Voice - Video Conferencing

The IP (Internet Protocol) revolution has lead to "IP everywhere" making the transmission of Audio/video conferences far less expensive, much easier to use, more reliable and significantly more scalable to meet a company's growing requirements. 

The bottom line is that every company, big or small, must evaluate Audio/video conferencing as a possible application. Here's a checklist to help determine if video conferencing is right for your company. 

1. Would it enhance your productivity if workers at separate locations could meet as workgroups? 

Enhanced productivity and reduced time-to-market are the main reasons companies give for installing video conferencing. Being able to meet spontaneously face-to-face not only allows people at different locations to get more done faster, it also improves camaraderie, communication and employee morale.}

2. Could you attract or keep better employees if you could reduce their time away from home? 

While reducing travel costs is one of the first things a company thinks of when considering video conferencing (and it is a significant factor), the real cost of travel is better measured in lost productivity from employees out of their offices and the high cost in employee morale from personnel spending days and weeks away from their homes and families. Video conferencing can significantly reduce time away for even the most travel-intensive personnel.

3. Do you want to reduce travel costs? 

Companies with big travel budgets can often justify the purchase of video conferencing systems based on travel cost savings alone. While productivity costs are the main impact of travel on companies, eliminating a big percentage of airfare, hotels and per diem expenses can directly impact the bottom line.

4. Do you want to be aligned with the next big step in communications technology? 

The growth of video conferencing is explosive, making the technology more and more essential in inter-business as well as intra-business communications. Companies have invested huge sums in computer and networking technology and now are focused on getting even better returns from that huge outlay with applications that can bring real business benefits. Video conferencing is the next "killer app.” 

While small businesses with only one location may not yet be able to justify an investment in video conferencing unless customer demands require it, most other companies should at least consider the benefits to their bottom line. Even if your firm has evaluated video conferencing in the past, the enormous changes in the technology in just the last year more than justify reconsidering. Companies around the world are quickly realizing that video conferencing is not just a less expensive communication method, it is actually a better one -- a method destined to change the face of business in the years to come.