Benefits of Video Conferencing for Businesses

videoconferencing
Conducting a conference between two or more participants at different sites by using computer networks to transmit audio and video data. For example, a point-to-point (two-person) video conferencing system works much like a video telephone. Each participant has a video camera, microphone, and speakers mounted on his or her computer. As the two participants speak to one another, their voices are carried over the network and delivered to the other's speakers, and whatever images appear in front of the video camera appear in a window on the other participant's monitor.
Multipoint videoconferencing allows three or more participants to sit in a virtual conference room and communicate as if they were sitting right next to each other. Until the mid 90s, the hardware costs made videoconferencing prohibitively expensive for most organizations, but that situation is changing rapidly. Many analysts believe that videoconferencing will be one of the fastest-growing segments of the computer industry in the latter half of the decade.

Companies of all sizes and in every industry are quickly adopting video conferencing as a way to stay connected, increase productivity and cut costs in these difficult economic times. As prices on conferencing equipment drop and the technology becomes easier to use video conferencing is gradually becoming an efficient way for business to communicate with employees, customers and sales prospects. Below are a few benefits of adopting video conferencing as part of your everyday operations.
1. Increases Productivity
Most conferencing systems now have features that allow users to share and edit documents, PowerPoint, Visio, etc., in real-time. The ability to easily share and collaborate within various formats has added another dynamic to video communications previously not possible. Decisions are made faster, products or services are brought to market quicker, and your sales cycle can be reduced. These benefits help increase sales, improve operational efficiency and allow businesses to stay ahead of their competitors.
2. Saves Money
An additional tangible benefit of video conferencing is businesses can start saving money by reducing travel expenses. With a video link your employees can maintain relationships and conduct business globally without increasing your carbon footprint or spending money on airline fare, lodging and meals. Adopting a video conferencing program is a great way to promote your company is “going green”!
3. Keeps Employees Connected
Video communication helps retain valuable employees who have to relocate or need to work from home a few days. This definitely saves on costly retraining or recruiting fees associated with hiring a new employee. It also allows those employees who are on the road a lot to quickly keep track of new policies, developments and add insights to the day-to-day operations. Being limited by geography is a thing of the past!
4. Improve and Maintain Business Relationships
Unlike traditional conference calls, emails or texts, a live video conference allows the participants to see facial expressions and body language; meetings become a lot more personal. Most video conferencing solutions offer recordings and storage solutions which allows businesses to save and archive important online meetings. These recorded sessions can also be used as future training tools or for compliance regulations.
5. Improve Work-Life Balance
Whether long distance or just overnight travel, excessive traveling can burn out employees and put strain on their families. It’s common to have a flight delayed or even cancelled, and traffic in most metropolitan areas is just as unpredictable. Video conferencing is more reliable and ensures your meetings take place on time. Some of the more popular video conferencing solutions are offered by Cisco WebEx, Tandberg, GoToMeeting and Polycom. Avoid the headache and stress of planning the entire day to travel to a meeting and instead, just point and click. Set up a video conference and give it a try! We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how easy it can be.
10 Immediate Benefits of Video for Sales Teams
How do sellers benefit from incorporating Visimeet video conferencing into their sales calls and sales management processes? Here are 10 quick gains sales teams can see as soon as they turn on a webcam:
1. Reduce the costs associated with travel for field reps. Using video, outside reps can leverage their in-person selling skills, such as nonverbal communication, without the time and expense of travel.
2. Spark more engaging interactions between inside reps and customers. We’ve all heard the phrase, “death by PowerPoint.” When you’re on a faceless conference call or hiding behind a PowerPoint, you missing out on fully connecting with your customers. Getting face-to-face adds dimension to the online sales call.
3. Maximize sales and marketing investments in inbound leads and nurturing campaigns. The cost-per-lead for inbound leads is substantially less than outbound leads. More companies are investing in areas like social media to supplement or enhance their marketing efforts, and building out their inside sales forces. With video, you allow inside sales reps to retain the human component of selling.
4. Collapse the sales cycle by scheduling and conducting online meetings immediately. Reps can respond much more quickly to customer concerns and prospect interest by emailing an invite for a video conference call that can happen immediately. Even if prospects are on the road, they can still hold a meeting via video on their mobile devices. Video also makes it much easier to assemble a meeting with high-level executives who might otherwise require weeks of lead time to schedule an in-person meeting. Such accessibility means sellers can answer questions and share ideas quickly in order to make a strong impression and strengthen trust.
5. Recruit and hire better sales talent. Video techniques can be used to interview more candidates over wide regions, quickly and economically producing the best new hires.
6. Take your inside sales team’s professionalism up a notch. Many sales reps shine in person, video brings that capability back into the online sales call. By smiling, making eye contact, nodding, and mirroring gestures, reps can create rapport, build trust, and engage prospects with a winning attitude. Similarly, reps can learn to use video to catch and correct their own common errors, such as being too talkative or fidgeting.
7. Create closer connections with customers. Without visual cues and body language, sellers miss out on more than 90 percent of communication. Assets like voice inflection, facial cues, eye contact, etc., are all lost when sales reps are limited to email and phone calls.
8. Hold more effective meetings. With an online video solution, reps can make sure that meetings start on time and remain productive. The level of engagement is tremendous and meetings are starting on time and they’re more productive. Why? Because everyone is engaged in the session. People aren’t multi-tasking.
9. Combine technology and traditional selling skills. More than 90 percent of all communication is non-verbal. Video breaks the limits of phone calls or slide presentations, “death by PowerPoint.” The live experience of video brings visual cues back into the sales call.
10. Better gauge prospect reactions. On a video call, sales reps can see if prospects are smiling, leaning forward, or nodding – all indications that a conversation is on track. Conversely, they can also see when the prospect looks distracted, impatient, or disinterested. These cues would be impossible to leverage on a phone call or over email.