However the uptake for business has been slower, which could be attributed to a fear of the anticipated expense or the reluctance of companies to appoint a member of staff who can oversee the implementation because of the perceived complexity of the installation.
Whilst it is quite straightforward for home users to plug a webcam into a USB port, the implications for business are more complex.
On a basic level, it is possible to connect a good quality camera to a PC using software. Costs range from “free” for conferencing via MSN and
Skype to software that costs less than £100 from
Polycom. The software enables you to allow other webcam users to join you on your conference. However businesses generally need more sophisticated solutions and these, historically, have been costly. But not necessarily anymore.
Solutions Apart from seeing a real person at the other end of the line, there are other benefits of video conferencing.
Consider this for a moment; you have just created or are about to launch a new product or service. You have spent hours creating a PowerPoint presentation. You have spent £’000’s on new brochures, white papers and point of sale material – you are ready! So how do you get your message out to the masses?
Inviting businesses to web seminars (webinars) or online presentations has to be one of the most effective and economical methods available of reaching many potential customers at the same time.
WebEx owned by Cisco, provide a range of services for a monthly subscription. This can be an effective solution without the necessity of investing in your own equipment.
In reality, investing in video conferencing is not a financial issue, it's a practical one. Therefore the three questions you need to consider are as follows:
How could your customers benefit from video conferencing?
How would your workforce benefit from video conferencing?
How will your finances benefit from using video conferencing?
Customers To be able to provide face-to-face availability to your customers, anywhere in the world, could revolutionise your support offerings.
Training, meetings or simply a quick chat to see how they’re doing can mean all the difference to getting repeat business and add to the likelihood of being referred to other businesses.
Workforce If your business is considering homeworkers or you already advocate the benefits of allowing staff to work from hone, video conferencing can provide that all important visual link between a member of staff and the main office.
Taking this one step further, video conferencing over the internet can enable you to employ staff (depending on the work description) anywhere in the world.
Apart from simultaneously viewing presentations, web-based meetings also enable the parties to take control of the other person's PC, which could mean providing excellent support services such as maintenance or staff training.
What does it mean for business? Video conferencing is not just a low cost moving picture add-on for your PC, it has become a cutting edge tool that literally shows your customers that you mean business, in all its forms.<
Starting at the desktop is only the beginning. Video conferencing suites scale up to allow businesses to use large plasma screens at multiple sites, both nationally and worldwide.
The cost savings speak for themselves.
Short Case Study
"We did a study last year and discovered that WebEx has saved us over half a million dollars. Those gains were from keeping employees in their office where they could productively communicate with clients, customers and one another without having to incur travel costs".
Mark Philips, Vice President of Strategy, StarCite
If you think video conferencing may enhance your business, but you are not sure which option is best please contact us on 0800 970 9751 or email us at
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