Look out Apple, Xiaomi is coming for you.

China's smartphone juggernaut is using technology from Vidyo to bring multi-point video conferencing to the masses. In the age of the customer, AD&D pros need to take note because mobile is often the driver for business transformation. 

Xiaomi (pronounced shaow-me) is a device maker that up until recently has been driving huge sales, growing 227% in 2014. That number drastically shrank in 2015 so it appears that video conferencing is part of a differentiation strategy.

The calling app, Mi Video (seen left) will be pre-installed on the company's new flagship device, the Mi 5, but it's also available for free on iOS and Android devices. The difference with Mi Video is that it lets consumers do multi-point video conferencing. Every other consumer VC service only allows for point-to-point conversations on mobile. For example, with Apple's Facetime you can only videochat with one other person.

For AD&D pros there are a few important points to note:

  • Forrester research encourages organizations to use tools like video conferencing to enhance day-to-day interactions. There is more value than just cutting travel expenses. 
  • If you're deploying or thinking of deploying a video conferencing solution at your location, a hybrid one that uses a mix of on-premise and cloud could be the way to go. If you have an especially large group or limited bandwidth an on-premise deployment means conserving your outbound bandwidth.
  • Choose an enterprise class deployment that gives you the flexibility to support the BYOD movement with mobile support. Vidyo's integration with Xiaomi is a good example of this because of its network resiliency. Historically, China's mobile connectivity has been slow and video conferencing can be taxing on a network. 

Xiaomi used Vidyo's SDK and has been working on the app for the last year. 

Do you use video conferencing personally or professionally? What has your experience been? Comment below or find me on Twitter @nickjb.

If you want to see video of the announcement from Mobile World Congress, go to 2:52:23 in the below video.