We live in a digital era where people across the globe are connected together by technology. With the advancements in communication technology, we now have access to more advanced and sophisticated methods of communication. Technology has enabled us to seamlessly connect with people anytime anywhere in the world; many businesses are taking advantage of the vast video conferencing benefits.
Video conferencing and video chatting apps have seen a big surge in demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, people spent 20% more time using video conferencing apps in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the previous year. Video conferencing application Zoom expanded its global customer base by 300% in just a month. As we adapt to life indoors, the video conferencing boom shows no sign of slowing.
Generally, business owners and employees travel to attend meetings, but video conferencing apps have transformed how business meetings are conducted. Video conferencing eliminates the need for business travel and offers the convenience of attending meetings without traveling to different locations. If you wonder whether the benefits of video conferencing are confined to reduced business travel, there are a lot of other benefits. Let’s look into the various video conferencing benefits for businesses.
1. Decreased Travel Expenses
Business travel is one aspect that contributes to the success of any business; it also increases the overall costs considerably. Video conferencing allows people to communicate with each other face-face in real-time. This can effectively replace business travel which saves cost-related travel along with saving time and efforts, too.
In addition, as meeting timings are utilized efficiently, productivity can be boosted along with decreasing the travel expenses. Video chatting allows businesses to establish more productive business relations without breaking their travel budgets.
2. Better Work-Life Balance
In today’s digital work environment, the corporate work style is changing. It involves variable work locations, flexible working hours, and less business-related travel. This results in a better work-life balance.
Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, more organizations are allowing their employees to work from home. This allows them to adjust their work hours to accommodate their personal life. This flexibility allows employees to adopt a more flexible and convenient working style.
3. Improved Efficiency
Video meetings bring in a level of efficiency that is not achievable with voice calls. Due to these reasons, participants of a meeting get a lot more done via live video chatting. Video chatting is more efficient than face-face meeting as it facilitates a more focused communication. With video chatting, strict time constraints, and productive discussions, efficiency increases with less unnecessary discussions and chatter. Additionally, when participants can see each other, the contribution to the meeting would be much better.
4. More Employee Satisfaction and Retention
Employees who remain happy and maintain a perfect work-personal life balance are the most productive ones. For instance, constant business travels to different locations can take a physical toll and thereby hampering the performance and productivity of employees. However, replacing it with video conferencing helps to boost both productivity and performance and thereby increase employee satisfaction.
This not only leads to employee satisfaction, but also helps in reducing job turnover. It is proven that working from home is productive as working at an office; provided there us advanced technology support and the right powerful video conferencing tools. The flexibility and convenience provided by video conferencing help employers to have more control over their work timings. With video chatting, you can make your employees feel more connected. This ensures they feel like part the team when they can communicate with each other face-face.
5. Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Businesses that leverage modern communication tools like video chatting apps gain a sustainable competitive advantage in the industry. In addition, using video conferencing apps allows businesses to be more efficient. With less business travel and related costs, better team efficiency, and more productive meetings, organizations can streamline critical business tasks and enable better collaboration.
6. Bind Resources through a Single Software
When you have the right tools, you can run an efficient business. With powerful video conferencing tools, your employees are more likely to come for the meeting on time. In addition, they are often more likely to actively contribute to the meeting. Video chatting connects all resources in an organization through one single software. This facilitates a productive environment to conduct important business meetings. Due to the difference in time zone, some employees might not be able to make it to your virtual meeting. However, with a bit of planning, you can still keep the work flowing in the right direction.
7. Improved Business Culture
Communication within a business is always complex. If not planned and streamlined properly, it can hamper the overall functioning and productivity of a business. In a business meeting, the tone of voice and body language, etc. play a very significant role.
While email and voice chatting reveal a tone, there is a lack of body language; this is where video conferencing wins. The real-time connection offered by video conferencing promotes successful working relationships in a virtual space. It can also help to improve trust and loyalty among employees contributing to a healthy business culture.
The Bottom Line
Video conferencing has already become a necessity rather than an advantage to an organization. As expectations of flexibility and convenience of employees at the workplace increase, video chatting is becoming the new norm. The impact of video conferencing on businesses is huge. As video communication technology increases, we will see more adaptations like AI and machine learning integrated to video conferencing. This will help businesses approach the workplaces replacing geographical restrictions. Even if business travel rebounds after the Coronavirus, both real-time communications and video chatting will go hand-by-hand. This is due to the individual advantages of both in various scenarios.
Video chatting facilitates efficient team building and collaboration along with improving customer retention and sales. If you are ready to integrate these advantages to your business, that can be the best business decision you take.
