Vidyo Inc. is pushing videoconferencing into a virtualized cloud environment that will enable rapid scaling of video sessions to smartphones, tablets and laptops, devices on which video communication is set to take off. (See Vidyo Scales Virtual Video Conferencing.)

Traditional videoconferencing architectures using multi-point control units won't scale to include the transcoding needed to support all the different devices that are to be part of the video communications ecosystem, says Young-Sae Song, VP of worldwide marketing for Vidyo.

Vidyo's approach is to virtualize its video routers to run on VMware Inc. and public cloud-computing infrastructure such as Amazon.com Inc.'s EC2, that can be turned up to support a videoconference and then turned down when not in use.

"This replaces physical video router appliances," says Song.

Vidyo is touting a 10-10-10-10 strategy for this virtualized approach: 10 times better density at 10 times lower cost with 10 times better quality at 10 times lower power.

Why this matters
Gartner Inc. projects more than 200 million workers globally will be running corporate videoconferencing apps on their desktops by 2015. Many of those "desktops" will actually be smartphones or tablets, and service providers that want to participate in this explosive growth will be looking for new scaling options. Vidyo is offering one such option and is partnering with telecom service providers to deliver a managed solution.

For more
Here’s a look at other recent Vidyo news:

• Vidyo D Round Nets $22.5M
• Vidyo Aims to Lower Price of Telepresence
• Vidyo Targets Tablets, Smartphones
• BCS Global Selects Vidyo
• Chunghwa Unit Picks Vidyo
• Vidyo Puts Services Spin on Videoconferencing

— Carol Wilson, Chief Editor, Events, Light Reading