Using Web Conferencing for Staff Training

Imagine you are CEO of a small software company in Belgium, and you have just successfully sold warehouse-management software to a firm in Seattle. Your next task is to train the Seattle firm's team in the use of your software.

To do that, you will have to send a couple of staff members to Seattle. That means two round-trip, business-class plane tickets, four- or five-star hotel rooms for a few days, taxis, and some nice meals. The cost can be many thousands of dollars. Who pays? Either the customer, in which case it will significantly increase the cost of the software; or you do, in which case profits take a beating. The organization required for such a training session is also significant. Secretaries have to book planes and hotel rooms. The timing must be carefully coordinated as once an event is booked, there is no turning back. If the trainer is sick, he will probably still have to board the plane because it is too complicated to cancel.

Costs don't end just with the flights. There are hidden costs for the software company. Trainers may perform other roles -- indeed, they could be among the most-productive programmers or managers in the company, and sending them to Seattle means losing their invaluable input for days. Not to mention the jet lag that follows.

Web conferencing is becoming a popular solution to this problem, and it has led to a new word: "webinar" -- a web-based seminar. The savings offered by on-line training is significant, and there are fringe benefits such as enabling you to train people at more then one location and use trainers who might not otherwise be available. Training courses can be recorded, so they can then be replayed by the customer or those providing the training. The organization is far simpler -- and cancellation, should it be required, has less of a downside, so staff can be more flexible when arranging the web-training event. The savings involved in time, cost, and organization mean that, where necessary, it is possible to extend web-training and devote more time to repeat lessons or maintain contact with trainees over a longer period of time.

Using web conferencing for training is different from a face-to-face approach, and you need to take that into account. If you invite too many people to attend the conference, then there will not be enough time to answer everyone's questions. If you are dealing with highly-specific issues (as opposed to an overview), then you may find that some kind of personal contact is still necessary.

Overall, the benefits of web-based training are so great that this has become a major growth area in the field of web conferencing.

Conferencing Solutions Fill the Communications Gap

It is not uncommon in this economy for a budget planner within a company or non-profit to feel the pressure associated with travel prices. After all, too many commercial organizations have seen their sales take a drastic decline and profits suffer as price competition intensified. To reverse this trend, it is even more important to push customer face-time and internal collaboration – but how do you offset this cost with fewer financial resources?

Communication Technologies

The good news is that new advancements in the communications technology space have enabled companies with geographically dispersed clients and employees to drive these important communications without breaking their travel budgets. Audio conferencing has long been an effective tool of collaboration, but the much-valued face-time is missing. To fill this gap, more and more companies are turning to Web conferencing.

Web conferencing is gaining a lot of attention in this current market as businesses continue to move toward greater globalization and virtualization. Businesses continue to spread across multiple states or countries and effective communication is a necessity for market success. In addition, consumers are putting increased pressure on companies to “Go Green” and reduce their carbon footprint. Such eco-friendly goals are easily accomplished with conferencing solutions.

Web Conferencing Offers Benefits

Audio conferencing continues to be the most used application throughout the global economy, although companies of all sizes are increasingly adopting Web conferencing solutions to drive greater communication capabilities. One of the key differentiators for Web conferencing is the ability to not only incorporate face-time with your colleagues or clients, but also other visuals that make it an interactive experience.

Web conferencing also offers a significantly low implementation cost, while it is simple to deploy and use. What was once considered technology out of reach for smaller companies or non-profits with tight budgets is becoming readily available for those willing to take the risk with a new way of communicating. If such processes are built into the culture of the organization, a move toward this type of face-to-face communication is practically seamless.

There will continue to be a need for audio conferencing in the corporate and non-profit environments, but the ultimate goal is to drive collaboration and revenue. If travel costs are preventing the optimization of either key focus, a change must be made. With today’s conferencing solutions and low deployment costs, there is no reason why any company should lose a sale or suffer a strategy breakdown as a result of poor communications.

Conferencing is in High Demand: Are You Maximizing Collaboration?

The global economy has put increased demands on the small to medium sized business (SMB) sector. At the same time, many SMBs have felt the crunch of the economic impact. In order to stay viable, these companies must be able to drive effective communications among employees, partners and customers. When geographic locations are dispersed or employees telecommute, the SMB needs a robust conferencing solution.

Industry Research Suggests Growth

According to a recent Frost & Sullivan report, Meetings Around the World II: Charting the Course of Advanced Collaboration, 61 percent of organizations said they use collaboration technologies to cut the need for business travel. The same report also found that more than half of those responding think  conferencing tools present a powerful alternative to making in-person office visits.

One interesting element found in this report was the impact conferencing can have in different regions of the world. For instance, conferencing tends to be in high demand within the Asia-Pacific region and the United States when face-to-face meetings are not possible or necessary. Europeans, however, tend to prefer in-person meetings and business travel.

The Telecommuting Connection

With the advancement in technologies over the past few years, a number of companies have implemented telecommuting platforms to allow employees to work from locations other than the physical brick and mortar building. Such a platform is more easily integrated when a conferencing solution is already in place.

In the Frost & Sullivan report, 47 percent of respondents reported they have a formal telecommuting policy in place, yet less than a third telecommute at least once a week. Another 22 percent telecommute on a daily basis and 61 percent would like to work from anywhere.

India tends to be the most telecommuting-friendly country as 59 percent of its organizations have a formal telecommuting policy and 48 percent telecommute on a daily basis. Hong Kong is in a close second at 54 percent and the United States currently comes in at 47 percent with as many as 25 percent of U.S. workers telecommuting daily.

Conferencing is Collaboration

Brian Cotton, vice president for information and communications technologies for Frost & Sullivan, noted that this research shows that the adoption of progressively more advanced unified communications and collaboration tools such as conferencing solutions can help organizations to achieve a strong return on collaboration while also improving processes across all business functions.

