Technology has always been known for its capacity to cut down distances. The telephone is a wonderful invention, without which we could not even dream of keeping in touch with our friends or loved ones regularly. One call and you can speak to anyone at any odd hour. But that this is just the beginning. The transitions in telephone technology are rapid and the uses even more so. One recent example is Web conferencing, which has greatly improved many people’s desire to communicate, especially in a business setting.

Web Conferencing-Bridging Distances

The World Wide Web enables easy access to any part of the world through the use of a few simplistic tools. A Web conference between a small or large number of people, all of whom live in different places around the world, can be set up with minimal time and expense. Each person logs on to a certain website or activates a certain Web-based application, and it’s as if they’re all in the same place at the same time. Actually, they are: They’re virtually together.

Another implied gift of this mode of communication is the capacity to organize large-scale sessions without worrying about the space restrictions. You can make the most important decisions ever in your company without everyone being physically present in the same room. A meeting can be supervised and managed using Web conferencing. The obvious advantages over conventional telephonic discussions include the facility to view the proceedings via audio and video interfaces and the much-sought benefit of visual presentations during the meeting.

The methods of conferencing can be many, including peer-to-peer direct conferencing, remote server hosting, and shared remote hosting. You control the requirements and the resources.

This method of communication knows no bounds. You are no longer restricted geographically when organizing a meeting or pursuing an immediate decision. In traditional settings, you have to wait a long time for all the required personnel to gather in one place. Web conferencing is a great help in these situations. Even delegates sitting halfway across the world can be part of the vital discussions by accessing the discussion without spending time and money on travel.

Smaller businesses, especially, can benefit from Web conferencing because their budgets are so much smaller than the ones that larger corporations have. Time and space constraints are taken care off, and still the best advice is available when it is needed.

Web conferencing is your gateway to the worldwide market. You no longer need to stick to your physical walls or even think in those terms. Having associations with firms and people of similar interest is now very possible, not to mention cheaper than you might think.

Web conferencing is blessed with its obvious advantages and it does not require an extensive marketing campaign to sell itself. A one-time use can speak volumes. Businesses and institutions of every shape and size can at any time, harness the benefits of this technological advancement.

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Question

I run a growing advertising company in the UK and I’m looking for some cheap ways of sharing ideas with other offices around the country, and also now that we are getting more national clients we need to be able to show them our progress without having to travel all the time. We’ve tried conference calls but if the client can’t see it then it is a waste of time. E-mail is okay, but it will sometimes be days before we get a response and then it’s only an “I’ll get to this as soon as I can” e-mail. Help!

-Outgrowing the UK

Answer

Well you may or may not be happy to know that yours is a common predicament. In an effort to shift with the industry many companies find themselves taking on clients that are out of their immediate area and working with people from other companies. This can put a strain on budgets and can really extend lead times while lowering production numbers. A growing company can’t afford to waste time or money. As a solution to this problem many companies are utilizing web conferencing services offered through various conference call service providers. These services cover a wide field of options. From a simple text based web applications to a full conferencing interface complete with video and voice communication. A web conference is comparable to a conference call, but with the addition of the ability to share visuals with multiple parties. You get immediate input on your designs and can find out if your client thinks the work you’re doing is stunning or whether it’s a dud. The type of software provided by the conference call service provider should match your needs. Don’t get sucked into bells and whistles you don’t need or will not use. In your line of work though the use of video could prove invaluable to landing a major sale or even ensuring that you are a company’s first choice.

When it comes to business, any new technology will ultimately be judged on how well it contributes to improving productivity and profit. If you are selling goods or services, online web conferencing can improve your bottom line by boosting sales and lowering costs. Here are five reasons why this is so:

1. It allows you to meet with more prospective clients

If you have to physically travel to a client’s office or location, there is only so much that you can do within any given period. Let’s face it, travel is exhausting and expensive not only in terms of the direct costs that you make when you travel, but also in the way that your productivity is affected every time you have to pack up and leave your office.

You can meet with more clients online than you could ever do by trying to visit them all physically. Web conferencing is one of the best ways to get this work done.

2. Online Conferencing allows your prospects to put a face with the voice over the phone

A lot of selling is done on the telephone, and some people are very effective with a simple telephone. If you are able to sell on the phone, think of what you could achieve if your prospects and clients could see you by simply opening their browser and entering a few mouse clicks and keystrokes! People prefer to deal with people, rather than faceless voices. Video conferencing allows you to project your warmth and sincerity and will enhance whatever selling skills you already possess.

3. Conferencing allows you to get together with more decision makers

Many purchasing decisions require the input of more than one person, and web conferencing allows you to get all the decision makers together in one meeting. For example, suppose John in New York wants you to also meet with Lisa in London, you can do so very easily. Instead of trying to arrange a face-to-face meeting, you simply have to get all parties together in a web meeting.

Easily arranged online conferencing means that you will be able to shorten the time necessary to close complex transactions involving the input of several parties.

4. Online conferencing enables you to sell more “add-on” products to your existing clients by giving you the ability to be in a meeting with them at any time and within minutes.

The more time you spend with any prospect, the more opportunity you have to build your rapport and to explain in detail what you have to offer. Someone who contacts you for a simple service, upon getting to know you well online, will probably go on to purchase your other offerings. If that prospect is limited to a short phone call, the chances of selling them something else is far less than it is with them seeing you.

5. Web conferencing allows you to offer better after-sales service

Customers are not only interested in what you are selling today, but on what kind of service you will be able to offer them tomorrow. Web conferencing opens up great service opportunities. For example, your technicians can “visit” your clients online. Some conferencing applications even allow a person in one office to remotely “take over” and operate a computer in another office.

