Boaz Raviv wants to make videoconferencing as commonplace as checking e-mail or picking up the phone. The 44-year-old CEO of Radvision, an Israeli company with U.S. headquarters in Fair Lawn, N.J., jokes that he won't answer a regular phone call from anyone in the 400-person company -- he wants to see their mug on a screen. "If people want to reach me -- video," said Raviv.
Videoconferencing is nothing new. The technology has been around for decades, but hasn't shown many promising signs of moving from the boardroom to widespread consumer use.
But Radvision is pushing forward with a way to make it simpler and cheaper in the hopes that it will.
Radvision software engineers and developers have figured out a way to hold a videoconference with, potentially, an unlimited number of participants who can watch and listen using a desktop computer, a wireless laptop, or even participate via a tiny cell phone camera and screen.
Even a plain old phone user can join in, although they won't be able to see or be seen.
Technically speaking, Radvision sends signals over the Internet. The company's gear and software can set up a videoconference over any kind, or combination, of networks including the Internet, wireless, regular landline phone, even satellite networks.
The advances have caught the attention of some big fish. Microsoft uses Radvision technology to power its Microsoft Office Live Meeting program that lets workers hold a videoconference from PCs equipped with a little camera.
In November, Radvision announced it won a $6 million to $8 million contract with Northrop Grumman to provide the Defense Department with a new videoconferencing system that will be deployed around the world.
And in Europe, Asia and elsewhere overseas, Radvision says, at least 80 percent of the cell phone companies that operate advanced wireless networks use its technology to power video services such as videoconferencing and video mail over a cell phone.
U.S.-based cellular networks don't yet provide for two-way videoconferencing. But they will eventually improve network speeds, and you can be sure they'll be looking for new types of services to market to consumers, including the ability to hold a videoconference.
Radvision has managed to get its technology into a wide range of uses. Their importance might depend on your perspective.
U.S. soldiers in Iraq use Radvision's technology in field vehicles, sending real-time video back to U.S. bases in Iraq and stateside.
Then there's a company that uses Radvision technology to send real-time video of various ski-slope locations in Austria so you can check the conditions before you strap on your boots.
It's all good for Radvision in the eyes of Raviv, who moved up to CEO in November, succeeding Gadi Tamari, who took a job as CEO of another Israeli-based telecommunications company, Axerra Networks.
Radvision, which trades on the NASDAQ, has also caught the attention of investors. Siemens and Samsung are minority shareholders. Revenues jumped from $64 million in 2004 to $74 million last year, and profits rose from $5.9 million to $14.7 million over the same period. Last month, shares hit a five-year high of $21.40 the day after the company reported its quarterly and year-end earnings.
Whether the company will be able to persuade legions of businesses, carriers and software companies to incorporate its technology remains to be seen. The folks at Radvision remain convinced that video calls and conferences are the wave of the future.
This week I went to take a look at that future at Radvision's Fair Lawn offices.
A laptop PC equipped with a low-cost camera sat on a table and a plasma screen hung on a wall. My face appeared on both screens when I sat down in front of the laptop. Another portion of the screen showed an empty chair that turned out to be Raviv's chair in his Tel Aviv office.
The CEO soon appeared, and I watched him don a headset. In a third box, Yael Yekutiel, who handles public relations for the company, appeared from her office in Manhattan.
A slight delay combined with some jerky and fuzzy images reminded me a bit of early images from astronauts in space. Raviv's voice dropped out every once in a while, but the quality was pretty good considering the entire exchange was piped over the public Internet.
Will we all be busy holding videoconferences with each other in the near future? Hard to say. A lot of corporate employees have become addicted to instant messaging, something that might have seemed unlikely years ago.
Raviv was soon busy taking me through a Power Point presentation that he pulled up next to our three faces. I tried not to stare at my image. The lighting in the room was bright; my nose looked a bit strange. But I remember thinking, you can probably get used to this.
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(c) 2006, North Jersey Media Group Inc. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services via Newscom.
