We need to distinguish the difference between Skype and videoconferencing equipment in the boardroom. First Skype is free and functions through a proprietary video conferencing protocol. Video conferencing equipment in the boardroom works through a standards based, ITU (International Telecommunications Union), protocol. Inherently these video conferencing endpoints cannot connect directly to each other – But in the video conferencing world there is always a way around everything.
Although ubiquitous, Skype has many issues and has been rejected by the enterprise and business in general. The first problem is it uses a proprietary protocol. The second problem Skype yields poor video quality. The third problem there are a limited number of participants and the MAC application has bugs. The fourth problem with Skype there is no real security. The fifth problem — connections are unreliable. Skype is really for consumers and not well liked or used in the business environment where critical meetings are taking place. All this said there are times when one wants to connect the board room with Skype.
You can connect to the board room from your Skype by going to a third party video conferencing bridge service or cloud based video conferencing service. The other option is to purchase a gateway that will translate Skype’s proprietary protocol to the standards based video conferencing protocols. It is’ best to use a service if you really need to connect with Skype. BlueJeans is a cloud based video conferencing bridging service that will connect Skype, Lync and other video conferencing end points. One caveat is you will not have seamless collaboration for computer input and a reliable mobile device connection.
Some users experience a kind of “Tower of Babel” experience with numerous proprietary video conferencing endpoints connecting through a gateway or cloud based video conferencing service. Several video conferencing manufactures solved this problem by offering a free app that seamlessly connects to any standard video conferencing system with seamless computer collaboration. Over time Skype and others will be forced to either change to the ITU video conferencing standards or cease to exist. In the end the standards based systems will prevail and that will make video conferencing easy with just about any endpoint.
J.W. Hornyak Videoconferencing & Telecommunications
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