Due to the growing number of armed forces personnel, video conferencing is becoming an indispensible tool for the Defense Department. Many of these individuals have suffered brain trauma or psychological damage and are located on a military base, at a clinic, or at their homes and are unable to be reached by their doctor or a specialist. Finding a video conferencing solution falls to the National Center for Teleheath and Technology (T2).
In the past, video conferencing has taken place between doctors and patients who were both in clinics but unable to meet face-to-face. What is essential is a way for patients to receive exceptional care from home through video conferencing. Now, mobile video conferencing allows doctors or specialists and patients to see and speak with one another from anywhere allowing convenient interaction and real-time diagnoses. This is especially beneficial for those unable to visit a facility due to mobility problems, or those that are uncomfortable visiting a mental health facility. Andrew Borg, a director of research at Aberdeen Group, believes that mobile video conferencing will inevitably become a viable alternative to phone calls, instant messages, and emails
The Department of Defense (DoD) also uses video conferencing for department-to-department connections which help establish personal relations, making future collaboration easier. Soldiers on duty are able to communicate with their families, typically via a Wi-Fi connection to the Defense Connect Online. This makes it easier for them personally to be away from home through periods of deployment.
Adoption of mobile video conferencing has increased due to the convenience and ease, making collaboration easier and decision making faster. All of the main video conferencing companies now have mobile solutions including Polycom and Cisco. The main obstacle the DoD faces (as well as many other enterprises) is when they have standardized a single video conferencing system that includes mobile capabilities (Polycom RealPresence for example) and they allow their employees to branch out to those that use another system of their choice (such as Skype). This can pose a real compatibility problem. Solutionz had recently released their new Prime Call Cloud Gateway service, a cloud-based service enabling those who use programs such as Skype to join video conferences with enterprise-grade video endpoints.
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