Millennials

With a more mobile workforce and a new generation of employees who are digital natives, web conferencing is becoming more and more popular within businesses. Employees are looking to communicate with colleagues in a more personal way, and they are turning toward mobile devices and web conferencing to do it.

A Decade of Web Conferencing Trends

In 2005, market analytics company Wainhouse Research began a decade-long study on web conferencing trends. They found that the use of video has not only become acceptable within a company, but also a technology that transforms the way organizations do business. Organizations now expect to be able to use some type of video within their platforms.

Of the 800 companies surveyed, a third responded that they used video and web conferencing at least 50 percent of the time. Forty-four percent of overall users looked to use video when web conferencing and turned to another service or stand-alone system only if video was not available.

While video web conferencing fluctuated throughout 2007 and 2008 – mostly due to low-quality video and over-hyped services – the increase in quality has led to an equal increase in use and user base. Millennials, many of whom have grown up with video technology, now expect video conferencing to be a part of collaborative services – and if it doesn’t exist, they will ask for it.

Mobile Web Conferencing with Video

With the continuing improvement in technology, many organizations are beginning to rely on remote team members. According to the study by Wainhouse Research, only 42 percent of employees could use mobile devices enabled for conferencing in 2013. Since then, that number has increased to 70 percent.

Fortunately, many web conferencing vendors created mobile clients early on, resulting in over half of respondents agreeing that web conferencing on a tablet is effective. With its larger screen, the tablet is the first choice of most employees, but many are also willing to use mobile phones for the same purpose.

More and more workers are working remotely from home or on the road. This is a benefit for businesses that are looking to expand their reach, but it is also one of the major driving forces behind web conferencing. In fact, most organizations surveyed were using web conferencing to increase communication between employees.

Some of the top web conferencing platforms include:

Cisco’s WebEx
Microsoft’s GoToMeeting
Skype
Microsoft’s Lync
Google Hangouts
join.me

Although the survey found that WebEx was at the top of the list for web conferencing platforms, Microsoft is working on rebranding their offerings. This includes an effort to show consumers that Lync is the business version of Skype.

Millennials and the remote workforce are looking to improve teamwork and interact with their colleagues visually. By using video in their web conferencing, businesses are improving internal relationships and increasing the value of their employees.

Video conference Web conferencing is not new, but video is fast finding its way into web conference venues. The reason is clear. Face-to-face communication, even in a virtual setting, engages the human psyche in a more personal and interactive way. What words can’t say body language will.

In the corporate world, businesses must look for ways to more effectively communicate with all stakeholders in their organization–business owners, employees, customers, suppliers, and the rest of the supply chain. With video technology, businesses can create a new corporate face in the midst of increasing competition to help elevate corporate reputation and brand.

Video as a transformative technology

According to a decade-long Wainhouse Research study, the main drivers for increased video preference are:

A mobile workforce
Millennials

As mobile workers and the Millennial generation populate the human resource pool, the need for video in corporate conferencing is gaining ground. Mobile workers don’t stay put in permanent workplaces. Growing up when technology was beginning to boom, Millennials generally think that they can perform their tasks better with the click of a button. Yet, the need to see faces and meet people offers an empowering experience that can make them better team players.

In the same research, Wainhouse Research learned that 70 percent of employees had access to collaboration-enabled devices. Enterprises saw this development as an opportunity to expand their web conferencing services to their employees. Big screens are the preferred devices, but tablets and smartphones are equally useful.

Benefits of enterprise video conferencing

There is nothing like a personal meeting experience, but video conferencing is the next best thing. In a progressively wired work environment, video allows for the opportunity for better interpersonal communication and minimizes the risk of miscommunication.

On the business side – Video conferencing helps increase productivity, operational efficiency, and sales. For example, real-time document sharing and editing, like Microsoft PowerPoint or Visio, are dynamic features of video communications that were previously not possible. Decisions can be made faster and products can be brought to market quicker, significantly streamlining the sales cycle at reduced costs.

On the employee side – Video conferencing can offer a better work-life balance and mean less strain on employees and their families. Employees can be burnt out by physical travel stresses like flight delays, traffic, or bungled accommodation arrangements. Video conferencing also keeps employees connected while on the road or working remotely.

On the customer side – Video conferencing is an effective tool to improve and maintain customer relationships. in addition to verbal communications, live video conferences allow business owners and managers to determine what customers want by analyzing facial expressions and body language.

What to expect from a video conference service

The features that create a great web conference experience are varied depending on a business’s needs. Real-time screen sharing, targeted application sharing, meeting scheduler tool, provision for animated discussions among participants, and seamless security to protect confidential information are a few examples.

Dominating the web conferencing market are Cisco’s WebEx, Microsoft’s Lync, Onstream Meetings, InterCall, GlobalMeet, Adobe Connect Pro, ClickMeeting, and many more. Businesses have many choices, but the final choice they make should be anchored on what they need to truly communicate in meetings.

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