Looking for Video Conferencing Solutions? Here’s What You Need to Know

Audio Visual Video conferencing can be great, in that you can come to meetings in your pajamas. (Well, that’s provided that your pajama top is passable as video business attire!)

However, video conferencing software is not always that great. In fact, some of the most popular video conferencing software out there (we’re not going to name names) often fails in their basic duty of delivering consistent video and audio without breaking up or freezing.

If your business team or clients are sick of messages such as “Your internet connection is unstable,” or you are feeling tied down by a lack of features, you might need a more enterprise-level video conferencing solution.

Features of Advanced Video Conferencing Solutions

Almost all modern video conferencing solutions offer the basics of streaming video, chat, and rudimentary screen sharing. Additional features that may or may not be add-ons can include collaborative features, instant transcripts or closed captioning, and document sharing.

We also feel that there are two main features of advanced video conferencing solutions that smart businesses should take advantage of - interactive whiteboards and business phone systems. These two items can turn your video conferencing room into a powerhouse.

Interactive displays and business phone systems allow meeting attendees to see everyone in the conference room, share files as well as screens, edit documents together in real time, chat, and more.

Interactive Whiteboards and Displays

An interactive whiteboard or display is a large-scale screen that can provide a higher level of interactivity than a monitor or television screen. Displays can have touchscreen abilities so that presenters can actually move things easily on the screen. Advanced interactive display technologies can also connect with other team members both in the room and remotely, providing high levels of interactivity.

Cloud-Based Business Phone Systems

Business phone systems can also integrate with video conferencing, but they need to be cloud-based. There are lots of benefits to cloud-based business phone systems beyond just video conferencing. These phone systems are more portable and aren’t tied to just one physical office location. In terms of video conferencing, cloud-based phone systems for businesses shine. They can easily integrate with video conferencing meetings cohesively, making it easier for team members and clients to connect virtually.

Considerations When Choosing a Video Conferencing Solution

Businesses of all sizes can benefit from video conferencing. In fact, video conferencing isn’t really optional anymore. In many ways, having a good video conferencing solution is just as important as a telephone these days, if not more so.

For professional services, clients like the ability to interact with business representatives via video rather than just telephone. For health care, video conferencing can allow patients to quickly see doctors without having to come into the office. Video conferencing also has obvious applications for education and many other initiatives such as organizing people for a charity endeavor.

When selecting a video conferencing solution, you’ll want to ask the following questions:

How many people will be using this system? There’s a vast difference between a small group of 10 or fewer working collaboratively, versus leading a webinar that might have 1,000 participants in the audience.
What level of collaboration is needed? Do you want video conferencing to enable remote workers to interact and share documents, editing them on the fly?
Will my office benefit from a dedicated video conferencing room? For many businesses, setting up a conference room to enable video conferencing (as well as in-person meetings) is very important. This is where an interactive whiteboard can be hugely helpful because it can allow in-person team members and remote staff members to interact at the same time.

Make Your Video Conferencing Shine With a Professional Solution

If you need to elevate your video conferencing, don’t just go to the lowest common denominator online service. Real businesses need real business solutions. RJ Young can help with a customized video conferencing solution for your organization. We can connect your video conferencing with interactive whiteboards and business phone systems to create a very robust and interactive system that interfaces with the people and resources you need.