Revolutionizing Remote Meetings: AI Giants Clash in the Battle for Video Conferencing Supremacy
With the advancement of technology and the expansion of application scenarios, the scale of the video conferencing market has continued to grow in recent years and is gradually replacing the traditional conference model. However, traditional video conferencing still faces many challenges, such as video quality, voice recognition, user experience, etc. The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is bringing new market space and opportunities for video conferencing, attracting industry giants to make layouts.
On September 24, a reporter from China Business News learned from Agora that it has recently released its aPaaS “Smart Conference” product, which uses RTE (real-time interaction) technology and generative AI capabilities to reshape the conference collaboration experience. “RTE technology ensures low-latency, high-quality audio and video transmission, making video conference communication more real-time and smooth; while generative AI provides intelligent auxiliary functions such as real-time subtitles and AI meeting minutes through analysis and generation of conference content. The two major technical supports have upgraded conferences from traditional information transmission tools to intelligent collaboration platforms, effectively improving conference efficiency and user experience.” He Lipeng, head of the digital industry at Agora, told reporters.
When talking about the changes that AI has brought to video conferencing, Wang Hui, product director of Huichang Communication, told reporters that AI is used to provide customized functions for corporate customers, and AI is added before, during and after meetings to make conference communication more efficient and the meeting experience better. However, while AI brings a new experience to video conferencing scenarios, it also brings challenges, such as accuracy, corporate information security, and implementation costs.
The reporter noticed that in addition to companies like Agora that provide underlying technologies and services and video conferencing system software and hardware companies, major companies including Tencent and Alibaba have also incorporated numerous AI functions into their video conferencing products to enhance customer experience and seize more market share.
AI becomes the new direction of next generation video conferencing
With the evolution of technology and the demand for cost reduction and efficiency improvement in corporate transformation, three core changes are taking place in the domestic video conferencing field: AI empowerment, the development of conferences towards intelligence; the exit of MCU (video conferencing server), the rise of cloud conferencing, and the transition from conference tools to business capabilities.
First, with the rapid development of generative AI technology, conference systems are undergoing a transformation from “information channels” to “intelligent decision-making engines”. In the past, conference systems only served the function of information transmission, but now AI empowerment provides more intelligent support for conferences. Secondly, traditional MCU conference systems rely on expensive dedicated hardware, which brings high cost pressure to enterprises. Cloud conference systems, with their flexibility, compatibility and efficiency, have gradually replaced traditional MCU systems.
Finally, as the digital transformation of enterprises deepens, conference systems are no longer isolated tools. Enterprises need to deeply integrate conference functions with their existing business systems. Whether it is internal collaboration, customer support or marketing, conferences must be closely integrated with business processes.
Shang Jingchao, head of digital conference solutions at Agora, believes that “AI technology will make video conferencing no longer a tool, but a real part of life. For example, in the scenario of simultaneous interpretation, which was originally very expensive, AI can further reduce the cost of multi-language video conferencing, thus lowering the threshold for everyone to use it.”
As the market continues to change, especially for government and enterprises, there is a need for a product that can meet the needs of cloud conferencing architecture, support open API (application programming interface) capabilities for business integration, and have an innovative AI engine architecture.
In this context, Agora launched the “Smart Conference” aPaaS product. According to reports, the product uses the deep integration of the dual engines of RTE Core and AI Core, which can flexibly adapt to the business needs of various conference scenarios. In addition, in terms of deployment methods, “Smart Conference” supports multiple deployment modes, including privatization, hybrid cloud, public cloud, etc., which can adapt to the different security and compliance requirements of enterprises.
At the same time, through the underlying AI framework of the “Smart Conference” product, developers can efficiently integrate various AI functions for pre-meeting, in-meeting, and post-meeting scenarios, such as AI meeting minutes, real-time translation, AI assistants, etc., to meet the needs of real-time interaction and conference scenarios.
“Through the deep integration of these intelligent functions, ‘Smart Conference’ brings a brand new conference experience to users. AI is no longer a single tool module, but through deep integration with the Agora RTE platform, it truly participates in and optimizes every aspect of the meeting. This is what we call AI conference – AI is deeply embedded in the conference process and redefines the way meetings are held.” said He Lipeng.
How to reshape the meeting and collaboration experience under the wave of AI?
The key is how to truly implement AI and empower video conferencing systems to improve user experience.
In this regard, Yu Zhong, sales director of Keda-Moyun Video, a leading domestic video conferencing company, told reporters that with the improvement of underlying audio and video capabilities and AI’s own learning ability, the overall effect of video conferencing will become even better. For example, immersive 3D scenes will be the direction for AI to show its prowess.
How to ensure the overall video conferencing experience? Xia Lei, technical director of Agora Smart Conference, introduced that “Smart Conference” relies on Agora SD-RTN software-defined real-time network, which can ensure smooth audio and video calls in the case of 80% packet loss, and has excellent anti-weak network capabilities and ultra-low freezes. The average freeze rate of domestic videos is less than 1.1%, and the average freeze rate of overseas videos is less than 2%, providing high-quality video conferencing services anytime and anywhere.
Not only that, Agora is also working hard to improve the interactive scene experience of video conferencing. It has a self-developed high-definition voice engine designed for real-time interaction, video enhancement strategies, AI noise reduction and echo cancellation capabilities, and other technologies, allowing users to have a higher quality, purer and smoother video conferencing experience.
All of these efforts are actually aimed at better solving users’ pain points and meeting their needs, so as to better open up this market. Zeng Guan, product manager of the collaborative office business department of JD Technology, told reporters: “Through AI and wearable devices, the future communication method will change from information communication to ‘what you see is what you get’, helping users quickly obtain the content they want, so as to better serve their work.”
IDC data shows that by 2023, the size of China’s video conferencing market will reach US$920 million (approximately RMB 6.49 billion), of which the cloud conferencing market will benefit from the accelerated commercialization process, increasing by 11.6% year-on-year to US$270 million (approximately RMB 1.91 billion), maintaining a rapid growth trend.
According to data from China Research Network, the scale of China’s video conferencing market is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan in 2024, of which the cloud conferencing market accounts for nearly 40%. This growth trend reflects the accelerated application and popularization of video conferencing systems in remote office, online education, telemedicine and other fields.
Today, the continuous development of 5G, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other technologies is further promoting technological innovation and upgrading of video conferencing systems. Video conferencing systems are developing in the direction of high-definition, intelligence, mobility and security. The application of high-definition audio and video coding and decoding technology, cloud computing technology, artificial intelligence technology, etc. has significantly improved the quality and user experience of video conferencing. However, the cost of applying technology and the experience during use are still real challenges.
Regarding the opportunities and challenges brought about by the integration of AI and video conferencing, Wang Hui suggested that the key is to help customers deploy locally to ensure the security of corporate information; at the same time, in terms of flexibility, the platform supports the integration of AI, translation, H5 and other functions to provide enterprises with personalized demand services; in terms of cost, the company’s existing resources should be fully utilized, rather than repeated procurement and construction. It is necessary to make full use of the company’s existing resources, such as the company’s existing traditional hardware terminals, local voice lines, and local AI models, to reduce the implementation cost of video conferencing scenario deployment.
(Source: China Business Network)
Source: China Business Network
Original title: AI reshapes video conferencing giants “compete” in the AI video conferencing market
Solemn declaration:Eastmoney publishes this content to spread more information. It has nothing to do with the position of this website and does not constitute investment advice. You will bear the risks if you act accordingly.