Working from home is more common than ever, and pricing for video communications tools are no longer as prohibitively expensive. It is not surprising therefore, that many small businesses are embracing videoconferencing.
With that, gone are the days where Skype or Google Hangouts on Air are enough. Today, modern videoconferencing tool are popping like mushrooms overnight. Every small videoconferencing platform has a myriad of tools (and different ones too) to offer their clients seamless experience during the meeting. From simultaneous chat translations, to meeting rebranding room and all the way to social integrations – it’s important to know what unnecessary features that cost too much are, and what are the essential ones that your business definitely needs.
So without delay, here are some of the benefits of adopting videoconferencing in your small business:
Cater for telecommuters
8 in 10 people would telecommute given the opportunity. However, many businesses miss out on telecommuting talent because they do not have the enabling environment. Modern webinar platforms can allow small businesses to retain valuable employees who cannot come to the office all through the week, or those that relocate permanently. This will save costs in terms of recruitment and retraining, and ensure access to the best talent. Geography becomes less of a limiting factor in the workforce.
Eco-friendly while saving Money
Travel costs are a huge challenge for most small businesses. Video meetings, however, afford such businesses the opportunity to maintain client relationships and stay in touch with colleagues while saving money.
Apart from saving costs, business can improve their carbon footprint a great deal with video conferencing. According to research, one hour of travel to a meeting is the eco-equivalent of a thousand hours of web conferencing!
Proper work-life balance
With the pressures of modern life, employees can quickly burn out and grow disillusioned with the work environment. Small business owners need to avoid this. Video conferencing reduces the need for frequent travelling and meetings thereby reducing stress to key staff. Here is an in-depth look at causes of organisational stress.
Improvements in personal connections
Email and chat may be good communication tools, but when it comes to cementing relationships, a live video meeting achieves far more. The ability to see and read expressions and body language adds a more personalised touch to meetings. Similarly, recorded and archived video meeting materials can be used to get new hires up to speed with operations around the environment, instead of sending them uninspiring blocks of text.
Just these reasons, and they are by no means all of them, make it clear why more small businesses are embracing video conferencing now more than ever. It is a vital sphere of technology that should be found in any business environment, whether a business focuses on reaching and attending to a global audience, or is simply striving to create a better working environment. The initial costs of setting up a video conference hub have dropped markedly over recent years. Most small businesses begin to see the payback within pays.
