Video conferencing, coupled with collaboration, allows increasingly dispersed organizations to pull their human and information resources together to create new ways of working, interacting, and responding to customers and partners.
Worldwide, organizations have invested heavily in computers and communication networks and are now focusing on getting better returns from that massive outlay by seeking new applications that can bring real benefits to the organization. Near the top of the list is conferencing and collaboration. The demand for real-time, high-quality communication tools is driving the growth. No longer just a way to hold telephone-style conversations with pictures, video and data/web conferencing exploit the power of the underlying technologies to build stronger, more valuable organizational networks:)
- Networks of people,
- Networks of information and ideas,
- Networks of expertise.
Virtual Teams Replace The Traditional Workplace
Today, geographically dispersed work teams are the rule, not the exception. Videoconferencing offers the benefits of face-to-face communication without the inconvenience, wear-and-tear, unpredictability, and expense of travelling to a meeting. But it doesn`t just displace travel - it is a better way of communicating for all but the most exacting interpersonal contacts. The fact is that speech is only a small element of human communication. Without a visual dimension, conversations can do little more than facilitate information exchange. That`s because research shows that approximately 80% of what is communicated when people interact is conveyed visually - through body language, gestures, facial expressions, and other visual nuances. People better understand and remember more of what they see than of what they have only heard.
How Organizations Benefit
The use of video conferencing has the potential of increasing productivity and efficiency by reducing unproductive travel time, preventing meeting delays, creating shorter and more structured meetings, and providing faster exchange of information. This allows for greater reach of message, since individuals may now obtain information when it is convenient for them. Video conferencing also allows for an increased number of participants and allows people who might never meet, yet who work together, to meet virtually - face-to-face over video. With video conferencing and the data collaboration tools that are now used with it, all individuals who need information can get this when it is easiest for them, on a real-time or delayed basis. By increasing usage, organizations will quickly see a financial return on investment.
Video conferencing is usually adopted by an organization for a combination of three productivity-enhancing reasons:
- To reduce the need for people or work teams to physically reside in the same place.
- To enhance teamwork and collaboration within organizations by offering a high level of intimacy and interactivity.
- To collaborate on a document or graphic creation, with insertions, deletions or alterations made to the document by any participant in real time.
As a result, users find the benefits of video conferencing to include faster decision making, reduced time to market for products, interface with scarce talent when needed (regardless of where they are located), better customer responsiveness, and more efficient work practices.
Users like a technology that is transparent to them and easy to use, allowing them to conduct business independently and efficiently. If used with purpose, video conferencing can help users be more strategic and competitive. Users want to improve productivity, increase access to subject matter experts, and allow meetings to be held when needed. Of course, in many instances, travel costs are also reduced.