The Necessity Of Online Meetings
Video, voice, and web conferencing to power enterprise communications despite geographical boundaries
In 1999, the concept of an online meeting introduced itself into the business world. While most companies at that point had not yet embraced the slowly growing idea, many early adopters started understanding the benefits of implementing online meetings into their operational model. From remote work flexibility to cross-departmental collaboration for multi-site organizations, online meetings represented a future where efficiency and productivity spread beyond the walls of an office building.
As the concept continued to pick up steam, online meetings began to bring together colleagues, partners, shareholders, board members, and even customers, despite geographic restrictions – ultimately simplifying the way businesses operated. It was from there that the now globally accepted way of collaborating took the world by storm.
Cloud service providers realized the endless potential online meetings presented to companies and dedicated more resources to developing more comprehensive online meeting solutions.
It was then that online meetings became only a stepping stone on a much greater journey, a journey that has led us to what we now call “virtual conferencing.”
What Is Virtual Conferencing?
A virtual conference is a fully immersive online gathering that brings people together on any device, regardless of geographic location. At its core, it is a meeting or a role-based event that allows remote participants to access the sharing of knowledge, hosted entirely over the internet via voice, video, and web chat, all in one virtual environment. The need to gather in a conference room is eliminated, and mission-critical discussions, networking opportunities, and decision-making events can all occur without the need for onsite attendees.
Types Of Virtual Conferencing
Teleconference
A teleconference is perhaps one of the most basic and, traditionally, one of the most utilized forms of virtual conferences. Essentially, teleconferencing connects meeting participants over phone lines, either through landlines, cell phones, or business desk phones. Allowing many people to connect at once, teleconferencing has long been a preferred method to connect when decisions need to be made, but major stakeholders cannot gather in person.
However, teleconferencing has phased itself out as new forms of conferencing have emerged.
Video Conference
Video conferencing takes teleconferencing a step further and allows participants to not only hear each other but also see each other with a computer camera and microphone or the built-in camera on a smartphone. While this has always offered a much more in-person feel to a conversation, businesses only now understand that video conferencing can lead to improved decision-making processes.
Video conferencing wasn’t always popular in the business world. Video conferencing has usually been reserved for casual/personal use in recent history. Though, that has certainly changed, especially at the turn of the decade.
Web Conferencing
A web conference is a general term used to discuss individuals and/or groups of people in remote locations using a web browser to connect. Generally, these events are reserved for much larger audiences, like a webinar or LIVE presentations in which there are only one or two speakers, but many are listening/watching.
In essence, web conferencing is a way of disseminating information to a large audience despite geographical boundaries. And it’s because of this notion that web conferences like webinars have become a staple in the business world for many years now.
Key Differences Between Virtual Meetings & Virtual Conferencing
1. Scale & Audience
- Virtual Meetings: Typically involve a smaller group, such as teams, departments, or project stakeholders. The attendees are often from the same organization or part of a close-knit group collaborating on shared tasks. Virtual meetings are ideal for brainstorming sessions, check-ins, project updates, and daily communication within teams.
- Virtual Conferencing: Built to accommodate a large audience, virtual conferences often include participants from different organizations, industries, or global locations. They can host hundreds or even thousands of attendees, making them suitable for webinars, multi-session events, corporate summits, and industry-wide conferences.
“About 50% of employees worldwide are expected to telecommute within the decade.” (1)
The Rise Of Virtual Conferences
So, after looking at the three formats of communication involved in virtual conferencing, it’s easy to assume that virtual conferencing has been around for a long time. Sure, it’s true. You would be right in assuming that the idea of virtual conferencing is not new.
The millennial generation spent countless hours in middle and high school on 3-way calls with their friends (a.k.a teleconferencing). It’s also true that Skype, at the turn of the century, followed by FaceTime almost a decade later, made video conferencing a norm in our society. Also to mention, ActiveTouch rolled out the first webinar service in 1999. Yes, 1999, and even more so true is that “web seminars” (as they called it back in the day) were starting to play a big role in corporate culture as early as 2005.
With all of that said, virtual conferencing is not a new idea, but the idea has certainly picked up major steam.
Despite its technical veteran status, it is only now being talked about how virtual conferencing has evolved so much that business meeting culture has been changed forever.
Virtual conferencing is no longer an umbrella term for the various formats in which people can connect. Virtual conferencing is THE term. One tool, one environment, one platform that does it all: voice, video, web chat, file sharing, document presentation, screen sharing, LIVE streaming, and more.
