* Videoconferencing provides an affordable way to communicate with remote employees
Anyone who has experienced traditional videoconferencing rooms usually has a love-hate relationship with the technology. Video can be key for reading facial expressions during a sensitive announcement, observing clues as to whether a proposal is met with favor, or judging the reaction of an exciting product announcement.
Or, it can be totally annoying – to say the least – with sub-par quality, choppy movement, and just too much going on at once.
But the one consistent characteristic of videoconferencing has been that it’s limited to the headquarters and large regional offices. Rarely have we seen high-cost videoconferencing rooms at small or even midsize branch offices.
With the growing number of employees working in small and midsize branches or at home offices around the globe, videoconferencing that is available to all employees is becoming more important.
That’s one reason more organizations plan to be using desktop videoconferencing than room-to-room videoconferencing within the next three years.
Nearly 60% of IT executives consider their organizations to be a “virtual workplace,” and about 65% of employees work remotely from their supervisors. IP videoconferencing, whether desktop or room-to-room, provides a more affordable way to communicate with remote employees than ISDN-based videoconferencing.
In fact, we’re seeing paybacks ranging from 12-18 months for companies that replace ISDN videoconferencing with IP systems. Today, about 22% of organizations are using desktop video to serve their branch employees. But only 30% report having no plans in this space. The rest are evaluating the technology or planning to use it in the next two years.
That offers a significant benefit to branch employees. Even though they may be working in a far-flung home office in a suburban town, they can launch their desktop video and still feel like they’re a part of the team. Of course, they’ll have to take off their pajamas first.
