Video communications were once thought to be the epitome of futuristic vision, but now they’re fairly commonplace. Social media and webmail clients even have video communication technologies built in. With the technology being so commonplace, though, is there any way that you can leverage it to save your business money? Yes, there is. There are actually several, in fact.
Understanding Video Communications
When you think of video communications, you might think of something like Skype. You’re right, of course, though there’s much more to video communications than that. In addition to consumer-focused video software like Skype and FaceTime, video conferencing options are available for businesses large and small. You can connect two, three or dozens of individuals to the services, and each person that you connect has a potential savings attached.
Here are some more video-related benefits:
Improved Communication
Video gives you a chance to see the person that you’re talking to and read their body language in addition to hearing their words. In time, we should even be able to see real-time translations of foreign speech during video conferencing calls; the technology is already being developed, and once it becomes widespread it may even reduce the cost of doing business internationally as well.
Better Inter-Office Communications
Some of the biggest problems in business come from individuals in different parts of the company not communicating effectively. Video communication options can help with this, though, letting the parties in question have a quick face-to-face chat instead of playing phone tag or sending memos through that get trapped in spam filters. This lets things get cleared up more quickly, letting you give guidance to your teams and getting projects finished on time.
Increased Remote Productivity
Working remotely has several challenges, though it also has its rewards. One of the big challenges is how tempting it is to do other things while you’re supposed to be paying attention. Video communications can help with this, since a videoconference lets you see your remote workers and make sure that they aren’t trying to multitask during your meeting. This keeps them focused, resulting in improved productivity and decreased project completion time.
Reduced Travel Expenses
Traveling is expensive. When you add in the cost of gas or tickets, other expenses associated with trips and any business meals that you take a client to, the end result is a cost that’s hard to swallow. Video conferencing equipment can cut out most if not all of these expenses by letting you meet with clients in a virtual environment to work out a deal. While this cuts out some of the sightseeing and other fun of business travel, it also cuts out the tedious parts and frees your time up to do more important things.
Remote Interviews
Just like video communications makes it easier to meet with clients, it can also help with recruiting efforts and keep your recruiting budget under control. Instead of inviting prospective recruits out to see your business before you wine and dine them, a video meeting lets you skip straight to the interview and get a feel for your prospective recruit before you have to spend a dime. If you do feel the need to wine and dine the recruit after that, you can do it knowing that you’d all but made your decision before you ever spent a dime.
Improved Work-Life Balance
This may seem like an odd way that video communications can save your business money, but it’s actually pretty solid. Video allows employees to better adapt work to their lives, giving them a chance to make meetings or chat with clients without having to spend more time at the office. A good work-life balance results in happier employees, which in turn results in fewer sick days and less overall downtime. As you can probably guess, this means you’re spending less on overtime and temp solutions to cover the work that employee would do.