When your prospective clients and customers understand that you have the capacity to remain in touch with them and help them online, they will have one more reason to want to buy from you.

Once you try your hand at it, you will probably be able to add a few more points to this list by devising new ways to improve sales with online web and video conferencing.

The time is right for video and web conferencing to take off. While online conferencing is still seen as a technological novelty by some people, more and more businesses of all sizes are finding it be the solution to doing business and communicating with prospects, clients, employees and branch offices in an era of rising transport costs. Let’s take a look at some of the factors that are bringing web and video conferencing to a very wide audience.

1. Bandwidth speeds are increasing while prices for broadband web access are falling. Video and web conferencing are more effective when users have broadband access to the Internet. Prices for various broadband connections to the Internet (DSL, Cable, T1s) are falling and more and more homes and businesses are now connected by broadband rather than dial-up connections. Broadband penetration in the US among home users has reached 60% and, especially crucial for online conferencing, in the workplace broadband usage has passed 85%.

2. Web cameras are more powerful and less costly
Video conferencing is aided by good images. Just as high speed connections to the Internet are needed to view the videos, improved cameras providing clear images are also important. The least expensive web cameras today cost as little as $10 and even sophisticated tripod-mounted cameras are reasonably priced, placing video conferencing within the reach of millions of users.

3. The price of oil and transportation is rising, and business travel is more costly. Rising energy prices means that businesses have to scrutinize their travel plans more closely. Video and web conferencing make it possible to hold meetings with staff in other cities without making expensive car or airplane journeys. In addition, some companies are also using web and video conferencing to meet new clients and provide service to existing clients. Improved video conferencing capabilities, combined with rising travel costs is a sure formula for online conferencing growth in the years ahead.

4. Businesses are improving productivity with online conferencing. The gains provided by online conferencing are more than just the money saved by not buying gasoline for a car or spending it on airfares. When you sit in your own office and hold an online conference with associates in distant cities, you can get back to your other work within seconds of the close of the online conference. The lost time out of office, associated with business trips, is an important “opportunity cost” that can be reduced by the creative use of web and video conferences.

5. The cost of web and video conferencing has come down greatly in the past year. Web and video conference services are now less costly than they were a few years ago and it is possible for a business to get a much higher return on their investment in online conferences. Monthly costs for some conferencing services are so low that even families and individuals can connect in informal web conferences. At the same time, for a reasonable price, businesses can even purchase their own internal video/web conferencing system and not depend on web conference services provided by an outside provider.

6. Schools and universities are holding online classes, exposing a whole new generation to the world of online conferencing. The surest way of spreading any new technology is to get young people “hooked” on it. And that is exactly what schools and universities are doing with web and video conferencing. By holding more online classes and conferences, young people are becoming comfortable with this way of communicating. As today’s students enter the business and professional world, they are certain to bring with them a taste for the convenience of online conferencing.

Add up all these factors and it is easy to see why web and video conferencing are approaching the level of mass acceptance. If you are not taking advantage of online conferencing today, there is a good chance that you will be tomorrow.

In the mid 1990s a few individuals and companies, seeing the potential of the relatively unknown Internet, took advantage of this new medium and got a head start on everyone else. Similarly, today a few innovative companies have enthusiastically embraced web and video conferencing and are reporting great benefits from this under-used application.

Who is making use of web and video conferencing, and how are they using it? Here is a look at some of the enterprises and institutions that are being transformed by the intelligent use of this up-and-coming technology.

Ever conscious of rising costs, schools and universities are using web/video conferencing to conduct administrative meetings with staff and also for setting up online courses and tutoring for students. Web and video conferencing “made all the difference in turning a scheduling conflict into a magical lifetime memory for our student,” says Jon Fredricks of Midland Lutheran College.

While clergy are not usually pictured as techno-geeks, churches and other religious institutions have been quick to see the advantages of video conferencing applications and now use it to enable shut-in members of their congregations “attend” worship services without leaving their homes.

Sales organizations are using video and/or web conferencing to conduct sales meetings as well as to meet and demonstrate their products with prospects. Taking this further, sales coaches and trainers have whole-heartedly embraced online conferencing as a way to develop new methods of training, and save money at the same time.

Video and web conferencing “enabled us to develop a powerful new consulting/training business model in which we blend live classroom training with a continuous program of interactive videoconference training events, accessible by participants from virtually any location” reports Tim McMahon of McMahon WorldWide Sales Performance.

“The ability to offer this kind of programming has become a significant source of competitive advantage for us in the sales training marketplace,” added McMahon.

As might be expected, software and Internet companies who are already tech-savy, have been quick to make use of online conferencing. They are using these applications to demonstrate their products and services to clients, and to provide a new, previously undreamed of level of support.

“The technology allows us to access dentists’ workstations in two clicks…. It’s like working without walls and dentists have really been blown away by the personal touch that’s possible with this technology,” reports Rich Hirschinger, of www.DDS.com, a supplier of software for dentists.

Similarly, avant-garde media companies are using the latest web/video conferencing applications to present videos and conduct business meetings bringing together their offices located many miles apart.

Large organizations with many branches such as securities companies and banks have also seen online conferencing as a way to hold staff meetings, meet with clients and conduct training sessions without having to pay high travel costs.

But it is not only large institutions that are using these applications, professionals such as psychiatrists, psychologists and insurance agents are using online video conferencing to have intimate, one-on-one meetings with their patients, clients and prospects.

These are just a few examples of how various companies and institutions are getting the benefits provided by web and video conferencing. This list is sure to grow in the years ahead.