When it comes to managed video and cloud services, the telemedicine space is really heating up. Advances in networking, connectivity and video codec technology have all led to increased uptake of services within the space.
TMC CEO Rich Tehrani got a chance to speak to Vishal Brown, VP of Professional Services at Yorktel, about some of the trends in the market at the recent ITEXPO 2014 in Las Vegas. Yorktel has been in business for about 30 years and has grown from an AV integrator to a managed and cloud services provider that also specializes in unified communications (UC) and collaboration.
According to Brown, the company has three important layers of service. Consulting and guidance fall under the professional services category, while the company’s managed services include designing, building and administering multimedia and UC environments. Yorktel also provides media services like webcasting and streaming.
“Where we’ve been seeing a lot of traction is really in telemedicine as well as in the federal government with respect to video kiosks,” said Brown. He added that technology advances have enabled video to reach telemedicine kiosks and carts in increasingly remote areas.
“When we have those carts, they complement our cloud technology, our Yorktel Cloud Service, and we’re able to provide a holistic solution that encompasses the endpoint, a telemedicine cart, a cloud service that provides bridging infrastructure and then managed services on the back end that provide support and management of that entire telemedicine solution,” said Brown.
The federal government is one of Yorktel’s biggest customers, but the company also serves clients from SMBs up to the Fortune 50 along with public sector customers like schools, hospitals and local governments. Another important trend Yorktel has observed when it comes to their business is one that has been echoed through the entire tech sector.
“The industry is moving away from hardware-based endpoints that traditionally sat in conference rooms,” said Brown. “And they’re moving toward software-based endpoints.”
UC offerings like Microsoft Lync and Office 360 have been instrumental in moving video and collaborative services out of conference rooms and out to a number of endpoints like laptops and phones. That flexibility is critical in today’s “anywhere, anytime” business environment, and is also important for supporting the burgeoning BYOD trend.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
