Trend


Technologies likely to reshape the telecoms landscape in 2021


By Sagi Subocki, VP Products and Marketing, Softil W


e see developers and providers of products focusing on improving communications


solutions for our remote-working world. Hence, the five trends we see for 2021 are as follows:


1. Video communications Oſten called videoconferencing, video communications may seem old news. But, 2020 delivered an unimaginable punch that sent much of the world’s population to work from home. Videoconferencing became the saviour, allowing some degree of normality for hundreds of millions of people. Videoconferencing capabilities offered


today by Zoom, Microsoſt Teams, Google Meet, GoToMeeting and others are quite formidable solutions compared to what was available five years ago – ease of use, high- quality audio and video, reliability and virtual backgrounds are just some of the features on offer. Yet, the journey is far from over. Videoconferencing is still a focused


activity, requiring preparation, proper setting, scheduling and more. In 2021, expect it to become easier to use and more secure. Its widespread use might even bring back some of the old research projects – for example, the EU-sponsored AMI project, where metadata was established during the call to fully analyse the dynamics of conversation. Voice user interface, better presentation


capabilities similar to those offered by the mmHmm startup, and AR/VR/MR might be the subject of widespread research and innovation throughout 2021. We may also see some companies building virtual ‘walls of presence’ similar to the one Orange (then France Telecom) enacted between offices,


Video communication improvements and better functionality will definitely continue apace


allowing people to meet for coffee without having to travel. Star Trek’s Holodeck might become


part of every house one day, and whilst we overshoot 2021 by a few good years in mentioning this, it serves to emphasise that video communication improvements and better functionality are definitely trending and will continue apace. Industries across the world have seen


remarkable gains in employee productivity this year through home and virtual conferencing, and 2021 may well be the year when it becomes the norm.


2. Virtual events Physical exhibitions like CES, MWC and IWCE are not gone forever. Te real handshake is still important, but for the time being it will have to wait. As videoconferencing allows industry executives to “meet” for most of 2021 – and possibly beyond – so exhibition organisers must embrace the virtual world to survive. Tis, however, could be easier said than done. Physical attendees are much easier to engage once at the event, a format more difficult to replicate virtually. We should see innovation in this space in 2021.


3. Virtual banking Virtual banking is yet another “old news” topic – or is it? Even in the pre-pandemic


04 February 2021 www.electronicsworld.co.uk


days, video had great potential for the banking industry, especially in rural areas. Now that video is universally acceptable, and banking is oſten done via the mobile phone, adding video to banking applications is an obvious trend. But, exacerbated by the pandemic, new areas will start taking advantage of virtual banking capabilities – look at the mortgage industry as an example. You still need to guarantee security and privacy, and verify and accept electronic signatures – this space is ripe for innovation.


4. Telehealth Since the pandemic struck, telehealth quickly evolved to become an important tool for healthcare practitioners to help patients, without the risk of spreading viruses. However, current telehealth capabilities are still very limited in standard patient visits and consist mainly of a basic conversation. Te capabilities of today’s smartphones and smart watches in terms of obtaining a variety of healthcare data at any time, is already impressive and will be coupled with emerging telehealth applications in transmitting health data measurements, analysis, alerts and more.


5. Automatic translation Automatic translation solutions now allow books, articles and websites online to be translated reasonably fast and cheaply. Te next development is having a little box you can speak into, which instantly translates your speech into the language of choice. Imagine a conference call where multiple-language speeches are translated and captioned in real time. Automatic translation could feature in telehealth and virtual banking, as well as other cross- border transactions, opening up endless possibilities for innovation.


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