By Simon Davis
Nine out of ten business leaders and managers say video conferencing helps companies to increase their productivity by defying distance and breaking down cultural barriers and stereotypes, according to a ‘Global view: Video Conference Usage and Trends’ survey conducted by Redshift Research in 2013. The survey also revealed that 52 percent of professionals irrespective of their occupational rank preferred video conference since it increased collaboration between teams, departments, and offices around the world. They also said video collaborations were more efficient and increased clarity during meetings.
The need for quick and rapid decision making in the corporate world especially for start-ups and multinationals can never be ignored. Hence, collaboration, team work tasks and inter-departmental meetings are the emerging trends in the business world. However, sometimes the right equipment for these kinds of tasks are never available, or if available then their performance leaves a lot to be desired.
Blue Jeans allows for documentation of meetings, employment interviews and important sessions which can then be shared with other colleagues just at the click of a button. Other features such as zooming in and out, muting and unmuting, and increasing audio volume are also available with video conferencing for a seamless experience between colleagues in a meeting.
Full Fledged Interoperability
An average office setting is equipped with modern day personal computers and desktops which more than often are equipped with software such as Polycom, Microsoft Lync, Cisco systems, and Lifesize. Video collaboration enables employees to get connected to an ongoing teleconference from any device and room systems.
With the room systems available, up to one hundred users can connect to a meeting either externally or internally. This ensures that as many employees are accommodated in the meeting hence slashing travel costs and eliminating communication barriers such as noise which brings about lack of clarity in whatever is being discussed. Video conferencing provides a crisp and clear sound system which can be recorded along the video and used as a point of reference should the employees miss something.
Simplicity
Just from a simple click on an email invitation, employees can connect to the meeting and enjoy the usage of essential teleconferencing meeting control features such as recording, muting, unmuting, sharing, changing layouts and view various attendees of the meeting.
Sharable content includes video content available in High Definition 1080p, spreadsheets, and various presentations. The video content can be zoomed, window scaled, and shared in real time depending on the preferences of the people involved in sharing the video.
The best video conferencing cameras are also able to perform zooming in and zooming out actions which might be essential in a setting where a group of employees have to refer to a recorded video in order to make a decision.
Compatibility With Hand-Held Devices
In the modern day and age, five out of seven people in the world own a mobile phone and for every four people that own a mobile phone, there is a person that owns a smartphone according to a survey conducted by Forbes in 2012. This means that access to information on mobile platforms is highly on the increase with a third of all American adults owning a tablet or an electronic reader.
In order to explore this potential, video collaboration ensures that professional can join meetings on their browsers right from Apple IOS platforms and Android platforms enabling one to catch a meeting, contribute, participate and benefit from the meeting irrespective of where they are in the world and on what handheld graphical user interface platforms they are connecting on.
About a decade ago, having a video conference seemed like a pipe dream. Today, attending virtual meetings from your phone or tablet appear to be pipe dreams but in reality attending meetings from your mobile phone is absurdly possible. For some, this is an expression of how technology is embraced in the corporate world while for others it is simply a way of bridging communication gaps at the work place with modern day technology.
Improved And Hastened Decision Making Processes
Multinationals with various branches all over the world can now organize, have a meeting, and make decisions on important matters affecting them within no time. This is cost efficient to the company because there are no travel costs involved and the decisions made are likely to be more effective because all stakeholder’s opinions is involved.
Video conferencing is the future of meetings in the corporate world and the future is here with us. Corporate entities such as million dollar multinationals and emerging startups should wholesomely embrace video conferencing since it encourages collaboration at the work place, minimizes travel costs, eliminates communication barriers and improves decision making process at our work places. If properly utilized, a video collaboration could be that million dollar asset a business never had.
Simon Davis is a full-time business writer and has had the privilege of attending some of the most renowned business conclaves held across the world. When not on business he loves
spending time with his girlfriend and a bit of adventure sports. Follow him @_Simondavis.
