Video conferencing allowed us to talk to every shop across the nation, giving us access to thousands of working stiffs just like ourselves learning an abridged version of the heating and cooling trade. The place I was working for was not an honest shop.
Basically, we were given minimal training and sent out into the field to sell people whatever we could. The videoconferencing was just another way that they could try to pressure us into making more sales, something that was hard for us to do with only a vague idea of how the heating business worked. Then, to top it all off, the video conferencing equipment broke at the end of the meeting.
When, years later, one of my business partners suggested using audio video conferencing, I was diplomatic but firm. I had no interest in a video conference.
In my opinion, video teleconferencing is one of the great broken promises of the high-tech age, second only to virtual reality. In theory, it seems like a great idea that will revolutionize business. In practice, however, it is totally unnecessary and a waste of time. There is nothing that you can tell someone over a video conference link that you couldn't send an e-mail about, or so I thought.
Nonetheless, the partner was insistent, and soon we set up a video conferencing meeting room to try the system out. He was generous enough to furnish the system himself so we had nothing lost to the venture. I had expected online teleconferencing to waste exponentially more time than e-mail.
The E-mails people sent were stupid, but contemplating the endless things that they would say in an international meeting involving hundreds of different representatives from six different businesses was nightmarish. I figured that I would never get out of the video conferencing meeting alive.
In fact, it wasn't half as bad as I had thought. It might be that some people are still scared of the technology, but as it was only the key members of each business who had anything to say. Everyone else just sat there quietly and listened, and we got business done pretty fast. Although I wouldn't switch to video conferencing over more traditional means of communication, I am definitely more open to it than I was before.
There are many reasons why companies today are choosing to go in for audio and web conferencing. By doing this they are able to communicate with their people all over the world. It is true that a real face-to-face meeting is sometimes called for, but the sheer expensive of sending a representative to another state or another country is daunting.
There are travel expenses, food reimbursement, and accommodation expenses. The question is, do you gain anything substantial.
This is particularly true when you consider the full abilities of an audio conference or a web conference. To begin with let us scrutinize the audio conferencing method. An audio conference lets anyone with the proper phone setup enter a virtual meeting and discuss the veritable plethora of issues that may come up. It effectively pulls them all into your board room without your having to pay anything more than the small cost of setting up the teleconference.
Current technology even allows for teleconferencing across the world without incurring the high cost of long distance minutes. If you are looking to save on costs, conference calling could offer a cheaper option than long distance phone calls.
That is just an audio conference. With web conferencing, you can manage even more. All you need is a standard internet connection with an established chat room or discussion zone. The great thing is that this could cost you very little. Then, you just have to setup a web cam and a connected visual display screen, and it will really be like the other people are in the room with you.
This gives it the feel of a real meeting and it can even keep up the feeling of professionalism, since board rooms are often the best place to setup for your part of the meeting. The traditional meeting has undergone a sea change ever since the web conference call appeared on the scene.
For a quick review, a web conference will let you go a step further and have a virtual meeting with employees and clients from across the world and you can actually see them and talk to them in real time. Even after the setup costs have been taken care of, you could end up saving a lot of money by not conducting regular meetings.
The savvy business person will be able to see in this a great way to reduce the expenses budget. The money saved can be put to better use. The technology that connects friends and relatives over the internet can now be used to connect you to all of your important contacts at a price that easily fits into the budget. If a web conference or an audio conference even helps your business acquire one more client, then it should be worth it.
The setup costs are low and there are plenty of providers available that offer a wide range of features, letting you choose a plan that has everything you need and without paying for what you don't. This is the way in which tomorrow's conferences will be held. They stand to eliminate the need for expensive travel except in extreme circumstances.
I am sure that with the passage of time, the face-to-face meeting will become obsolete, and these methods will take pride of place.
Both Steven Gwillim & Ajeet Khurana are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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