I am a huge fan of video conferencing and have used it ever since it became available in the late 1980s. I used to marvel at the technology, how useful it was, and how much time and money it saved my company. These days I just use it and rarely even think twice about it. Video conferencing is just there whenever I need it. Be that a corporate meeting or some lighthearted chat with a friend halfway across the world. It occurred to me that it might make sense to list all the cool and timesaving features you can expect from a modern video conferencing system.
First of all, state-of-the-art video conferencing, unlike older systems where you just got a video and audio link, offer excellent management and control features. Most support a hierarchy of hosts, presenters and participants. The host has a full control menu and is in overall charge, presenters have a share menu, and participants simply sit back and watch.
Second, in a world where, for better or for worse, ideas are generally conveyed with a PowerPoint presentation, most full-featured video conferencing systems let you run PowerPoint files directly from the conferencing software. All you have to do is share the PowerPoint file. It is then compressed, sent to the server, and all the participants. Since the individual slides are cached, going from slide to slide is very quick.
Third, the same holds true for document sharing. Most systems let you share Microsoft Office documents such as Word and Excel files. That includes multimedia files that contain rich text and images. And like PowerPoint presentations, once a file is shared it gets cached over the network and presenters can flip through pages as fast as they want to.
Fourth, and here it gets interesting, is the ability to share applications as well. This comes in handy when a concept is best explained while using a particular application. It's also invaluable for training sessions. Some video conferencing systems that support application sharing even provide keyboard and mouse input to conference participants. You can even grant remote control to an application or desktop.
Fifth, it's possible to share live web browser windows. This means everyone is looking at the same web page instead of trying to type a URL into their own browser and trying to follow the presenter's instructions as to where to go or what to click.
Sixth, video conferencing can support shared white boards. These work like regular meeting white boards, only the host can give participants the privilege to join and add their own ideas or comments. Whatever is on the white board can later be shared as handout files.
Seventh, and most stunning to video conferencing newcomers, is the ability to run multiparty video. The host can set things up so that several meeting participants are visible live in video windows, or there can be multiple video originations. The possibilities are endless.
What all of this means is that video conferencing has grown to be much more than simply a conference call with video. Video conferences can now incorporate all the productivity and presentation tools we use in our work, and this makes them ever more valuable. At this point, any business that is not using video conferencing services is not being run as efficiently and productively as it could be run.
Video conferencing has been used by law firms for many years, but only until recently has it become affordable for even the smallest of firms. Equipment that cost tens of thousands of dollars only a few years ago, can be purchased for a fraction of that cost today. The products have become more reliable, easier to use, more compact, even portable, and their capabilities and features have been enhanced drastically. Popular thinking seems to indicate that now is the time to get your firm started with video conferencing, but not surprisingly, many firms encounter unnecessary technical obstacles and set backs due to poor planning. The following are important points you should keep in mind before getting started with video conferencing:
How you will use the technology
For many law firms, video conferencing is first used as a way to reduce traveling for internal meetings between practices located in different cities. But there are other factors to consider. How far are the courthouses your firm serves? Do they allow video depositions or other video-based communication for legal procedures? If the addition of video conferencing will save many, or all, of your attorneys significant amounts of time in commuting and improve the productivity of their work day, then video conferencing will definitely help to grow your practice.
The resources you'll needed
IP (Internet Protocol) networks are superior to ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). If you have 384 kilobytes of bandwidth available to and from each video conferencing device, you should be able to enjoy a good quality video call. Realize however, that if your network is shared with other resources, it may compromise the quality of your conferences. A dedicated network specifically for video conferencing, or a managed IP video network like IVCi's IntelliNet, would ensure the best user experience.
Once you define your network, you need someone to manage it. Although your firm's technical staff may be able to manage your conferencing network, there are more efficient ways to ensure steady and healthy performance of your video conferences. Some conferencing providers perform 'managed services' that take all of the work out of your hands. Do a search in Google for "managed conferencing services" and you'll find a list of companies that will allow you to reap all of the benefits of video conferencing while eliminating your need to purchase expensive network equipment and hire additional support staff.
The following are steps you can take to be ready for your video conferencing implementation:
Talk with your attorneys and identify those individuals who are ready to reap immediate benefits from the technology; those who would be ready and willing to start using video conferencing right away.
Once you define the extent of usage, you can calculate the amount of time that your attorneys will be freed up to work on other cases. In many instances, the time saved adds up to dozens of hours per month, per attorney. With more time available, they can work on additional cases, thus growing the practice.
Video conferencing is best executed in phases. Features that satisfy the most important needs of the practice should be implemented in the first phase. Define what you need, find out what it costs and budget for that phase. As need and demand grow, you can budget for future implementations as they arise. Always work with conferencing providers that create scalable solutions.
Do some simple math. Once you define how much usage your firm will have, you can compare that figure to your budget. It's as easy as that.
Both Chris Robertson & Harold German 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.