If you’re laboring over a pros and cons list for adding video conferencing to your organization’s capabilities, allow me to save you some time. The scales don’t just tip in favor of the benefits, they drop like a rollercoaster.
To prove it, I’ve put together a little list of my own. Here are four of the many benefits that video collaboration brings to your business.
1. More Effective Management
You can manage a global team with just emails, texts, and voice calls, but there will be a serious disconnect. Video puts a face to the name that always shows up at the bottom of emails and on caller ID. Regular video conferencing keeps your face connected to your name and makes your text-based directives to overseas branch offices more effective.
Most importantly, though, it allows you to develop genuine relationships with your remote teams and partners. Think of how your favorite video podcaster develops a connection so strong you feel like you’re good friends with someone you’ve never actually met. Thanks to video conferencing, you don’t have to be physically present for a meeting in the same huddle room to develop camaraderie. That familiarity results in increased productivity when you do take a trip abroad to visit your branches and suppliers, as you’ll already have an established rapport that fosters clear, smooth communication.
2. Better Sales
Adding video conferencing to your sales cycle also allows you to build better relationships with clients and potential customers. Sure, face-to-face meeting is still the best way to build mutual trust and finalize deals, but video calls are a close second—and they’re far better than email and text interactions.
Researchers at the University of Michigan tested how long groups take to build trust via face-to-face, video, audio, and text communication. The study found that although developing trust through video conferencing takes a bit longer than in-person, the level of cooperation reached is nearly equal, while the other methods lag significantly behind. The extreme convenience of video conferencing can easily make up the difference. An article by telemedicine platform Vsee also referenced the University of Michigan study and connected it to further research that shows the trust-development process can be accelerated by providing background information and using certain verbal and non-verbal cues.
3. Most Cost Effective
Maybe the hefty price tags on video conferencing equipment scare you, but they shouldn’t! Investing in video conferencing can help you save big in the long run. We've already discussed how you can achieve a better sales success rate by building trust with video conversations ahead of in-person meetings, which saves resources and maximizes your ROI. Using remote collaboration tools to cut down on travel for internal meetings could be an even bigger factor.
According to Michael Horrocks at Expert Market, the price for international business trips averages out to just over $2,500. Even if travel is limited to your home country, the cost can be quite high, as Horrocks lists the average price for a trip within the US at $990. With prices like that, a conferencing system essentially pays for itself after it rescues you from making one or two trips.
4. Best for the Environment
The fourth benefit of video conferencing is also the most important. Less travel also means a much smaller carbon footprint for your organization. Most companies like to talk a lot about corporate social responsibility, and using video conferencing to reduce travel is one of the best ways to back up that rhetoric.
Emissions from air travel are tripled by business class seats, per a World Bank study referenced by the New York Times. Then there’s the air pollution caused by ground transportation, increased heating and air conditioning usage, and on and on. Therefore, purchasing your office a fancy new toy, like the stylish and efficient AVer CAM540, will actually make you a green hero!
The AVer Benefits
Whether you run a small online business out of your parents’ basement or head up communications for a Fortune 500 company, video conferencing has benefits specific to you, and AVer has everything you need. If you’re looking for secure endpoint connectivity, the EVC170 with a built-in meeting server and WebRTC compatibility could be the perfect choice. For more flexibility, the CAM340+ offers 4K USB plug-and-play functionality while fitting in the palm of your hand, making it perfect for the agile workplace.
Start building better connections, selling more, saving money, and reducing your environmental impact by finding the video conferencing solution that works best for you. If you have any questions, we’re always happy to help.