It wasn’t so long ago that video conferencing was considered the kind of super-cool office thing that was only the preserve of swanky CEOs and James Bond supervillains. Well, it’s 2020 now, and times are very much changing.
There is now a huge swathe of different video conferencing solutions on the market, and as a result, businesses in all sorts of industries have begun to make regular use of them. But as a new decade dawned, it won’t be long now until VC meetings actually start to supersede physical face-to-face get-togethers. And this change will bring more positives for businesses like yours than it will negatives; especially in the face of some very scary health risks we are currently facing globally.
Here are five reasons why the future is video conferencing:
1. They’re a lot cheaper than face-to-face meetings
With so many video conferencing tools available, the expense of using them in a business environment is minimal. Some even offer a certain level of their functions completely free of charge. Compare that to the last time you had to travel into a business meeting
Your business would have had to fork out for flights, airport transfers, accommodation and food – and that’s without getting into the potential inconvenience to the business (and to you personally) of being away from home for a couple of days.
So how does it make business sense for your company to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on getting you to a meeting, when you can do it from a meeting room ten metres away for nothing?
Answer: it doesn’t.
2. They’re better for the environment
We’ve mentioned the cost implications of people travelling for face-to-face meetings, but have you considered the emissions output of all that moving around? We are living in a world where unnecessary travel – especially by air – is gradually becoming socially questionable.
Even if you prefer the human touch of face-to-face, we’re entering an era where brand reputation and environmental credentials can be severely damaged if your business is taking lots of flights to meetings unnecessarily.
3. They’re just as functional as regular meetings
If you had tried video conferencing a few years ago and were put off by dodgy picture quality, un-synced sound and constant connection issues, then you can rest assured that things are very different now. VC technology has come on in leaps and bounds,
- 1080-quality pictures
- Crystal-clear sound
- The ability to share screens and documents in real time is now the basic standard
Back in the early days of the tech, the idea that people participating in VC meetings would feel like they were physically in the room sounded like a pipe-dream. Today, it’s a practical, sustainable reality, to the point that the smooth running of meetings and exchange of ideas is just as seamless as it would be if meeting in person.
4. They enable flexible working models
The era of nine-to-five is well and truly over. More and more businesses all over the world are embracing the agility and flexibility of home-working, powered by Internet connectivity.
And if workers don’t always have to be in the office to do their jobs, then why do they have to be in the office for meetings?
Video conference applications work from laptops, tablets and even on mobile phones. So as long as employees have a phone signal or WiFi, they can easily connect to a meeting wherever they are. By taking out the extra hours wasted by travelling into the office specifically for meetings, VC is becoming a cornerstone of making flexible working a success.
5. Meeting management systems integration
The right scheduling software can help to maximize meeting room space, reduce administration time and introduce smarter booking processes into the workplace. Condeco enables you to schedule and manage meeting rooms, visitors, hospitality, services and of course, video conferencing, in one globally scalable system.
Through a more integrated suite of solutions and tools, your business will thrive in 2020, be ahead of the curve with the introduction of new technologies, not lose productivity in the wake of international health scares, and garner greater ROI through planning, preparation and deployment.