Video conferencing software has evolved beyond traditional applications that connect two or more users through audio and video in real time. Organizations have various free options for video support, such as FaceTime, Skype and Facebook Messenger. Yet, free tools can't support all end users' communication requirements, including screen sharing, chat, file sharing, co-authoring and in-depth security and content control. Those requirements reduce the product options available, but some popular products include Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex, GoToMeeting and Google Meet.
When an organization selects unified communications software, it can see how a paid subscription can go past traditional video conferencing software and offer capabilities beyond video and audio.
Video conferencing software can benefit organizations in the following six ways.
Many organizations have significant annual budgets for travel to conferences, other businesses and branch offices. However, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led organizations to meet with clients and hold conferences virtually, which video conferencing software enabled. Most organizations likely saved their entire travel budgets over this time and could choose to continue to travel less and save money in the future.
Additionally, platforms like Zoom offer free meetings for a limited number of users or a limited length of time, which could benefit small businesses that lack the budget to travel or invest in other video conferencing products.
Video conferencing capabilities enable employees to work remotely -- whether from home, a coffee shop, a library or another location other than the office. This flexibility eliminates various time barriers, such as commute times or travel to and from conference rooms. Employees can join video conferences from anywhere. Also, these meetings become more accessible to employees with disabilities, employees in different states or time zones and potential new hires from different locations.
Video conference platforms can also improve communication between employees, as they enable users to discuss issues in real time with chat capabilities, file sharing and video calling. Employees don't have to wait for in-person meetings to discuss issues or ask questions, so they can accomplish tasks and solve problems quickly.
Virtual meetings -- like sales product presentations, reviews of current financial performance, contract negotiations or employee reviews -- generally result in action items and next steps. Action items can include generating a quote to send to the client, or an employee making contract adjustments. The takeaways are generally handwritten or digital notes. Yet, with frequent virtual meetings due to remote working, employees may struggle to capture this information, especially if meetings have many attendees.
Many video conferencing platforms, including GoTo Meeting, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, offer meeting transcription features to prevent these issues. These features transcribe spoken word into text and provide the text to the meeting attendees. This feature can eliminate the need for an administrative assistant or an attendee to take notes and it adds a neutral party to capture the information. Businesses could also adopt generative AI tools to fill this need.
Some meetings require folks across international borders to meet and interact virtually. In some of these calls, individuals who speak different languages may interact, which creates challenges when discussions arise. Organizations could hire translators -- which adds cost and complexity -- if existing employees aren't multilingual, or risk misinterpreting parts of the translation.
Organizations have various options to support multilingual meetings. Microsoft Teams and Skype offer the ability for anyone communicating over text to receive text translations. However, this may not suffice in video or audio calls. For those meetings, organizations can use features offered by vendors, like Microsoft's Azure Speech Translation services, or generative AI tools. These tools transcribe spoken words and translate them in real time for attendees to view or hear. This enables multilingual communication in meetings and captions for users who are hard of hearing.
Modern video conferencing software also offers the ability to share content and a user's screen with one or more meeting attendees. Screen sharing has become critical, as employees require remote assistance at times from their team members.
Another use case is the need to present content, which requires users to display files or data to meeting attendees. Employees could also collaborate and work on shared documents together in real time or through screen sharing.
Platforms like Microsoft Teams offer users access to other apps within the video conferencing software. With this access, users don't have to leave the app to connect to tools such as a CRM system, Microsoft SharePoint or Microsoft Planner.
This approach may appeal to users who want to reduce switching between apps and have easy access to apps and services within the video conferencing tool.