Carlos Montenegro asked:




When companies have to buy something, it has to be approved by management. With the cost of air travel going up, it is only right to justify the use of video conferencing since it is more affordable to do so in the long term.

How do you justify that? Most companies use numbers as their basis in making a decision so if you look at the expense report and notice that a huge chunk is spent on traveling, they will realize that they can cut cost here and use the money saved somewhere else.

But doesn’t video conferencing equipment cost a lot of money and isn’t the system very complex? For a time but this has changed. This is because vendors no longer use ISDN lines and they have now shifted to IP networks. This is the same system used by the Internet thus making it easy to integrate with other systems.

For those who are concerned about how much it costs, the price of video conferencing equipment has gone down through the years making it more affordable for businesses.

A decade ago, a video conferencing system costs $75,000 or even more. Nowadays, you can find one for less than $10,000. Other accessories like a webcam will cost you less than thousand.

As a result, it is no wonder that a consumer report has shown that there was a 22% increase in sales of the equipment in 2006 versus 2005. So although you may need a lot so this can be installed in each office, in the long term it doesn’t because you already have the system in place which is not affected by the price of oil in the world market.

Another way to justify the need for this technology is to do a study by interviewing those who have gone on business trips in the past and ask how well it went. Previous reports have shown that traveling takes a toll on your body due to fatigue and stress. By the time they get to where they are going, their mind is not focused with what needs to be done thus decreasing their productivity.

You can also argue the other benefits of video conferencing like the ability to increase the sales and product development cycles, improve the quality of communications, better delivery of training and coaching to the other offices as well an improvement in the quality of the work after a staff meeting.

There have also been other improvements both in audio and video quality so you get to communicate with the other party in real time. But the best part about such systems is that they are user friendly since most of the systems currently available are menu driven so you don’t need to study a manual inside out and no special expertise is needed.

When management has approved your request, it is time to go out shopping for the right system. Ideally, you should get one that has an audio and video channel but the latest is the kind that allows multi-media communications. This allows the user to send and receive data in a dual stream IP environment.

Do I need to say more to help you justify the need for video conferencing systems? Maybe not so do your research and use the system to your potential.

Jane

Ajeet Khurana asked:




Twenty years ago no one would have ever dreamt of something as sophisticated as conferencing, but today this is a really convenient way to do business. More and more businesses are taking advantage of this high tech ability to do business even if they are half a world away from one another. When you have the need to speak with people from other offices, even if they are in different parts of the world, a remote conference makes it simple and straightforward.

Benefits of Video Conferencing

Many businesses have adopted conferencing because they believe that it actually increases production. When people are able to meet face to face in their respective offices or locations and brainstorm or simply see eye to eye on topics it will energize everyone involved in any given project, which generally results in more productivity. This is something that more businesses are picking up and they like the increase in productivity so much that they are willing to continue the conferences for that benefit alone.

Another aspect that a lot of corporations like about conferences is that it can actually save money. The reason for this is that people from different offices no longer need to be in the same geographical location to get things done together. Instead employees can meet and discuss things, even share physical progress on projects because they are linked via video. It is much more economical than flying several employees to another location, paying for lodging and food. This is simply a more efficient means of communication.

One more benefit that cannot be overlooked is that it actually saves time. Sounds odd, but when you consider that employees will no longer need to spend work time traveling, there is time to be maximized. Employees will have a lot less travel time, which is usually time that cannot be utilized, and so more will be able to get done in less time. This goes hand in hand with saving money and an increase in productivity, since there will be more time to get things done in.

Conferences are relatively new to the world of business but it works. There are many different services that will provide video conferencing capabilities to businesses, whether they need the service once a month or once a day. Shop around a bit to see what is out there and how business can benefit. You’ll likely be impressed at how easy it is to set up these services and put them to use for your company. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re involved in, chances are that you can use video conferencing services to build a better business.

Kim