Video Conferencing Solutions Proving a Boon for Businesses During COVID-19 Era

Maintain distance and yet get work done. This is the mantra for today’s Covid 19 era. Some essential businesses are permitted to carry on with their routine activities and employees may attend office. However, the dread of corona-virus transmission and restricted movement during lock down is likely to keep employees away. Then there are business considered not essential but which nonetheless must keep operating or go under. Video conferencing is a perfect solution for both types of businesses. Where work would be at a standstill, video conference solution helps to keep industry wheels turning.

Distance is no barrier to communications and work

Take the case of this pharmaceuticals manufacturer. It is business as usual but with a difference. Employees must get work done but must maintain a distance. Even if they do meet in a conference room how do you expect them to carry on normal conversation with a mask in place? Then there is the risk of virus transmission. Video conferencing resolves the situation. Employees remain at their desks, exchange documents through the conferencing system, view each other, talk, make presentations and do everything that happens during a normal working day. Even those employees who could not attend office due to lockdown or temporary illness participate and assist in routine work. The head office or sales office connects with production unit and with dispatch and delivery personnel as well as their distributors over the video conferencing network accessible through desktop computers or smartphones. Making the transition to video conferencing is not difficult, especially if you procure a solution that is easy to use and has plenty of features.

Desirable features:

• One to one, one to many, many to many
• Roll call
• Document exchange, email exchange during the conference
• Anytime anywhere access on desktops or mobile phone
• Jitter-free video and crystal clear audio regardless of internet speed and connectivity
• Session rehydration without loss of data or requirement for fresh login

Not all businesses fall under the essential category. Lockdown brings their operations to a virtual standstill since all employees must remain confined to their homes. Video conference proves to be the bridge that keeps business traffic flowing. It is not something hard to adapt to considering that video makes up about 45% of their total meetings according to a WR survey. Top level executives are likely to participate in 27 meetings per week or an average of about 4 each day.

Remote meetings not only facilitate work; they also help to reduce costs, which is important due to reduced cash flow during the ongoing lockdown. It is also a pointer to the future when businesses may choose to continue with video conferencing as a tool for teamwork and collaboration.

Customer connect

Collaboration between employees is essential in order to get work done. Customers must have access to your organization and specific employees with whom they usually interact. Customer connect is vitally important to retain them and to assure them that you are operating as usual. In the absence of video conferencing facility what response would a customer get? The response would be typically: “Sorry but we are closed” or “Sorry but Mr X is not available” and the result is a negative impression. Instead, a customer may call your usual helpline number and is routed to the appropriate person in your company through the conferencing software. It can become a person to person video chat or a multi-participant conference. Customers know how matters stand and work progresses.

CJ is a healthcare provider in the US that outsources medical transcription to an offshored company. Were it not for video conferencing they would not be able to interact with the medical transcription company and the company would not be able to connect with employees and get work done. Were it not for the video conferencing solution it is likely the transcription service provider would have to shut shop and CJ would have to look for another service provider.

What is a temporary arrangement could well become permanent. A Gartner survey shows that 74% companies may continue to maintain this remote work from home model for at least 5% to 20% of their workforce even after the coronavirus epidemic subsides. 2% of those surveyed expressed intention of keeping at least 50% of workforce as remote workers.

One great thing about Video Conferencing Solution is that it lets employees multi-task meaning that they may already be working on one thing but they can also participate in an ongoing conference. Unless it is a person to person chat during which both are engaged, in a conference one is required to be present but not contribute or participate 100% of the time.

Covid-19 introduces a compulsion to switch to video conferencing but its benefits are so obvious that you can continue with the same model of working long after it subsides.