Breathing fresh life into every industry, the virtual conferencing technology and toolsets developed by the most innovative cloud service providers on the planet, combined with the global political, social, and professional climate, have turned virtual conferencing from a luxury into a necessity.
Elevate Business Connectivity With UniBridge: The All-in-One Virtual Conferencing Solution
Encouraging collaboration and making all parties feel at home with high definition audio, video, and web conferencing, screen and file sharing capabilities, meeting logs, timestamps, summaries, no software download required, and custom branding, the UniBridge virtual meetings and conferencing solution takes your business anywhere.
Virtual conferencing is no longer for early adopters. It has become a staple in major business operations across the globe. The time is now to join the trend.
Why Virtual Conferencing Is Replacing Face-to-Face Meetings
Some would say face-to-face meetings are a thing of the past out of necessity. Others would say it’s because nearly half of the workforce is now comprised of millennials, and with them, they brought new social and professional norms. Then there is the small minority that just won’t admit virtual conferencing is in, and the traditional round-table meeting is out.
Well, boomers better start looking at the reality of the situation because, by 2025, millennials are projected to make up 75% of the global workforce. Then, we have the revolutionary Gen Z, or “Zoomers,” as they like to be called, and it’s projected that we are in for an even more significant shift to virtual workforces once they enter the business world.
So, it's pretty obvious why most are quickly realizing that virtual conferencing is the future, and the future is now.
1) Connectivity From Anywhere In The World
For major enterprises with locations all around the world, collaboration across sites used to be a challenge and a bottleneck for success. However, virtual conferencing has made it possible to not only involve team members regardless of their location but also provide an all-in-one environment where real productivity can take place. Virtual conferencing has broken down geographical barriers and simplified project completion for geographically dispersed teams.
2) Urgent Meetings Can Happen Urgently
Once upon a time, if major stakeholders were needed to make critical decisions for a company, each individual would have to fly in from wherever they were to gather in a board room to even begin productive conversations. However, since the rise of virtual conferencing, stakeholders can join in on impromptu meetings when on vacation, at home, watching TV, or at the airport. Coordinating and conducting urgent meetings is as easy as clicking a link and starting the conversation, all with the necessary resources required in the decision-making process available on any device.
3) Efficient Flow Of Information
Meetings of any sort are designed to distribute information to respective team members, discuss that information, and make a plan of action based on what was shared. In a virtual conferencing environment, the flow of information is optimized by allowing the ease of communication to occur via multiple channels. File and screen sharing, document presentation, file upload/download, and group chat are only a few of the many ways that meeting attendees can efficiently participate in the sharing of knowledge so that projects are completed more quickly and thoroughly.
4) Engaging A Larger Audience
Many major publicly held companies have struggled with disseminating valuable information to their shareholders since the beginning of big business – ultimately resulting in a weakened shareholder trust that did no one any good. Well, when virtual conferencing “big-player” capabilities like LIVE streaming via YouTube stepped onto the field, publicly held companies realized they could offer shareholders an immersive, in-person experience at any board meeting, even from their living room couch. It’s advanced relationship management that has completely transformed the way the board connects with the members of their corporation.
5) A Cost-Effective Way Of Doing Business
Without the need to physically meet, operational costs are drastically reduced. A physical meeting requires time and money, perhaps travel and hotel expenses, and is an all-around drain on resources. So, without the need to physically meet, operational costs are drastically reduced, less time is spent on travel, and more time is spent on productive work that generates revenue. With only a computer or a mobile device, business becomes less about finding a budget to accommodate physical interaction and more about increasing the bottom line.
Industry Applications For Virtual Conferencing
The Impact Of Video Conferencing In Today’s Business Landscape
The Role Of Video Conferencing In Virtual Collaboration
While virtual conferencing platforms offer a comprehensive suite of features, video conferencing stands out as a critical component. By simulating an in-person experience, video conferencing allows participants to engage face-to-face, even when separated by distance. This unique feature enables team members to connect on a deeper level, which is essential for fostering relationships, particularly in high-stakes discussions and negotiations.
Building Connections Through Eye Contact
Sharing documents is undoubtedly essential for collaborative decision-making, but eye contact remains a powerful form of communication. Video conferencing provides this "human touch," promoting trust and rapport, especially when major decisions are at stake. This element helps keep interactions authentic in an increasingly virtual world.
