The expenses incurred by companies as related to sending employees on business trips to meet with satellite offices, international clients, and sales calls are constantly increasing. As the overall costs associated with travel continue to rise, businesses are looking towards more economically ways to conduct business as usual. One technology that businesses are using more frequently is video conferencing.
For years, video conferencing has been used by businesses on an infrequent basis as a way to communicate with clients and employees located outside of the corporate headquarters. As the technology has improved, and the cost for the equipment has decreased, businesses are finding that utilizing video conferencing equipment and software like that sold by the Blue Jeans Company is a much more viable and cost effective alternative to traveling.
Video Conferencing
Until recently, video conferencing could only take place in a stationary location. While this was fine for small companies, it was less than ideal for companies that employed more people than could fit in a standard sized conference room, especially if all employees need to participate in the meeting. As recently as the last couple years, video conferencing software has become affordable enough that companies can install the software on individual employee computers, allowing for more employees to participate in the meetings without having to leave their desks. The latest solution that businesses can take advantage of to cut back on the amount of travel that their employees are needed to take is mobile video conferencing.
Mobile Video Conferencing
Going mobile has been a trend that has continued to increase year after year, and shows no sign of slowing down. As of July 2013, more than 58 percent of all U.S. consumers already own a smartphone according to a study performed by comScore. High- definition mobile video conferencing allows businesses and their employees to use the mobile devices that they already own as conferencing access points. This makes setting up videoconferences with employees easier than ever since there is no expensive, additional hardware that needs to be purchased.
Why Mobile Matters
As more businesses make the switch to holding their business meetings via videoconference, it is important that they provide their employees with a number of ways to participate. According to a story published in the Boston Globe, worldwide sales of mobile devices are dominating the market, while sales of PC’s are in a virtual free fall, helping to perpetuate the changing face of video conferencing. Equipped with mobile devices with the latest video conferencing application installed, employees can stay connected with their company no matter where they are located, and companies can continue to do business with their clients without having to step on a plane.
Increasing Productivity
Companies that implement video conferencing as a way to hold productive meetings with employees at different branch locations are not only saving money on travel expenses, but they are also able to save in lost productivity. Utilizing mobile devices to allow employees to remain at their desks during a meeting or presentation saves them from having to log off of their systems in order to be physically present at the meeting. It also ensures that they will be able to get right back to work as soon as the meeting has ended rather than becoming distracted on the way back to their desk. Companies can also implement a policy that requires employees to bring their own device, eliminating the need for the company to foot the bill to have new equipment and software installed on every system in the company. Employees are already purchasing their own mobile devices, so why not allow them to bring in those devices in order to engage in corporate mandated videoconferences, explains Brad Grimes of InfoComm International. The company avoids the expense of updating all of their computers while benefiting from the increased productivity.
Working from Home
Another way mobile video conferencing is making an impact for business is with telecommuting. Telecommuting is a trend that has been growing over the last several years. In the coming year, the number of companies that are planning to offer telecommuting as a benefit will steadily increase, according to a survey performed last year by the Society for Human Resource Management. For those companies that offer this benefit, mobile video conferencing will allow them to keep their employees connected to important information that relates to their position, their workload, and the company in general. Not only will these employees be able to check-in from home, they can access virtual meetings from wherever they setup shop.
Being able to connect with colleagues in different parts of the world is now easier than ever. With the help of mobile video conferencing technology, companies can save big while keeping connected to the people that keep their business running.
