Friday, September 23, 2011

Video Conferencing in Five Easy Steps

Author: Shelby Lara


Video conferencing systems have become one of the greatest assets that business owners and personnel have. It is a means to communicate with satellite stores, sister companies and so on. It saves a business a tremendous amount in traveling expense. With video conferencing, the personnel can come together all in one place while at different locations throughout the world. It allows visual communications, the sharing of documents and graphs, and the necessary stage to conduct a thorough conference. Video conferencing systems are not just for the big dogs; they are for every size company.
Once you have purchased and installed a video conferencing system, it is then time to get started. What is the best way to launch video and promote video conferencing internally? Decide who your target audience is. What groups or departments within the framework of the company will be involved. What concerns do you may have and how they can be overcome? Following the five simple steps for video conferencing, will help to familiarize you in the process of video calling. The task is relatively painless and will provide the best conference possible.
Step One:
Select a video conference head honcho within the company. This person or person do not need to be a specialist or an IT. This person or persons can be anyone in the company. These are the ones that will be responsible for promoting the new technology. They will walk the walk and talk the talk to add credibility and enthusiasm within the company. These persons must be totally educated and know the benefits of video conferencing. They will be responsible for finding other champions in other locations to help broaden the reach throughout the company.
Step Two:
Make sure your stage is set. Make sure that your network has the proper bandwidth, quality and other performance related issues. Typically, a network has a 2MB bandwidth. This is a sufficient amount of bandwidth to support HD connectivity and content. It will also be necessary to make sure that you have the scheduling tools and usage instructions for the rooms.
Step Three:
Promote your video conferencing system. Just like the big screen, promote your premier conference. Hold a launch party and invite all the business personnel and have live demonstrations.
Step Four:
Train users on line of business applications and value. Focus on line of business process improvements which often make the difference in a company's success. This will maximize conferencing benefits as the performance will be greater.
Step Five:
Track your progress. Now that you are up and running, it is time to start to track your progress. This should be done regularly. By tracking your progress, you can ensure that your ROI and cost savings are calculated. Track utilization. Track trends and new products and ensure that they are understood. Meet with the head honchos to understand the pros and cons of the video conference experience. Make sure problems are resolved. Lastly, make sure the systems are current.
Conclusion:
With proper planning, you can gain full functionality and benefits that come with visual communications.

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