Video conferencing has grown to be a very popular form of communication today. Mainly from it allowing businesses to save on travel expenses. Saving money is a very important goal for businesses, and this is one of the key methods in doing so. But what are some of the setbacks that come with the increasing popular use of video conferencing, and can these setbacks be fixed?
One of the more obvious down sides to video conferencing is its lack of a personal touch. Though this isn’t a big problem when it comes to business. Negotiating and perhaps even arguing can be much easier when in person. There is something about staring into a screen at another person thousands of miles away, that still leaves us feeling distant. What steps have been made to improve this? Though this is a rather difficult area to improve in, as technology can really only allow so much before your communication turns into something from a sci-fi movie, there has been ways around this problem. Virtual Reality is a very applicable form of technology in this situation. Though virtual reality itself is still very much in the development stage, it can be used as a form of communication to make things more personal.
Another disadvantage is the hurdle of time zones. It can be simple if it’s one person communicating with another from the other side of the planet. But when you add multiple people into the call, from different parts of the world. Time zones can get a little messy, and you can guarantee, someone isn’t going to get much sleep. This problem can be a little more difficult to fix, as time is not something easily played with. This is where travelling came in handy, as everybody was always in the same time zone for the conference. There are apps and programs that allow you to keep track of the time zones of the members in the conference, allowing you to see when there is a time of a day/night when your schedules could possibly align to allow for a video conference.
A lot of video conferencing software only allows for a limited number of conference attendees. And for some that number could not be enough. Also, the more you add to a conference the more quality diminishes. A drop in video or audio quality is a problem for any form of communication. Making sure you have the right software/hardware to handle the load is vital. This will make a break a successful video meeting.
Video conferencing will always have its downfall, but today it’s one of the most convenient and money-saving ways to communicate. There are peeks of newer technology that could replace video conferencing, but we can depend on it to be around for a long time.
Interested in a high quality video conferencing solution? Check out our LifeSize page!