Mobile collaboration is a technology-based process of communicating utilizing electronic assets and accompanying software designed for use in remote locations. Newest generation hand-held electronic devices feature video, audio, and telestration (on-screen drawing) capabilities broadcast over secure networks, enabling multi-party conferencing in real time.

Differing from traditional video conferencing

Videoconferencing

Videoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously...

, mobile collaboration utilizes wireless

Wireless

Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...

, cellular

Cellular network

A cellular network is a radio network distributed over land areas called cells, each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver known as a cell site or base station. When joined together these cells provide radio coverage over a wide geographic area...

 and broadband

Broadband

The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...

 technologies enabling effective collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...

 independent of location. Where traditional video conferencing has been limited to boardrooms, offices, and lecture theatres, recent technological advancements have extended the capabilities of video conferencing for use with discreet, hand-held mobile devices, permitting true mobile collaborative possibilities.

Scope

The scope of mobile collaboration takes into account a number of elements that continue to evolve in their sophistication and complexity: video, audio and telestration capabilities, conferencing and telepresence

Telepresence

Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance of being present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location....

 systems, collaboration tools, transmission

Data transmission

Data transmission, digital transmission, or digital communications is the physical transfer of data over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optical fibres, wireless communication channels, and storage media...

 technologies, and mobility

Mobility

Mobility may refer to:* Mobility * "Mobiliy" , a song by Moby* Mobility * Mobility , the ability of military units or weapon systems to move to an objective-See also:* Academic mobility* Apprentices mobility...

.

Forecasts

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...

 predicts “two-thirds of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video by 2015.” The Unified Communications Interoperability Forum

Unified Communications Interoperability Forum

The Unified Communications Interoperability Forum is a non-profit alliance between communications technology vendors. It was announced on May 19, 2010, with the vision to maximize the interoperability of UC based on existing standards. Founding members of UCIF were HP, Microsoft, Polycom,...

 (UCIF), a non-profit alliance of technology vendors states that “one important driver for the growth of UC (unified communications

Unified communications

Unified communications is the integration of real-time communication services such as instant messaging , presence information, telephony , video conferencing, data sharing , call control and speech recognition with non-real-time communication services such as unified...

) is mobility and the remote worker. No segment is growing faster than mobile communications, and virtually every smart phone

Smartphone

A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...

 will be equipped with video chat

Videotelephony

Videotelephony comprises the technologies for the reception and transmission of audio-video signals by users at different locations, for communication between people in real-time....

, IM

Instant messaging

Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...

, directory, and other UC features within a few years.”

Impact on industry

To date, the use of mobile collaboration technology extends to industries as diverse as manufacturing, energy, healthcare, insurance, government and public safety. Mobile collaboration allows multiple users in multiple locations the ability to synergistically

Synergy

Synergy may be defined as two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable.The term synergy comes from the Greek word from , , meaning "working together".-Definitions and usages:...

 combine their input while working towards the resolution of problems or issues in today’s complex work environments. This can be done in real time with advanced video, audio and telestrator capabilities, comparable to working together in the same room but without the associated expense and downtime typically involved in getting the experts to remote locations.

Manufacturing

Manufacturers of all kinds use mobile collaboration technology in a number of ways. Recent trends in globalization

Globalization

Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...

 and outsourcing

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...

 in particular, have meant that companies need to communicate with employees, suppliers, and customers the world over. The flexibility of hand-held mobile collaboration devices allow real-time communication to take place at any location where products are being designed, built, and inspected, such as an automotive assembly plant a continent away. Improved communication through mobile collaboration affects many aspects of complex manufacturing such as production line maintenance, supply chain management

Supply chain management

Supply chain management is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers...

 and equipment field service

Field Service Management

Field service management is an attempt to optimize processes and information needed by companies who send technicians or staff "into the field" . Optimization is difficult, since it involves intelligent scheduling and dispatching of multiple technicians to different locations daily, while...

.

Energy

Companies in the energy sector face unique challenges due to, for example, the vast distances between a head office and the remote, harsh environment of an offshore oil rig, as well as the often inadequacies or absence of necessary transmission networks. Recent advancements in mobile collaboration technology and transmission networks are making it possible for employees in these situations to collaborate in secure and reliable ways with colleagues thousands of miles away. The use of mobile collaboration in the energy sector is enabling companies to conduct remote inspections, safety audits, maintenance, repair and overhaul work, as well as IT/communication infrastructure troubleshooting.

Healthcare

Although telemedicine

Telemedicine

Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication and information technologies in order to provide clinical health care at a distance. It helps eliminate distance barriers and can improve access to medical services that would often not be consistently available in distant rural communities...

 technology has been in use for a number of years in the healthcare sector, mobile collaboration technology extends these capabilities to locations now reachable through the use of hand-held devices such as a remote community, long-term care facility, or a patient’s home. Healthcare professionals in multiple locations can together view, discuss, and assess patient issues. The use of mobile collaboration technology within the heathcare sector has the potential to improve the quality and access to care, while making its delivery more cost-effective.

Education

Mobile callaboration technology might also be used for remote education. From one on one tutoring to large classes it has many uses. Homeschooling could really benefit from this technology as you participate in a lecture from anywhere in the world. Most useful you can record your classes or lectures and review them. Internet schools, including higher education, will most certainly also benefit from this development in mobile education. Though these methods are not widely used they are quite useful and most likely will become widely popular.

See also

• Virtual collaboration
  Virtual Collaboration
  Virtual collaboration originated with the advent of video conferencing technologies provided over the Internet. It involves two or more people working together to accomplish a task without the use of face to face interaction...
  
  
• Visual networking
  Visual networking
  Visual networking refers to an emerging class of user applications that combine digital video and social networking capabilities. It is based upon the premise that visual literacy, "the ability to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from information presented in the form of a moving image," is a...
  
  
• List of unified communications companies
• List of video telecommunication services and product brands