An apparent advantage with conferencing solutions is that a robust, collaborative platform, designed according to the needs of an SMB, can help to enable enterprises and organizations to speed decision making, increase productivity and improve interactions. Taking such an approach to communications can significantly develop the competitive edge.

Web Conferencing is Definitely Worth the Effort

When Web conferencing first emerged on the scene as a communication option to bridge the geographic boundaries companies were facing, the technology was less than optimal. Connections were somewhat slow, communications were choppy and the ability to get a clear picture of the other party and important key elements to the conference was practically non-existent. These challenges certainly kept many from even attempting to implement this process internally.

Fast forward to today and the technology options available in Web conferencing make the experience almost as good as being in the same room. High speed connections, high definition video and digital audio all create a virtual experience that can also incorporate shared documents and applications to keep everyone on the same page. Despite these technological advances, however, some companies are still hesitant to implement this communication option.

The Benefits Examined

Whether it is a fear of the unknown or worry over the security of such communications, let's take a look at the benefits that Web conferencing can provide.
•    Support - when a key player on your team is located in another city, state or country, you need to be able to collaborate on a consistent basis. Web conferencing provides the perfect portal so you can get - and give - the necessary support to keep your projects moving forward.

•    Experience - when a project is on the table that can make or break your fiscal year, do you really want the weight of the entire thing solely on you? Web conferencing allows you to draw from your more experienced colleagues and bring them into the process.

•    Safety in Numbers - some can always produce a better outcome than one. When you incorporate Web conferencing into the process, you can draw on ideas and opinions of others to produce a better overall result.

•    Learning - it is always more productive to learn by talking and interacting with others than it is by simply reading on your own.

•    Contact - regular contact with other members of your team is so important for optimal performance in any situation. When you take advantage of the technologies available to you, the outcome is better for all involved.

In an ideal environment, you have the optimal time to spend on projects or other initiatives that drive revenue for the company and move business initiatives forward. If collaboration with offsite team members is necessary and beneficial, Web conferencing allows you to have that access without spending wasted hours traveling. At the same time, you can schedule these conferences according to everyone's calendar to derive the most benefit. Streamlined communication really can drive results; take advantage of the technology to make it happen.

Web Conferencing: Sensible Solution in Nonsensical Times

The market today is ever changing and as a small business owner, you need to be able to embrace those changes to effectively compete. Whether it is in the way you communicate with your customers or the process by which you deliver services, an innovative approach is necessary to remain on top.

With the economic roller coaster of the past year, it is likely you made specific changes in the way you do business in order to remain viable and profitable. Technologies available today make it possible for you to compete on a major level, as well as maintain effective communications regardless of location.

Your industry is most likely national, if not global, which can present certain challenges when you are hit hard in a recession. With web conferencing solutions, you no longer need to worry what necessary travel will do to your overall budget. The advanced solutions today ensure this is not the conference call of yesterday, but the innovation of real-time, high quality, unified communications of today.

According to the T3 Group, a Telecom Intelligence Firm, web conferencing is seen as one of the top five unified communications applications viewed by enterprise managers as offering the clearest or fastest return on investment. In fact, 52 percent of respondents described web conferencing as delivering a fast return.

According to a recent Frost & Sullivan report, 83 percent of executives view communications and collaboration tools as useful when providing cost reduction benefits and 81 percent report they also allow for faster decision-making. If any of your staff, customers or partners is located outside of your geographical area, web conferencing can deliver measurable benefits.

If your primary supplier is in Hong Kong and you are based in Chicago, you need to be able to effectively communicate and collaborate with your supplier to be sure you are driving your key strategic initiatives. With web conferencing capabilities, you can access and share specific reporting tools, collaborating as often as necessary without wasting valuable time on an airplane.

The options available with web conferencing include both on-premise and on-demand options that can provide remote access and firewall penetration that are designed to be easy to access and use.

All you really need for effective web conferencing is a computer, a Webcam, Voice over IP (VoIP) for real-time audio, appropriate software and enough space on a server and/or bandwidth to support the meeting.

Your budget, plans for growth and current conferencing needs will determine the right fit for you. Either way, once you make the implementation, you will be much better positioned to drive collaboration, reduce costs and enjoy the benefits of web conferencing.

Demand for Web Conferencing Increasing

In the current business environment, less is more. Organizations want uncomplicated tools to accomplish core business tasks. Web conferencing fits the bill for communications as businesses expand to locations all over the globe. A simple, cost effective solution allows companies to reorganize operations to maximize cost savings placing offices where property is more affordable.

Location not as Important

No longer must businesses rely on strategically located offices to maximize access to resources. Travel budgets are dwindling and not because of shrinking profits. Travel is simply becoming unnecessary as businesses adopt web conferencing on a greater scale. Some reports predict the demand to grow by nearly 50% in the coming year as more businesses realize the value and simplicity of web conferencing as a communications solution.

Encouraging Collaboration

Easy to use web conferencing tools capture the core of what human collaboration is about. They allow organizations to focus on the communication and collaboration, not the technology that makes it happen. Web conferencing is a simple point and click solution that is becoming a standard feature in daily business operations.

Revolutionizing Business Operations

Because web conferencing has become more affordable and easier to use than ever before, it is changing the fundamental ways in which companies operate. Without the restriction of locality, businesses can accomplish more in less time and at an exceptionally affordable cost.

Now organizations can share workflows, processes and data both internally and externally with third-party vendors or partners. The ease of collaboration is fueling growth, ingenuity and innovation. As the need for this affordable and uncomplicated solution grows, web conferencing will become as standard as the PC and the telephone in business operations.