Are you really using the power of modern technology to make your
business more profitable? Sure, you are using e-mail, you have a web
page and you may be reaching your clients and customers with an
electronic mailing list, but are you using web and video conferencing
to hold virtual meetings with your employees, customers and clients in
different geographical locations? Here are six ways how web and video
conferencing can help you to increase the efficiency of your enterprise.
First however, it is important to know what web and video conferencing
are. Web conferencing is when two or more people “meet” over the
Internet to share information and ideas. Web conferencing systems
typically provide tools that allow participants to perform “Online
Collaboration” by working together over the Internet, sharing
applications and documents.
Some web conferencing tools include the ability to share one's desktop,
allowing participants to “present” information, be it a PowerPoint
Presentation, an Excel Spreadsheet or a Word Document with other
attendees of their web conference. It is even possible for participants
to remotely control other participants' computers. Video conferencing
allows participants to see and hear each other using head sets and web
cams, and is usually included in good web conferencing system.
Now take a look at how some companies are already getting the benefits of this cutting- edge technology:
1. They are holding “web meetings” with prospects, customers, clients
and fellow workers without having to incur any travel expenses. These
face-to-face meetings are conducted using the click of a keyboard and
the movement of a mouse.
2. They are demonstrating and supporting products and services without
having to send people to far-flung destinations. Web conferencing can
enable your staff to get behind the desk of your client and do the
trouble shooting or give the training that you may be currently doing,
without having to send your support staff out on expensive personal
visits.
3. They are holding virtual training and classrooms for students,
employees and clients . Schools and Universities in particular are
using web and video conferencing to create “virtual classrooms,” while
companies are training their employees at several locations using
combined web and video conferences.
4. They are giving online web and video support to clients . Live chat
boxes are great, I use them all the time, but the support you can offer
when your technician can take over a client's computer and really fix
the problem is much more powerful. And, when your client can see who is
helping him or her, it really adds a special “warm and fuzzy” touch.
5. They are saving thousands of dollars in travel costs by cutting down
on commuting and travel and time spent out of the office . “As a result
of this technology, our need to travel between offices has been greatly
reduced, which has already saved us thousands of dollars,” says Saul
Rothschild, Information Systems Manager at Steel Encounters, Inc.”
In times of rising fuel costs, web and video conferencing can really
make a huge difference to a company's bottom line. Companies using web
conferencing are not only able to cut down on their travel expenses,
but their sales representatives, trainers and support staff also get to
spend more productive time in the office and do not lose valuable hours
sitting in a car or on a plane.
6. They are thinking “outside the box” and devising new ways to work
now that they are free of geographical limitations . The companies and
organizations that have adopted web and video conferencing technology
are marketing products and services, conducting training and giving
support as if all their employees, prospects and clients were working
together under one roof. Company meetings, sales meetings, employee
training, and product launches are now being conducted with a new 21 st
Century flair.
So, consider your own business or activity and think of how web and
video conferencing could help you to work more effectively with all
your constituents without having to leave your office.
