The transition to remote working and online learning is unlikely to be reversed. Companies have experienced the multiple benefits of remote working, from enhanced collaboration to better work/life balance. As a result, 78% of the CEOs surveyed in PwC’s CEO Panel survey believe that the shift towards remote collaboration is enduring.
The launch in Europe of RingCentral’s new browser-based video meetings solution, RingCentral Video, meets the growing need for faster, more intelligent collaboration among teams that are increasingly working from home.
The three pillars of communication and collaboration
We’ve always focused on keeping people connected. That’s the basis of a platform that tightly integrates the “MVP” pillars of communications and collaboration—message, video, and phone. An integrated platform solves an important challenge to remote working: maintaining context.
As employees use separate tools to shift a conversation from a team messaging app to a phone call and then to a separate online meeting tool, the context of the conversation gets lost at every stage. A genuinely unified platform, however, keeps each mode of communication, as well as relevant documents and links, in one central space, where context is maintained. Shifting communications modes no longer means having to rehash previous conversations, because they’re stored in the same solution.
This is why we’ve tightly integrated RingCentral Video with the RingCentral Office cloud communications and collaboration solution. RingCentral Office includes team messaging and phone capabilities in a single mobile and desktop application that works across all devices, giving users the flexibility of access they need.
The importance of a browser-based video solution
The ability to access RingCentral Video in a browser, rather than the more common method of requiring a download or plug-in, also marks a key distinction. Application downloads can lead to delays and complications at the start of meetings. A browser-based solution, on the other hand, requires just a single click—and no waiting—to join.
Just as importantly, the browser-based delivery mechanism for RingCentral Video still includes all the full video capabilities of tools that require downloads, such as HD audio and video, screen-sharing, annotations, and cloud recordings.
Here’s a deeper look at some of the capabilities of RingCentral Video:
One app for all modes
We view meetings as just one piece of a connected communication and collaboration experience that also includes team messaging and phone capabilities. By combining each into a single app, teams can exponentially build knowledge and momentum. The key is context, which often disappears when people jump from, say, a messaging app to a separate meeting tool. For example, with RingCentral, users can begin a discussion in their team messaging app, then use a single click to launch a phone or video call in the same app. After the call, users can create a team from the list of call attendees, who can then share notes, assign tasks, and set reminders for further collaboration.
Open and customisable
Meetings are for more than just communications. Because communication and collaboration are critical across your organisation, we make it possible to tightly integrate RingCentral Video with other critical business apps, such as Google (G Suite and Gmail), Hubspot, Microsoft (Teams and O365), Slack, Theta Lake, Chorus, RSI, FreeBusy, Redtail, and Zoho. RingCentral for Salesforce is also available on Salesforce AppExchange. Additional integrations coming shortly include Canvas, Epic, Gong.io, Kaltura, Panopto, Prodoscore, and Zendesk. In all, RingCentral has more than 200 out-of-the-box integrations in its app marketplace.
Rich analytics
RingCentral Video also includes a dashboard of analytics about meeting usage that you can use to understand and optimise productivity across your teams. The dashboard allows companies to drill down into user activities, such as usage of video, microphones, and screen share. These reports help with resource planning or to drive video meeting adoption to save travel costs. The dashboard also provides an overview of the global performance of RingCentral Video outside the organisation and across networks. Quality of service reports help companies identify recurring patterns and troubleshoot issues faster.
No downloads. Join video meetings instantly in your browser
Many current meeting tools today force users to download an app before joining or hosting a meeting. Unfortunately, downloads mean more clicks, which means more opportunities for things to go wrong. What makes RingCentral Video unique is that it delivers the meeting in a browser window without any downloads. The experience is the same as in an app, but users join meetings instantly with one click.
Greater security and reliability
Another benefit of a browser-based meetings solution is security. Downloads can present security risks, which is why some IT departments have implemented policies and controls to prohibit employees from doing so. RingCentral Video’s browser-based solution bypasses that risk but still allows employees to access HD audio and video meetings anywhere, any time.
We’re deeply committed to our customers’ privacy and security. For RingCentral Video we worked closely with Google using Web RTC to ensure the highest-quality, browser-based video experience. Using WebRTC means that all the advantages and best practices used by browser vendors in their security models are also baked into RingCentral Video.
Just as importantly, we don’t rent or sell any of our customers’ personal information. RingCentral Video also meets GDPR and CCPA privacy and security requirements.
To help users keep their video sessions secure, we’ve included a bunch of admin, host and user settings. These include in-meeting function control (think audio, chat and screen share) and individual meeting security like waiting room, user authentication and meeting passwords. If the host decides to leave the video conference before it ends, they have the option to assign a moderator before leaving.
Finally, RingCentral Video is built on a new, state-of-the-art, high-availability infrastructure.
Integration with RC Rooms (in beta)
Earlier this year, we announced a beta of our RingCentral Rooms product for video conferencing. Using RingCentral Rooms, you can initiate meetings from conference rooms and meeting spaces with one touch. In August, we announced our partnership with Poly to build RingCentral Rooms into Poly Studio X all-in-one video bars. This means you can run video meetings through RingCentral Rooms without even needing a PC or Mac.
RingCentral Rooms makes it easier to set up and manage hybrid meetings through functions such as instant join, dual screen support, one-panel dashboard, direct sharing and calendar integrations.
RingCentral Video in action
You can get more details online; simply click through to our dedicated RingCentral Video information page.
Originally published Sep 28, 2020, updated Apr 15, 2021
