I am the absolute proof that video and conferencing can replace travel, in fact it changed my life to such an extent that I reduced my travel costs by 90%. This resulted in me spending more time back home and allowed me to expand my business but at the same time my relationship got back on track because I was not in a hotel on the other side of the world. I used to hate traveling but the difference is I am now able to choose when I travel and that has put the fun back into traveling.
Let me be clear video and voice conferencing is not the answer to everything, there are always going to be meetings that you need to travel to. But is it possible for you to meet online and video conference with colleagues, customers and friends? The only way is try it out yourself but first lets explore in broad terms what type of systems are available and if you might find them useful.
Video and Voice Conferencing Systems:
There are many different types of video and conferencing but principally this is divided into two main areas;
The dedicated and purpose built equipment for large corporate organizations and government organizations that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. This sector has developed virtual reality technology called telepresence which emulates the sensation of actually being at the other location. Although this is offers a superior experience it is complexed and the costs are prohibitively high.
For the likes of me and most other people we want a easy to use inexpensive video and conferencing experience. The standard desktop or laptop with a good quality camera or webcam and a phone or audio headset with an wide band internet connection like broadband fits this criteria, after all we use them every day. Recent advances in video streaming technology and internet band widths have made the use of the humble computer possible, improving reliability, security, quality and costs. The result is it is not only possible but affordable for virtually everyone to be on the web and video conference.
These huge advancements have really changed my life and will probably change how we all communicate with each other in the future. I do not have to fly or drive anywhere now and have reduced my traveling time to one month a year.
Video and Conferencing Use and Adoption:
Most of us do not readily change, something has to happen that forces change, for me it was traveling eleven months of the year and never seeing my family. The world is currently in a crisis with falling share prices, companies going to the wall and the highest oil prices ever. Business and general living costs including travel is already costing a whole lot more and this may be the catalyst that some of us will need to try out video and voice conferencing.
But what of our resistance to change due to complexity? By using the existing equipment that we are already familiar like a PC and ensuring video conferencing is simple to set up and easy to use will allow us to experiment with this technology. I acknowledge that some of the video and voice conferencing services are not very good after all you get what you pay for. But advances in the technology constantly improvement the quality and experience, in fact each month there seems to be a new or improved video and conferencing service being launched.
When I first started to use videoconferencing I anticipated that my customers would resist video conferencing. Surprisingly the majority after testing a desktop PC based systems started using the technology and continue to utilize it throughout their organizations. The main reasons for this are cost savings on travel but also the increase in productivity and convenience of being able to quickly have a meeting with anyone, anywhere.
Which service is the best:
What desktop or laptop and video conference service is ideal for you or your organization? Well you have to spend what you can afford and it should be tailored to your needs.
The free services may be OK for casual one to one conferences but restrictions like the number of users and quality issues with the video, audio and reliability make them generally unsuitable for business use.
Many of us will end up using the subscriber video and conferencing services with small monthly charge which can be offset against the savings on the travel costs and time. These services offer a proven high quality experience with secure, reliable connections with multi participant capability, in session control of the remote PC, text chat, file transfer and video conference recording.
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