* Since its beta release in 2007, ooVoo has acquired 14 million registered users of its desktop video conferencing services
We spoke recently with Philippe Schwartz, CEO at ooVoo about the growing popularity of video conferencing. Since its beta release in 2007, ooVoo has acquired 14 million registered users of its desktop video conferencing services. OoVoo continues to add about a million registered users each month.
We spoke recently with Philippe Schwartz, CEO at ooVoo about the growing popularity of video conferencing. Since its beta release in 2007, ooVoo has acquired 14 million registered users of its desktop video conferencing services. OoVoo continues to add about a million registered users each month.
The company offers free point-to-point video conferencing used largely by consumers and a subscription-based multipoint video conferencing service that connects up to six users. About 70% of company’s revenue comes from banner ads displayed at the bottom of screens when using the free service, while 30% of company revenues come from the paid service that doesn’t include the on-screen ads.
The company’s fee-based service offers both a pay per use plan at 10 cents per minute for each video conferee or several monthly plans that range from $9.99 for three concurrent users to $19.95 a month for six concurrent users. For an extra 33 cents a minute or for $20 a month, users can also share desktop screens with the service.
Although ooVoo video service is currently limited to 480p resolution (standard definition), it is testing a 720p version and eventually plans to move up to 1080p. For its standard definition resolution, the ooVoo application uses a minimum of 48kbps and a maximum of 256kbps per user. The company’s video servers located across the globe manage the connectivity between users and dynamically adjust the bandwidth between to offer the best possible video quality based on available bandwidth between users.
Looking to the future, Schwartz aims to offer his company’s services “anywhere, anytime” with video conferencing and telepresence delivered not only to desktops but to mobile devices and to television sets.
According to third-party research commissioned by ooVoo, 8 out of 10 ooVoo users have found the service to be superior to Skype. No doubt the research data put a smile on Schwartz’s face — his goal is to offer “best in class” service.
