谷歌进军视频会议市场

    谷歌公司（Google）最近推出的硬件产品是定价999美元的Chromebox for Meetings设备。谷歌称，较之现有的电话会议和视频会议系统，比如思科（Cisco）的网真（TelePresence）以及宝利通（Polycom）的远真（RealPresence），Chromebox是一种更低价、更简便的替代方案。新款Chromebox可允许15人同时参与某个视频会议，与会者只需使用Gmail账号登陆，无需另外的密码或PIN码。

    Chromebox于上周四在谷歌总部的一次媒体活动中发布，随后就开始在美国市场上发售。之后，《财富》杂志（Fortune）采访了谷歌负责Chromebook产品管理的副总裁凯撒•森古塔，以了解谷歌进军视频会议市场的缘由，以及他为什么认为Chromebox优于视频会议市场上现有的产品。

    《财富》：你们为什么发布这样一个产品？

    森古塔：与遍布各地的分支机构联合办公是目前企业运营的一大趋势，不过，我们现在使用的通讯工具仍然是些老古董。绝大部分会议室的硬件设备看起来和25年前没什么两样。古老的电话会议依然在唱主角。所以，我们觉得，如果能用当下最先进的科技设备武装我们的办公室，企业的运营效率一定会大幅提升。

    能否详细谈谈你们的新产品？

    我们希望在方寸会议室里展示谷歌服务的强大力量。从你预定会议室的那一刻起，谷歌就会全盘接手。当你站在会议室外时，想知道它到底是否已经被预定？当你给同事做演示时，想不想摆脱各类适配器的困扰，一键搞定；面对面的交谈一定是你最梦寐以求的体验。现在，谷歌把最成熟的技术以最平易近人的价格带到你面前。一套超清视频会议系统只需要不到1000美元。（套装包括一部全新的Chromebox主机、遥控器、高清摄像头以及集成麦克风和扬声器的通话器。整套硬件设备售价999美元，此外，用户还需每年支付250美元的服务费。用户购买设备后将免费赠送一年服务。）

    谷歌为什么进入会议系统市场？

    谷歌以解决重大问题为己任。现在，我们发现会议系统领域一直停滞不前。只有那些非常高端的会议设备才有所创新。我们认为， （Chrome）平台极具创新性，能颠覆整个会议系统市场。

    但视频会议市场上不是早就有更便宜、更简单的解决方案了吗？这个市场不是已经饱和了吗？

    没有。稍作了解就会发现，视频会议市场上两极分化严重：大家要么得花大价钱购买高端系统；要么就只能东拼西凑自行解决。而在后一种情况下，视频会议的画质和音质都不理想。而且可能只限于公司的网络。因此我们发现了这个市场空白。只需Chromebox这一个盒子，就能轻松解决视频会议问题，无需进行后端设置，也没有什么奇奇怪怪的硬件要正确配置。Chromebox中一切都配合得天衣无缝。我们曾经在谷歌内部四处寻找这样的视频会议解决方案，结果都无功而返。现在，有些公司已经在试用Chromebox。对视频会议解决方案的需求高得惊人。许多人都想要Chromebox。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航

    The latest piece of hardware from Google (GOOG) is Chromebox for Meetings, a $999 kit that the company says is a cheaper, simpler alternative to existing teleconferencing and videoconferencing systems like Cisco's TelePresence (CSCO) and Polycom's RealPresence (PLCM). Up to 15 participants can join a video meeting using the new Chromebox, simply by logging in with a Gmail account -- no other passwords or PINs necessary.

    The product was unveiled at a press event at the company's headquarters on Thursday morning, and is available immediately in the U.S.. Afterward, Fortune caught up with Caesar Sengupta, vice president of product management for Google's Chromebooks, to find out why the company wants in on this business, and why he thinks its product is superior to others already on the market.

    Fortune: Why are you launching this?

    Sengupta: We spend a lot more time working with distributed offices these days, but the methods and means we use to communicate have stayed the same. Most meeting rooms look the same as they've looked for the last 25 years. We still use audioconferencing. We thought, how much nicer would it be if we were able to apply a lot of the things we've learned over the years in this space?

    Describe the new product. What is it exactly and what does it do?

    We're trying to bring all the power of Google services to a meeting room. It all starts with how do you book a meeting room? If you're standing outside a meeting room, how do you know if it's available? How do you present to your colleagues without fighting for adapters? How do you have a fantastic experience that's face to face? We can bring very sophisticated technology at prices that anyone can buy. You can get a very high-quality videoconferencing system for less than $1,000. [The kit includes a new Chromebox, remote control, high-definition camera and a combined microphone and speaker unit. In addition to the hardware cost of $999, there is also an annual $250 subscription cost for the service, though the first year's fee is waived -- Ed.]

    Why does Google want to play in this space?

    At Google we look at big problems to solve. In this case we looked at the meeting room space that hasn't had much innovation. The only innovation has happened at the very, very high end of the market. We thought we could bring something very innovative that's game-changing in this space on top of this [Chrome] platform.

    But aren't there already cheaper, simpler videoconferencing solutions out there? Isn't this an already saturated market?

    No, because if you talk to companies you find that there are two extremes in this space: You either have these high-end systems, or you have to mix and match and put together your own solution. When you do that you don't get the right quality and the right audio. And it might be limited to your network. So we found this gap. This is a meeting in a box. There's no back-end to set up, no funky hardware to configure in the right way. Everything that comes in the box just works seamlessly. As we looked around and tried to do this internally, for Google, we didn't find any solution that solved this problem. Now we have a number of companies already testing this out, and the demand in this space has been absolutely staggering. It was amazing how many people wanted this.