Web conferencing is a flexible option that allows you to hold business meetings with clients, employees or remote workers over the internet and without the need to be in the same location. Available for setup on desktop computers, boardrooms and even smartphones, web conferencing benefits businesses by saving time, money and company resources. In this article we look at what’s involved and the benefits it provides. For more detailed advice, please contact us here at Belton.

Benefits Of Web Conferencing

Quite simply, web conferencing will save you time and money. Think for a moment about how much money face-to-face meetings are costing your business. Say you have a geographically spread sales team and you are looking at holding a monthly sales meeting. Not only will there be travel costs involved in assembling all the personnel in one location, there’s also the time factor involved too. What’s more, time spent travelling to meetings equals less time available for chasing new business and following up on leads. Multiply this by the number of monthly meetings and it soon becomes a considerable company investment. With web conferencing, however, your sales staff can simply log on to the meeting without wasting time commuting or incurring travel costs.

Web conferencing is also a very flexible option. Say there is a need for an urgent or impromptu meeting, a web conference can be set up much faster and more easily than a face-to-face meeting. All that’s needed is a computer and internet connection and so it opens up the important opportunity for personal communication with employees or customers regardless of where they are in the world.

Now that we’ve made the business case for investing in web conferencing, let’s see what’s involved.

Web Conferencing: Hardware And Software Requirements

One of the many advantages of web conferencing is that it doesn’t require a significant investment in either hardware or software. What’s more, it’s pretty easy to setup so the average person can do so without the need for a PhD in computing!

Hardware requirements: A camera, monitor and microphone are the basic hardware requirements. In addition, it’s a good idea to invest in a codec unit which takes audio and video feed, compresses it and then transmits it via an IP network. It will also decompress or expand incoming audio and video streams and maintains the network’s data link.

Software requirements: There’s a whole host of web conferencing software out there. These include basic options through to more sophisticated ones offering additional features such as record and playback ability, whiteboards, instant messaging and the capacity to upload slides and graphics. In fact, there are so many options available that making a selection is often confusing and daunting. Our knowledge and expertise can support you through that process and help you select the right software option for your needs.

Belton: Impartial Expert Advice

The days of an intermittent, unstable video call are now long gone. The technology has advanced so that the quality of web conferencing is just as good as if you were just sitting across the table. The truth is that many businesses just like yours are using web conferencing to support productivity, enhance communication and reduce costs. Make sure that your business doesn’t fall behind. For help and advice on the very latest web conferencing technology, get in touch with Belton here or give us a call on 0800 800 213.