Video conferencing has taken the business world by storm as technology has progressed throughout the years. Because it is such a growing phenomenon for business communication, it can be overwhelming for small-to-medium-sized businesses to determine how this technology should play a role within their organization.

We'd like to help you with your research. Below you will find information about the need for video conferencing equipment in the business world, the potential advantages for business communication, what hardware you would need, as well as how to determine if this technology is worth the investment for your particular organization.

WHAT IS THE NEED?

According to a study conducted by IDC, video conferencing is becoming more and more prevalent as last year 64% of companies had video conferencing setups in small "huddle" rooms that sat five or fewer individuals. These setups help connect meetings for all aspects of your business, whether it's internally or externally. Studies have shown that 87% of professionals say they feel more connected and engaged with their colleagues as video conferencing technology has increased in connectivity. The same goes for clients who cannot travel to you as well. In today's world, meetings can be anywhere at any time with the right technology in place. Like any business tool, the rise in video conference calls are due to a rise in productivity and effective business communication efforts. These advantages have led to video conferencing technology becoming more of a priority for organizations.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES?

Whether it's a company wanting to connect with remote employees, link multiple offices together for a meeting, reduce unnecessary travel expenses, or simply streamline a voice call so that everyone can see who is speaking, there are plenty of advantages to having video conferencing technology at your disposal. Companies are able to meet more frequently with a higher attendance rate, and they can be there for their clients in a way that feels more personal if their clients are not within driving distance. 65% of individuals also believe that video conferencing is the best method of screen sharing and collaborating on content. Five Nines utilizes Skype for Business (soon to be rebranded to Microsoft Teams) for video conferencing needs, and our team has the ability to host an HD meeting with up to 250 participants, share our presentations, collaborate on an Office document together in real time, poll our audience for feedback, and remotely share control of workstations from anywhere so we can best assist our partners. Reducing costs and increasing efficiency is the best equation when analyzing the investment on a piece of technology.

WHAT HARDWARE WOULD WE NEED?

Your hardware needs are as unique as the room you are putting a conferencing system in. A small-to-medium-sized conference room with a flat screen TV on the wall would do well with an all-in-one camera/speaker/microphone mounted underneath the TV, but you may need to move the TV up higher on the wall to make sure the camera can view everyone at the table. A larger conference room with a long table and an over-head projector will need a front or side wall mounted camera, multiple microphones, and multiple speakers to accommodate everyone and ensure a consistent experience. Acoustics can also play a large role in conference quality. If you have a room with a noticeable echo, you should look to adding sound dampening wall panels or acoustic ceiling tiles to reduce the reverberations.

Interested in the possibility of video conferencing equipment, but not sure where to start? Click below to request a free IT Assessment of your environment, no strings attached.

IS IT WORTH THE INVESTMENT?

From the outside looking in, you might not think video conferencing equipment is something your business needs. Perhaps you are thinking that all of your employees are in the same office, or all of your clients are driving distance from you. Video conferencing might not be necessary for every organization, but it can streamline meetings for almost every business. Investing in video conferencing equipment would make the most sense for organizations who have several locations that need to work together, have the need to host all-staff meetings, but do not have enough space to host all users at once, or who need to have the ability to connect with clients more quickly than driving to them.

Video conferencing helps to build the feeling of connectedness with your remote workers or clients you cannot meet with face-to-face. Having the ability to see the individual you are meeting with helps participants to be actively engaged, pick up on body language or visual cues, and keeps your meetings efficient and timely. Investing in video conferencing equipment is worth the consideration, as it can change your whole meeting dynamic and productivity.

Interested in learning more about Skype for Business as well as why Office 365 is more than just email? Click below to download our free Five Nines webinar about Office 365 tools that enhance collaboration and how Five Nines helps clients leverage Office 365 tools and packages.

Still thinking about making the switch to Office 365? Already have Office 365 but have no idea what that really means? You have to come to the right place, join us on our series of exploring Office 365!

What is Office 365?

Office 365 is your complete office in the cloud. At its heart is Office itself—the familiar Office applications businesses use every day—now offered as a cloud service, so it’s always up to date. But Office 365 is also so much more—it gives you the ability to work from anywhere, on any device, whether you’re online or offline. It helps you do your best work, the way you want to, wherever you are. That means more powerful tools for creating content, better ways to work together, and easier ways to share.

How can Office 365 benefit my business?

Office 365 is extremely scalable, for the first time it is offering enterprise level solutions to organizations of all sizes, from online meetings, to sharing documents to business-class email. Small to medium business can benefit from the portability features, low cost, and high security cloud system.

Lets explore some of the other benefits and features:

Business-class email: Large, 50GB mailboxes that can send messages up to 25MB in size, with contacts, shared calendars, and spam and malware protection that stays up to date. Built with Exchange email technology, the leading email solution for business around the world. Use your own custom domain for your email address, connect with Outlook for fully featured offline support, and access via the web through any modern browser. Available on your PC or Mac, as well as Windows Phone, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices.

Online meetings:  Hold scheduled or ad hoc online meetings for up to 250 participants, with screen sharing, audio and video, virtual whiteboards, polls, and shared notes. Partners and customers can fully participate through any HTML5 browser.

Online document storage and file sharing:  1TB of space in the cloud to store, backup, and easily share files. Files are accessible from almost any device, and can be synchronized offline and made available without an Internet connection.

Private social networking and collaboration:  A social network that helps your company stay connected, share information across teams, and make faster, more informed decisions.

Get work done from anywhere:  Wherever your people are, online or offline, they can get to—and work with—the most up-to-date versions of the files and tools they need to get things done, and on virtually any device.

Work better together—simply:  Office 365 offers business-class email, shared calendars, IM, web conferencing, and access to the most up-to-date documents stored in the cloud. You can work together in real time without compromising security.

Reduce your capital expenditure:  Office 365 is available as a simple monthly subscription. Avoid large up-front costs for new software while moving the cost of IT from capital to operating expense.

Be always up to date:  Since Office 365 is in the cloud, it is always up to date. No patches or software upgrades necessary. Microsoft is adding new value and capabilities on a monthly basis.

Cut hardware and energy costs:  Without servers to run for email, websites, and document storage, you can reduce energy costs and save by no longer purchasing new server hardware.

License per user:  Simplify licensing while providing each user access to business-critical technology on 5 PCs/Macs and 5 mobile devices. Save money when compared to traditional, per-device licensing.

Scale your business quickly:  Office 365 grows with you—adding a new user is as simple as buying an additional license.

Which plan should I choose?

There are three subscriptions available for small to medium size businesses that offer all of the features outlined above and more. You can consult with your IT provider or use Microsoft’s “Help me choose” tool to see which plan is the best fit for your business.

Want to learn more? Download the Microsoft Office 365 booklet below!