Conference, meeting and presentation are very important in any business. These are venues for organization, problem solving and planning – crucial to the sustainability and growth of the company. But with today's global business trend, conducting an actual conference, meeting and presentations has become very expensive.
Web conferencing allows you to meet your clients, partners and employees without spending on transportation and accommodation. An online conference can be held that the comforts of your home or in your office. It is a way to keep the expenses down but not compromising the profit of the business. It enables you to give instructions, present plans and proposals, and conduct meetings using your computer, a camera, an internet connection and web conferencing hosts or free downloadable programs like Yahoo Messenger or Skype.
If your business is running on a constraint budget or you have just put up your business, you benefit very well on web conferencing by conducting meeting, business proposals and short presentation with your future clients without spending big amount of money. Large companies who are conducting deals online can also save money on using web conference hosting services.
While teleconferencing is already being used long before the boom of the internet technology, it is very expensive. Overseas calls can cost hundreds of dollars a month depending on the frequency and length of every call. And while it is a reliable form of remote communication, teleconferencing only allows you to hear the voice of the person on the other end of the line. Meanwhile, web conferencing enables you to hear and see the persons you are talking too. Using a webcam, web conferencing is just like a normal office meeting. Also, visual presentations (PowerPoint for Windows, Keynote on a Mac) are also possible with web conferencing – a feature that is not available on teleconferencing or in any other forms of audio conference.
Another advantage of web conferencing is that it bridges geographical distance. Exporters who need to contact their clients abroad can opt to choose online business meetings. Large companies who have branches overseas can talk to their executives online. Partners who are worlds apart can instantly update one another on the current state of their business.
Flying in your partners from China or Japan is very expensive. Gathering your employees across the country to one place is logistical and financial problems. The best option, therefore, is to conduct web conference.
Web conferencing also allows attendees to record the conference which can be viewed later. Live questions and answers are also possible using text chat – a feature that can be public (or can be seen by other participants) or private (or between two persons).
One of the best things and probably the most important feature of web conferencing is that it enables you to conduct emergency meeting wherever you are and whenever you need to. Imagine you are on a business trip abroad and you need to hold emergency meeting to your staff. You cannot just cancel your current engagement and go rush to your office. With web conferencing, you can set up an emergency meeting even if you are in your hotel room.
The list of the benefits of web conferencing goes on. But take note, we are talking about a technology that is still in its infancy stage. Surely in a year or two, we can see more developments that will benefit all of us.