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Video conferencing is growing in the business world, with a seven-fold growth in global market revenue over the course of the last five years alone. It’s not just marketing or an upswing in the trend of going face-to-face, video conferencing has changed dramatically since it began becoming popular.
With the introduction and success of free voice over IP services, it seemed that video conferencing service providers had to seriously step up their game to appeal not only to the enterprise-level business market, but to small businesses as well. While older, larger teleconference giants haven’t modernized as much, many smaller startups on the scene have changed the way video conferencing works – enough that absolutely any business should consider giving video conferencing a try.
It’ll Save Your Business Money
Right off the bat, video conferencing is a huge money saver. How much money do you spend on travel costs? How much potential money do you lose wasting time on the road, stuck in traffic, or in dead-end meetings? Cutting down all the time you spend stuck in the commute between two venues, you can supplement face-to-face meetings with high-quality video conference technology.
There are events and certain congregations where showing up is mandatory to keep the face of your business, but for most business meetings and conversations, something as simple as a conference call will be much cheaper for all parties involved, and thanks to modern video quality, nothing will be lost over the grid.
Time is another factor. Meetings – the meetings themselves and the time it takes to organize and get to them – are huge time-sinks that video conferencing can help optimize and make more efficient. When stuck on the road due to bad weather or a delayed flight, video conferencing can also help you delegate your company and team in moments where you’d otherwise have to try and rely on emails to try and foster a conversation between your team on the tasks at hand.
It Can Bring Your Employees Together and Foster Teamwork
Speaking of which, another good reason to invest in today’s video conferencing software for your business is to keep your employees happy and engaged. As Mashable.com pointed out, 80 percent of respondents on a survey about the effectiveness of telecommuting noted that they would like to use video conferencing tools to communicate within the business again.
It makes sense when you think about it. Video conferencing entails being face-to-face with everyone in the conference – with professional premium services, that number can be anywhere from three to a hundred people. Face-to-face communication comes equipped with body language to match what comes out through the mouth, and it fosters and encourages more interaction between team members throughout the call. Feeling physically connected to the company and its team by becoming familiar with the voices, faces and mannerisms of your co-workers is a great way to build an emotional anchor to your workplace.
Video conferencing can make employees feel more welcome and integrated into the business, and for business owners, this also means talent retention.
Video Conferencing Is a Better Way to Connect with Your Employees
As the owner of the business, taking the time to speak and communicate with your staff individually or in small groups, face-to-face and frequently, can help even more in creating a positive emotional attachment to the workplace. People want to like their jobs, and they want to have bosses that they can like, as well. Keep things professional, but don’t be afraid to become casual friends with your employees.
Business leaders, like any kind of leader, are looked up to. That comes with a certain need to show leadership, and show that you truly care about your employees. Discussing things with them face-to-face – no matter if you’re on your laptop thousands of miles away, or on a dedicated Polycom video conferencing system with software by companies like Blue Jeans — can still help you connect with your employees.
It’s More than Just Communication – It’s Collaboration
Video conference technology isn’t just a tool to discuss and talk with; it’s become a tool that businesses can now work with. Due to the proliferation of cloud-based technology in business, and the massive growth it’s experienced over the last few years, video conferencing is now video collaboration.
According to Forbes, cloud revenue will be growing by a 30 percent compounded annual growth rate for the next three years, while half of all queried enterprises with more than 1,000 employees stated they would increase spending in the cloud.
Video conference software has a lot to owe to that growth. Adoption of cloud infrastructure allowed providers to drop all the hardware necessary to run video conference software, and minimalize user cost by aggregating all resources into compact, secure data centres with encrypted networks.
What that allows newer providers to do is to offer a total collaborative suite to companies, letting them communicate over live video and audio feeds while simultaneously sharing files, images, videos, presentations and documents over secure networks – and that’s the major reason why video conferencing is worth investing in. It’s grown to become an invaluable tool in a company’s arsenal.