Video conferencing increases business transformations and growth
Just less than 20 years ago, Statista reports that businesses were paying upwards of $500 billion per year in business travel expenses. From airfare to room and board, the most expensive part of going global has always been having a man on women on the “front lines” or a new territory or industry, attending global conferences and important meetings far away from home.
Today, everything has changed. While the cost of business travel continues to climb, the New York Times report a decrease in overall travel by close to 25 percent between 2000 and today; it’s not hard to see why. It’s now possible to be global without ever leaving your hometown, to hire locals from all over the world without spending a penny on airfare, and even to cut down on expenses for the standard quarterly meeting without cutting back on time spent on topic, pages in a presentation or even number of attendants. This is all thanks to video conferencing.
Global Reach
Business has always been seen as a global affair regardless of industry, but achieving global status used to require a massive business travel budget, not to mention the ability to communicate closely and regularly with affiliates and partners no matter how far away they might have been. Today, with economic options like Blue Jeans video conferencing, any business can get in touch and keep in touch with colleagues from all corners of the globe without so much as a penny invested in travel expenses.
Until recently, every dollar a company travel budget was decreased meant twice as many dollars would be lost during the fiscal year. Business has always been seen on a global scale because it exists on a global scale—by cutting ties and stepping off the worldwide playing field, a business has to be 100 percent prepared to take a major loss, one that could take up to five years from which to recover. Now, the ability for businesses to go global without a travel budget has changed how the world does business altogether. Arranging imports, exports and international trade is as easy as scheduling a conference and getting online, while national training sessions can be held with a few clicks of a mouse. Even a small business can be a global company, with employees and affiliates all over the world strengthening reputations and arranging partnerships; this wouldn’t be possible if not for the advent of a world where face to face communication no longer requires being in the same room.
Telecommuting
Another major change video conferencing has made in how the business world turns is allowing an increase in telecommute positions worldwide. While consultants, designers, marketing specialists and teachers used to be tied to a cubicle, office or on-site desk, video conferencing makes it possible for millions of men and women to work from the comfort of their own homes. As telecommuting becomes more prevalent many businesses worry about a lack of supervision leading to a lack of productivity, but as it turns out, happy employees are productive employees. According to US News, employees who telecommute log up to seven more hours per week than onsite employees, and that’s done of their own free will. The ability to work in a comfortable, familiar environment over which the employee has total control increases the drive to do more and better than ever before; recent studies show that telecommuting positions are less stressful than the same job carried out onsite, and employees who are allowed to work from home are significantly less like to resign or need to be terminated for any reason.
This requires employees to have good time management skills, of course, but the ability to attend meetings face to face without leaving his or her home office works wonders in helping employees to maintain focus on their job and stay accountable for their duties. Email and phone allows a line of communication, of course, but you never know if someone looks pleased or perturbed on the other end. The ability to read facial expressions and body language helps employers to manage their workers more efficiently, and allows employees to more accurately gauge the importance of assignments as given by their supervisors. There is no downside to this change in business operations.
Taking It Home
With services like Blue Jeans offering affordable virtual conferencing options to businesses of all sizes, it’s now possible to run a successful business, marketed to any location in the world, from a completely different location. You can have a home-based business in Australia that markets strictly to small businesses in the United States, all thanks to the impact video conferencing has made on facilitating remote communication. It’s become a staple of every successful business, allows global growth with a natural conversation, and makes it easy to keep touch with colleagues and clients from anywhere.
If you really want to take your business to the next level, whether it’s based out of a humble suburban home or a corner office in the tallest skyscraper in the city, you need video conferencing. Engage with customers, colleagues and affiliates from all over the world, and bring your business into the modern age.
Sources: Statista, New York Times, & US News
