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White Paper: Video conferencing for everyone

Earlier, the use of video conferencing was restricted to those in the corner office or C-suite. Only very few people in organisations could avail of video conferencing. Today, however, things have changed. Video conferencing is now practically ubiquitous, and a series of technological advances have made video conferencing not only a viable technology for businesses of all sizes but a necessity.

Video conferencing for all

With video conferencing, what has changed is not only the money saved, but the speed of business. The latter has increased considerably from the time that the modern business office was born about a 100 years ago!

The goal of any business is to speed up, to transact, to relate, and ultimately to sell ideas faster and more efficiently. This is where video conferencing can help. This white paper by Lifesize explores some of the most important things you should know before investing in video conferencing…

1) Determine how your business would benefit from video conferencing. This includes determining how video conferencing can expedite decision making, help you communicate with more people, maintain employee engagement, facilitate training with disparate teams, and more.

2) Look for a video conferencing solution that is standards-based, not a walled-garden solution. You should think beyond the walls of your meeting room. You should use a video conferencing solution to talk to the broadest range of devices possible, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and any other mobile devices.

3) Leave room to grow. You should invest in technology that does not become obsolete as your needs change or your organisation grows. Also, invest in basic Internet, as the cost of a dedicated Internet connection can be very high and is rarely justified.

Multiparty video conferencing solution

4) Make your IT department your video conferencing champions. IT involvement is vital for a successful implementation of video conferencing. You should work on building a partnership between business users and IT.  Also you should install technology that the IT department understands and is committed to deploying.

5) Invest in high-quality video conferencing. For video conferencing to be successful within your business, it needs to be of such high quality that users forget that they are using it. In other words, the best video conferencing is invisible to users.

6) Invest in emerging technologies. These include WebRTC, 4K displays, and H.265. WebRTC extends the video communications world to anyone with a suitable web browser. 4K displays improve quality of experience, and H.265 improves the efficiency of video calling.

7) Create a Unified Communications environment. Instead of investing in a stand-alone video conferencing solution, you should link your video environment to other technologies. These include your IP Telephony environment, Microsoft Lync, Whiteboarding, and Room Control environments.

Some important points:

“Remember, video won’t replace travel completely because there will still be instances where an in-person interaction is needed. But when travel is not a necessity, video will enable you to see the person on the other side more frequently.”

“Think of the opportunity cost in waiting to have those meetings. Video allows face-to-face communications instantly.”

“Start Simple. Maybe you can’t outfit the whole organization with video conferencing on every device, so think about what matters most and start there. Keep the costs of your initial investment in video conferencing low so that you can scale your video environment as you grow.”

So, now you know more about what to keep in mind when designing a suitable video conferencing solution for your business. Keep these in points in mind and invest in a video conferencing solution that will serve your needs for many years to come…

For more information on how to design a video conferencing solution for your business, contact Actis at 022-30808080 or at contact@actis.co.in.

(Content and images courtesy: www.lifesize.com)