Where does mobile video messaging fit in the enterprise?

Enterprise IT departments and smartphones had a rocky relationship at first. IT departments would issue locked down BlackBerry devices to workers. BlackBerrys were seen as mobile tools designed for enterprise management. They could be provisioned and distributed without significant risk of exposing internal company networks.

Then, the iPhone changed everything. Suddenly, workers were walking into the office with unsecured devices, running consumer apps and wanting to connect to the company network.

At first, some IT departments were so against smartphones they tried to ban them at the office. They wrote policies about leaving them in the car or powered off. These policies didn't last very long, as IT departments realized that they can't tell CEOs to leave their iPhones at home.

Mobile computing was recognized as the future, and enterprise IT had to accommodate it. Networks were reconfigured to allow mobile devices from employees and guests to connect with appropriate levels of access, while maintaining security over private data.

Video conferencing had a similar beginning in the enterprise. Early on, when video meetings first started running on IP networks, many IT departments had concerns about who was calling in, on what kind of devices and with what amount of access to the network. Fortunately, most leading cloud video services have made enterprise security a priority, and IT departments can feel secure allowing video calls through parts of their network.

Now, it's common to use mobile devices at work and to make video calls outside of the network. Mobile video messaging has become a common productivity tool cementing its place in the enterprise. It is no longer weird or novel to attend a video meeting from Starbucks with headphones on. Today's work gets done remotely, making mobile video messaging essential.

Today's meetings aren't the time-wasting status report sessions of yesterday. Meetings are working sessions with all hands on deck. The millennial work-life balance means some team members will not be physically present, but they need to be full attendees. They can't just listen in on the phone, they need to see and be seen over video. Mobile video messaging doesn't just fit in the enterprise -- it's an essential tool to support the modern team workflow.