Modern Technology We Use: Video Conferencing
According to a recent survey, integrating email, telephones, video, instant messaging and web conferencing is desired by employees.
The main advantage of video conferencing is the ability to reduce constant traveling and face to face communication. At Blue Whale Media, our local Wigan SEO experts have been using video conferencing for a while, but we found it extremely useful during the covid-19 pandemic.
What is video conferencing?
Video conferencing is online meetings that take place via a video on the internet. You can connect video conferencing systems in meeting rooms with personal devices such as laptops or mobile devices with embedded webcams.
This allows all your employees to be connected no matter where they are, so your company can be more productive.
Video Conferencing Benefits
Here are our top reasons to embrace the business-minded benefits of video.
- Reduced Travel Time and Costs
The oldest recognised benefit of video conferencing is reduced travel time and expenses. Providing video capacity for your employees and customers can create a competitive offering as you can offer client meetings or solve issues without a need to be in the office.
- Structured Meetings with Improved Communications
With people calling from different locations, defined start and end-times can be agreed before the video call, allowing a more intensive discussion with less chit-chat.
- Increased Productivity
Improved communications mean participants are more in sync, decisions can be made faster, and productivity increases. Problems can also be resolved quickly and services for clients can be developed more quickly.
- Employee Retention
It can allow for a better work/life balance as employees can choose to work from home to alleviate commuting costs. Remote employees can still have close relationships with team members, as video’s real-time face-to-face interactions are more precious than any alternative to in-person meetings.
Zoom
Zoom has quickly become the most popular option for meetings and other events moving online following the covid-19 pandemic and lockdown orders this year.
Pros: It’s seamless to use – attendees can join by a publicly shared link from anywhere. Joining does not require downloading any software; it’s a great option if you do not discuss anything private or secure.
Cons: Zoom has had some glaring problems of privacy and security. “Zoom bombings,” in which hackers enter chat rooms to drop racist language and violent threats, persist. Since then, the company has fixed the bug.
Skype
Released in 2003, Skype is one of the longest-standing options for video chatting. It’s a free option for one-on-one or group video chats; anyone can join the meeting from a web browser on a computer. On a mobile device, people may need to download the Skype app to participate.
Pros: Skype is free, easy to use, and widely known.
Cons: The maximum number of people who can join a Skype meeting is 50, making it a difficult option for larger organisations to host company meetings.
Microsoft Teams
Companies are transitioning from Zoom to Microsoft Teams, a work-from-home collaboration platform. Teams saw its daily active user count rise more than 37% during just one week in June.
Pros: The video platform allows 250 people in a meeting or up to 10,000 viewers through its presentation feature. Users can easily share files and chat during sessions as well as screen-share.
Cons: The platform is built primarily for businesses or “teams.”
FaceTime
The built-in video call option for Apple products is an often overlooked option for group video chats. FaceTime is a strong contender for several reasons.
Pros: Apple is known for its secure encryption practices, meaning the company cannot see what you share during a call. FaceTime is also free for Apple users and does not require the download of an app.
Cons: FaceTime is only available for users who have Apple devices and has a maximum of 32 users per call.
Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is a seamless option for video chats, as up to 150 people can participate in a conversation, but only 25 people can participate in a video call at once.
Pros: It’s free and accessible.
Cons: Use it with the knowledge that Google will have even more of your data than it already does.
Businesses look to video conferencing solutions to modernise their marketing abilities and use a click-to-call meeting experience.
