In a world where working off-site has become more common but the need to meet and stay in contact remains the same, video conferencing offers businesses the ability to meet with their employees regardless of where they are located.
Videoconferencing (also called video conferencing) allows your business to:
1. Keep in contact with employees through video teleconference equipment regardless of where they’re located.
2. Cut down on travel expenses since meetings can take place wherever the equipment is available.
3. Allow face time with employees that can’t be achieved via a conference call.
4. Schedule an emergency meeting with ease at any time of the day or night.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Determine the best video teleconference equipment solutions for the size of your business
All video teleconferencing equipment is not created equal. How big is your business, and how many offices do you have around the country? Knowing the answers to those questions can help you choose the best video conferencing equipment for your company.
I recommend: MegaMeeting allows you to have up to 16 participants at one time and an unlimited number of observers.
Skype works well one on one but requires a third party product to integrate with it if you have more than two participants.
Find a conferencing provider that fits your budget
Cost is always a concern when adding new technology to your business. Luckily the cost of videoconference equipment (also called video conference equipment) has come down in the last few years, and there is a conferencing solution for every company's budget.
I recommend: SightSpeed, which includes its free services, video conferencing and PC to PC voice calling and adds multiparty videoconferencing (also called video conferencing), three-click file sharing for both Windows and Mac, and video mail recording is a low cost conferencing provider that works for small businesses. For a very powerful but much more expensive solution that takes care of all aspects of video conferencing for from tech support to security, Adobe’s
Acrobat Connect Professional is the solution for you. It allows you to conference with up to 2,500 people.
Find videoconferencing equipment and supplies
Find videoconferencing equipment and supplies, including used equipment, cables, monitors and power supplies.
I recommend: TKO Video Communications,
AllConferenceServices.com and
Clary Business Machines are all good sources of video conferencing equipment.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- Have the technicians available to keep your video teleconferencing equipment running if your provider doesn't offer tech support.
- Send an e-mail reminder to the participants 24 hours before the schedules meeting time that includes the agenda as well as any information they need to know before the conference begins.
- Perform a quick check of all the video teleconference equipment prior to the meeting to make sure everything is running smoothly and there aren't any delays.
The official source of Videoconferencing Equipment is
the Videoconferencing Equipment page at Business.com
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