Former US Transportation Department CIO Nitin Pradhan discusses why advanced HD desktop videoconferencing systems are a sensible choice for enterprises, and provides 12 tips for using them effectively.
A critical portion of the CIO’s job is to maintain the enterprise’s technology environment recent and relevant. Relating to communication, most CIOs have thinking about upgrading email systems and bringing in VOIP telephones — but many have missed the boat on desktop videoconferencing.
A easier and efficient alternative to traveling, videoconferencing is becoming a popular approach to conduct both one-on-one and group meetings. It allows employees to take part in a more relaxed and comfy setting, whether they’re working from home or inside the office. Live video feeds allow participants to engage in real time. This results in increased involvement and stronger personal connections. Throughout the enterprise, videoconferencing might also reduce time spent walking between campuses and buildings. Better yet, recent advances in videoconferencing technology make it more appealing and price-effective than ever.
Why conference room videoconferencing often fails
When I served as CIO of the u. s. Department of Transportation, a lot of our conference rooms were equipped with videoconferencing technology. I observed first-hand why these systems failed.
First, videoconferencing equipment is pricey and will be difficult to apply. Without dedicated support staff at meeting time, meeting organizers often have trouble using the systems. Even if the system works properly, participants in other locations have to have complementary systems.
[How can IT product innovators help government agencies? Read Making a Market for Public-Private Innovations.]
Then there are the scheduling conflicts and gear limitations. Users who desire to conduct a virtual meeting must compete for conference room resources with users holding in-person meetings. Since most videoconference meetings use only 1 camera that generally makes a speciality of the speaker, the reactions of alternative participants are lost. Alternatively, panning the camera renders lots of the meeting’s participants unrecognizable.
Finally, there’s the problem of time spent going forwards and backwards to the conference room and in installation and testing the videoconferencing equipment before meetings. It truly is simply not how one can develop a superb videoconferencing strategy.
Desktop videoconferencing: here to stay
Enterprise desktop videoconferencing — wherein each user attends the videoconference using his or her business desktop or laptop and a webcam — is a wiser alternative.
For many users, the picture and reputation of desktop videoconferencing was skewed by their audio/video experiences with free Skype and similar products. While Skype performance has improved under Microsoft — especially with the hot Xbox One system — it isn’t, in my view, an enterprise-grade product with management controls.
As for current leading players, Citrix GoToMeeting and Cisco WebEx, they make meetings appear somewhat artificial, perhaps because these platforms were built as webinar products. They added videoconferencing features later.
Next-generation cloud videoconferencing
My current favorite videoconferencing product? Zoom Cloud Meetings, developed by Silicon Valley-based startup Zoom, which counts greater than 5,000 businesses and 900 universities among its customers.
The Zoom cloud platform combines HD video conferencing, mobile collaboration, and straightforward online meetings. It was built with desktop videoconferencing and mobile users in mind. Zoom is simple to make use of and requires no training, and is attractively priced for business customers. In line with our research at GOVonomy, Zoom’s platform could be an important fit for federal, state, and native governments to exploit for inter- or intra-agency communications and for interacting with businesses and citizens virtually.
Zoom offers HD voice, video, and content sharing, together with anytime, anywhere, any-device videoconferencing. Enterprises can apply it to desktops, laptops, tablets, mobile devices, and H.323/SIP room conferencing systems. It allows as much as 100 participants from anywhere and provides Web streaming (still in beta) for as much as 1,000 people. Participants can choose either an entire-screen or a gallery view (multiple participants on screen), with dual streams for dual monitors. The product allows screen sharing, annotation, private and group messaging, and iPad whiteboarding.
Users can use Zoom for on-demand meetings or use it to schedule meetings. It features a meeting reminder tool in addition to MP4 and MA4 recording capabilities with company branding. It also offers user management, reporting, and encryption. After using it for a year, it has become my go-to communications channel for important discussions, even before email and the telephone.
Ready to scale up your small business with an excellent cloud-based videoconferencing system? Listed here are some suggestions that will help you implement and utilize videoconferencing most effectively on your organization.