Company Profiles - Vantage

Vantage


Helping companies connect and collaborate anywhere in the world is the core business of Melbourne company, Vantage, which specialises in developing and installing effective, economical communications solutions.
http://www.vantage.com.au

The story so far


Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vantage, Mark Buckley, first thought about establishing a business focusing on audio and video conferencing solutions while on a holiday in late 1994."I was an executive at Novell and I knew collaboration was the key for any business. By then we could all see email was a great business tool but it didn't allow people in different locations to work together in real time, and I knew that was the future," explained Buckley.

Opening its doors in May 1995, Vantage pioneered early conferencing technologies and now offers a variety of audio, video and web conferencing solutions to a wide range of Australian and international companies, as well as a portfolio of managed services, hosted services, network services, support and consultancy. "In some ways we were probably a bit too early in the market because the technology was expensive and business travel was still seen as the most effective way to interact with other colleagues and clients," explained Buckley.

He said the introduction of high definition (HD) video conferencing changed the playing field dramatically, particularly in the last two years. As the price of the technology has come down and the quality of the solutions has improved, the market has grown rapidly. At the same time, with the improved cost and availability of bandwidth, many more organisations have shifted to internet-based video conferencing.

"It’s reached the point where I can provide a dedicated video conferencing service from Melbourne to London for less than the cost of one business class plane ticket every quarter. It’s now a viable option, especially when you consider that a dedicated connection allows for unlimited contact between the two parties."

Reaching new markets


Mr Buckley believes that one of the key reasons for the growth of his business is that conferencing technology makes it possible for people to feel closer together. "I can beam into a room in London or New York in seconds and the quality is like watching high definition TV. You actually get immersed."

But he said technology advances were only part of the equation. "Even though many companies now have global operations, business practices and the way people work hasn't changed much. People still need to meet, they still need to discuss ideas, resolve problems and work on solutions. The internet and conferencing technology has simply given us the ability to conduct business remotely."

Early on Buckley saw an opportunity to develop an online platform to integrate conferencing into the normal workflow of a business. Vantage’s vMeeting.NET (www.vmeeting.net) is a hosted audio, video and web conferencing solution that allows organisations to host and easily manage voice, video or data conferences.

Users can join the conference from their own desktop computer (using IP or SIP) or their telephone (using PSTN or VoIP) or a room-based conferencing system (using IP or ISDN), and all parties can be notified of the meeting details by email or SMS text message. vMeeting.NET and associated conferencing services run on a purpose-built network, providing users with seamless integration and national/international connectivity at a reasonable cost.

"It’s all about providing a platform that emulates the normal business processes of scheduling a meeting and associated resources, just like many users now book their airline travel over the web," explained Buckley. He said many companies are also becoming more strategic in the way they use meeting solutions. "A perfect example is one of our clients – a large automotive company – that schedules about 500 meetings per month. Each of those meetings has about five or ten participants, so it’s easy to calculate the savings in carbon emissions and petrol.”

"Plus we’re starting to see a backlash against the impact of travel on people’s lives. Once it used to be an incentive or a perk, now travel is often seen as taking people away from their families, and it’s becoming more difficult with all the security processes."

Why Melbourne, Australia?


Mr Buckley said that there was no better city for his company to be based in than Melbourne. "It’s a city renowned for its modern infrastructure, great liveability and multicultural community. There are at least 15 different cultures represented in our workforce. I think a balance of cultures is very important to a global company. It gives a business a broader perspective."

The future


In 2008 the Asia Pacific video communication market witnessed solid growth of 15 per cent and is predicted to grow further despite the current economic downturn, as many organisations look to streamline operational expenses.

"Currently we've got about 600 clients worldwide, with at least 10 per cent using the technology strategically and seeing benefits in terms of business decision-making and cost savings," Buckley said.

In 2007, to help deliver conferencing services on a global scale, Vantage partnered with a leading UK-based service provider and systems integrator of video collaboration services called Videocall.

Since merging their operations with video network operation centres in Melbourne and London, Vantage and Videocall are able to deliver fully-managed, high-quality conferencing services over a pervasive, intelligent and end-to-end IP video network.

‘We view partnerships with industry pioneers like Videocall as an important component of our future business,’ said Buckley. ‘We are also working closely with York Telecom, a leading US visual communication services provider to investigate how we can develop end-to-end video collaboration solutions for our customers.’ Vantage, Videocall and York Telecom have recently formed a global ‘OnePresence’ alliance to drive the evolution of video collaboration services.