Compodium is a Swedish software company delivering trusted digital conversations for regulated industries with a focus on confidentiality. They deliver video conferencing, digital and online meetings and connected events all over the world.
They have solutions for digitally broadcasting all types of events whilst allowing client flexibility to use the video calling platform of their choice. Meetings can be quickly scaled up – whether it be meetings with the highest security class, general meetings, disaster response or different types of video conferencing with any number of participants. Even including interpreters from different countries.
A secondary benefit is a tangible measurable reduction in the environmental impact of travel.
Major customers are Swedish health care providers, local and national governments, and law firms, requiring authentication and encryption in their conversations.
We spent some time with Bengt Grahn, Compodium CEO, to discuss how trusted digital conversations are helping build a better future.
Tell us a little about your philosophy on how digital conversations can help organisations address the huge implications of climate change and COVID-19?
Over the last few years we have seen that the Internet offered an unparalleled opportunity for easy, cost-efficient, and secure video communications. Our clients are forward-thinking and we’ve had a lot of success with helping people replace in-person meetings. Not just for efficiency reasons but also as a green alternative.
The COVID-19 situation has acted as a huge stress test on our social fabric. Not only social care systems, but also from public transport through to the local coffee shop meet-up. Moreover, all the popular video calling platforms have their limitations. Compodium offers specialised services for regulated industries that have confidential meetings online. And they are unique in this area.
“Now in a change of pace, the COVID-19 pandemic has exploded the market for video meetings.”
Whole continents have closed down and people just cannot physically meet anymore. Bandwidth is available, software is available, consumer grade HD video hardware is available. The timing is perfect to empower fundamental behaviour change for everyone.
With the new sudden stress on established ways of working, why are organisations considering secure platforms like Compodium?
Obviously established use cases such as telemedicine are expanding dramatically in a contagious environment. However, video-based corporate board meetings and shareholder meetings are highly confidential and have to be secure. Users have to be sure who they are talking to. Thirdly, there are use cases with small audience numbers. For example, HR teams need to communicate delicate information to team members.
“So we are seeing many new companies and new use cases looking to make video content available in real time as part of a chain of verifiable trust.”
Once the COVID-19 situation has stabilised, how will we change the way we do business?
Clearly we are in a situation which has turned health care, economics and everyday lives upside down. Will this be what really changes our behaviour, and changes the very future of our planet, is a very interesting question. Large international conferences are cancelled at short notice and organisations all over the world are drastically reducing their travel. The genie is out the bottle when it comes to value perceptions of large amounts of time spent on travel and office-based work hours.
Many people will want to keep their new freedom when the immediate situation becomes less extreme. We will realise that it’s much easier and more practical to keep customer relations with digital tools such as video calls. Digital platforms will be expanded to match the freedom that individuals now demand – and will want to have in the future. You want to be trusted to work from home, don’t you? You want to choose “essential business travel” to mean exactly that, but without compromise on human interaction and social contact.
“If you are a knowledge worker now, why would you commute to a different place just to do the same work?”
“Why should you live in a big city where life is more complicated and it is 45 minutes to anything?”
“We think this will be an injection into a new green wave of people-led change and will come to be seen as a major inflection point in how society operates.”
Finally, in the current situation, is there anything Hydro66 can do to improve its services to Compodium?
Hydro66 has proven to be a great partner for us over the last few years – they are consistently providing a highly secure specialised environment for us to deliver a global video service to the largest health care and social organisations. Our highest compliment to them is that they continue to anticipate what we need and how to enhance our services. Hydro66 is one link in the chain of trust that deliver secure and trusted conversations to our customers.
In the mean time, Compodium is expanding globally, just hired a new CEO and is now launching a new product…
(Updated October 7, 2020)