“The current scenario has affected our marketing approach and we have adapted to these changes in the best possible way”
When it comes to visual technology, there are very few companies present in India which offers the best products, and Viewsonic Corp. has successfully managed to mark its position as one of the best in India. The company has been present in India from quite some time and it is amongst the top projector companies for their innovative and uniquely designed projectors in the market. Apart from providing the best projectors the company has another successful product line called the myviewboard. In these testing times, the world is all going digital in a best way possible, and when it comes to education video assisted learning is the best new thing. When asked about the myviewborad product line in India and how the company is dealing with the Covid-19 situation, Muneer Ahmed, Business Head, Viewsonic India, shared some insights with Pahi Mehra.
According to you what are the current scenario and growth prospects for visual technology devices? Owing to the worldwide pandemic, the dynamics in every industry has changed including the technology sector. Interactive Flat Panels (IFPS) have gained popularity in the recent past and the demand for IFPS and myviewboard are rising.
Especially, in the Education sector,
distance learning is becoming the new normal, the educators and institutes are looking at expanding their traditional ways and exploring new possibilities. Digitisation of Education is the future, schools are now aggressively preparing for virtual classrooms.
Even in the Corporate sector IFP’S and myviewboard are gaining popularity as it makes it easy to conduct virtual meetings
while most of the professionals are working from home currently.
Even the usage of monitors has increased immensely, the gaming industry is also booming, and passionate gamers are investing more in good quality gaming monitors. We are expecting a further rise in the demand, especially with amongst the people working from home for a better flexibility.
We are also expecting a rise in the sales of home entertainment smart projectors as the multiplexes will remain shut for a while and even when they reopen, audience will be hesitant to visit public places. Hence, they will most likely spend time in the comfort of their homes, streaming movies online and on developing a home theatre with projectors and adequate sound system to experience the cinematic effects of the films.
How does the myviewboard makes virtual learning different and interactive, what are its features? The myviewboard, an exclusive digital whiteboard software used for digital learning through Interactive Flat Panel Displays allows users to write, highlight, edit and transform documents and drag and drop images on the screen in real time. myviewboard enables teachers to conduct distance learning through an open and agnostic platform, facilitating students and their learning outcomes wherever they happen to be. It is easy to use and allows real-time collaboration through video audio conferencing, huddles, and digital white boarding, supporting a variety of pedagogies with an emphasis on virtual classroom. Through its inclusive features, myviewboard helps create a virtual learning environment that is engaging, interactive, and effective.
With myviewboard teachers can:
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Youtube live streaming
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like pop quiz, polling and huddle
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from various cloud storages
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their leisure
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software can also be integrated with myviewboard
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browser for interactive teaching
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Kannada, Tamil, Hindi
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So how is Viewsonic making a difference in these testing times due to the pandemic? Viewsonic has been a supporting the digitization of Education to support the Education fraternity in the best way possible. We are providing ‘myviewboard’ premium subscription free of cost to support distance learning. The students can learn themselves at home and teachers can guide them in these testing times. myviewboard enables teachers to conduct distance learning facilitating students and their learning outcomes wherever they happen to be. It is easy to use and allows real-time collaboration through video audio conferencing, huddles and digital whiteboarding.
We are also in the process of introducing a web-based platform ‘myviewboard classrooms’ with a capacity facilitate multiple students by allowing two-way audio communication. It is designed as a collaborative learning tool for delivering teaching, visual learning and participation for a full class, individuals or groups of students to help build and uplift the digitization of education in India.
Do you think Video-assisted learning is the new future? Yes, video – assisted learning in the next big thing in the education sector. With the improvement in internet connectivity and evolution of digital space, combined with technology has helped to make video a fundamental part of most learning environments and many teachers have been able to refine student engagement through videoassisted learning. In particular, the ability to enhance the learning experience, find
suitable content easily, and make videos available for repeat viewing can play a crucial role in enabling students to achieve better outcomes.
Finding the right content can be a little challenging at times, especially when teachers use other video streaming platforms like Youtube, as the content available caters to all genres and is not meant for education purposes only. In such platforms content can be abruptly interrupted with inappropriate or featured advertisements which can be a hindrance in the on-going lessons.
With myviewboard teachers can access over two million ad free educational videos for more than 40 Subjects provided by 120+ media brands. This commercialfree, fully copyright cleared, and curated platform empowers teachers to integrate educational video into their teaching plans, without worrying about inappropriate
content or use.
Even in the corporate sector, with virtual events on the rise, videos play a very crucial role. They can prove to be a better tool for presenting ones ideas and UIPVHIUT BOE LFFQ UIF BVEJFODF MJTUFOFST
What are the major challenges your company is facing right now due to the pandemic?
The current scenario has affected our marketing approach and we have adapted to these changes in the best possible way, we can at this time. Physical retail market is really slow right now, since everyone is avoiding unnecessary human contact and travelling. This has led to a slight dip in the sales as people prefer to take a demo before investing in a product like projector, monitors or IFPS. The employee’s and customer’s health and safety is our prime concern so we are not indulging in product demos at the moment. We have also observed, some drop in demand in the government sectors due to pandemic crisis. The government is investing most of their time and resources to cope up with Covid-19 crisis in the country, as it should be. However, in terms of education sector, we are doing quite well, since NBOZ TDIPPMT JOTUJUVUFT BSF FYQMPSJOH
possibilities of Distance learning and our Viewboard integrated with myviewboard has a lot to offer to this sector.
We have also started to explore more opportunities in E-com platform for our B2C products.
Apart from the myviewboard, what are the new technological innovations Viewsonic coming up with? At Viewsonic we believe in constant innovation and strive to launch new products with latest technology. In the Projector category, we have a few home entertainment projectors like M2, an android based projector and X100-4K for high end home theatre projection experience, which is set to launch in the coming months in India.
Another product that will hit the shelves in the near future is the new IFP50-3 series
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interface than its predecessors.
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launch two new portable monitors TD1655 (Touch Display) and VG1655 (IPS Panel) which will assist in overcoming the problem of one-screen limitation outside the office by extending your content from laptop and mobile devices
What is the overall performance of Viewsonic in India? We have received an overwhelming response from the Indian audience. According to Future Source report we became the #No.1 short throw projector brand in India in 2019 from a non-existent brand. We also became UIF /P *'1 #SBOE JO 2 BT QFS UIF Future Source report. We will continue to deliver the best quality product at the best possible price and we look forward to more customer associations.
Could you share the expansion and growth plans of Viewsonic? We are not comfortable disclosing our plans at the moment due to the uncertain Covid-19 situation
What are your plans for the future? We will continue to focus on the Edtech sector with new and innovative products and services. Our vision is to become the leading Edtech solutions provider in India.
We will also continue to divert our resources and energy to create unique lamp free projectors which have more life, are environment friendly, are cost – effective and are less harmful to eyes, to serve our customer better.
pahi@mymobile.co.in