, which opened a page asking us whether we want to Join Conference (which opens the VidyoWay mobile client) or Share and Annotate (which opens the VidyoSlate client). After clicking on Share and Annotate, we were asked to enter our name and click Join. - Option 2 Opening the VidyoSlate app, clicking on Calendar, and selecting the meeting. The user then enters his name and clicks Join. Wainhouse Research 2014 Page 6 of 9

7 We were then able to enable our speaker, microphone, and camera by clicking on the headset icon. VidyoSlate on the ipad allowed us to send and receive video and audio, receive and annotate over shared content, and share content (e.g. photos) with others. However, the app crashed several times when we tried to share photos during our testing. Barring a few stability-related glitches, VidyoWay s content sharing functionality worked well. Users with smaller tablets, however, may find themselves able to receive but not share content at this time. Managing VidyoWay Sessions To manage his meeting, the meeting host goes to the Manage My Meeting tab on the VidyoWay portal, enters his Meeting ID (e.g ), and clicks on Submit. After entering his Meeting ID, the host is presented with the Manage Meeting in Progress window shown below. From this portal page, the meeting host can mute (audio and/or video), disconnect all or specific attendees, or lock his meeting room to prevent additional connections. WR tested each of these functions, and they worked as expected. Testing Notes 1) DTMF Commands - While not documented, the testers noted that when using the Cisco Jabber SIP client they could use DTMF codes to change their on-screen layout (e.g. pressing 1 changes to full screen view of the active speaker, while pressing 2 changes to a side-by-side layout). We are not sure why, but this same DTMF control capability was not available while using the Polycom RealPresence Desktop client. 2) Encryption We were pleased to note that all of the connections to VidyoWay were encrypted. Wainhouse Research 2014 Page 7 of 9

8 Other VidyoWay Portal Functions From within the VidyoPortal, users can also access and update their account information, view and export usage information, and access both quick start guides and FAQs. Analysis and Opinions We ve all heard the old adage, You get what you pay for. While normally true, that does not appear to apply to the VidyoWay video bridging service. The VidyoWay service supports high quality multipoint video calling between standards-based group video systems, PC-based video clients, and mobile devices for the low cost of $0 per month. In lieu of payment, Vidyo gets your contact information and, according to the user agreement, permission to contact you about Vidyo s collaboration products. From Vidyo s perspective, VidyoWay is all about lead generation. In general, the call experience was excellent, regardless of the device or software used. Vidyo software users, however, enjoyed a number of additional benefits including superior quality and strong network resilience associated with Vidyo s scalable video coding technology. While we were quite impressed by VidyoWay, we noted that some features likely to be of interest to some end-users are not supported. For example, despite statements made two years ago regarding plans for Lync interop, Lync connections are still not supported. In addition, video recording is not currently supported. Furthermore, the system does not support NAT / firewall traversal for H.323 and SIP systems. But to be fair, many paid services do not include NAT / firewall traversal functions either. In addition, while hardly a requirement, we noted that VidyoWay does not support Browser-only connections. Instead, PC users must use either the VidyoDesktop client or some other standards-based client. To be clear, we do not see this as a major omission. In addition, there are many paid video services that do not support Browser-based calling. However, we are also aware of some RFPs that require support for Browser-based calling. This may be an issue for some, but not for others. Given its solid interop and zero cost, why hasn t VidyoWay taken over the hosted video bridging market? While we can t be sure, we expect the reasons include: 1) The perception, accurate or not, that a free service cannot provide an acceptable user experience 2) The inaccurate assumption that this Vidyo-powered service can support only Vidyo callers 3) The understandable concern that a free service could be discontinued at any time 4) The lack of live support (there is, however, a contact support link on every VidyoWay page) 5) The lack of an active sales force promoting and pitching this service (no sales person makes money selling this service) Given the above and the lengthy disclaimers in Vidyo s terms of use, WR is not surprised that VidyoWay has not taken off with large enterprise customers. Smaller organizations, however, would likely prioritize user experience and low cost over service level agreements (SLAs). The net is that the FREE VidyoWay service delivers as much as or even more than some paid video calling services. For those seeking very cost-effective hosted video bridging and are willing to shoulder some degree of risk, VidyoWay is certainly worth a try. Wainhouse Research 2014 Page 8 of 9

9 About Wainhouse Research: WR provides strategic guidance and insight on products and services for collaboration and conferencing applications within Unified Communications. Our global client base includes established and new technology suppliers and service providers, as well as enterprise users of voice, video, streaming, and web collaboration solutions. The company provides market research and consulting, produces conferences on technology trends and customer experiences, publishes a free weekly newsletter, and speaks at client and industry events. More about WR. This document may be distributed within the licensed organization only The following acts are strictly prohibited: Transmittal to others outside your immediate organization including partners, resellers, external consultants, etc. in ANY MEDIA FORMAT, posting on a web site which is accessible to others outside your immediate organization, or reproduction for sale. This publication is protected by United States copyright laws and international treaties. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Wainhouse Research shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The reader assumes sole responsibility for the selection of these materials to achieve its intended results. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Wainhouse Research 2014 Page 9 of 9