Cisco brings video collaboration to enterprises via Flip camcorder

Stuart Corner
Monday, 14 June 2010 01:17

Business IT - Networking

Cisco has unveiled a new enterprise collaboration platform, Cisco Quad, and a new 'prosumer video solution' designed to bring video to enterprise collaboration and unified communication systems via a new enterprise version of the Flip video device, and video editing and management facilities in the cloud.

 

Eyebrows were raised two years ago when Cisco bought Pure Digital, maker of the super-easy-to-use Flip camcorder that shipped with in-built software to easily enable video sharing via the web. (And last month Cisco bought the industrial design company that had designed the Flip)

The Flip was, and still is, very much a mass market consumer device and seemed well outside Cisco's market. The generally accepted view was that the move was part of Cisco's drive to boost video on the Net and hence demand for its routers and switches.

Now Cisco has revealed its real strategy for Flip - making it a key component of a system to enable enterprises to easily capture, upload, edit and share video as an integral part of their enterprise collaboration and unified communications system.

The combined solution comprises the new Cisco Quad collaboration platform and Cisco Prosumer Video that integrates Cisco FocalPoint, an online video workspace, with a business-class Cisco Flip MinoPRO camcorder. Cisco has also made Cisco WebEx Connect instant messaging available on any supported browser.

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