We’ve all been video conferencing like pros for years at this point… whether we ever imagined that life for ourselves or not! And we wager you’ve learned that there are a lot of benefits to video calls that you just won’t get from an in-person meeting, whether you’re a larger company or a smaller business.
Sure, video conferencing lets everyone tune in from the environment of their choice. Participants don’t need to worry about things like commuting or parking or the other things that can make attending an in-person conference so annoying. But video conferencing has a lot more to offer.
We’ll cover:
- The advantages of video conferencing—beyond the obvious cost savings everyone talks about
- So… should every call be a video conference call?
Shopping for a video conferencing tool? (Or just curious about what to look for?) Grab the free checklist to help you choose the right one for your team or business.
What are the advantages of video conferencing?
A lot of pain points companies face come down to a lack of communication. Whether you’re in an office or operating with a completely remote workforce, building a company with happy customers and happy employees is largely dependent on how much people talk to one another.
This is where video conferencing comes in. With all the ways we can communicate––from instant messaging to face-to-face interactions—video conferencing is one of the communication channels that offers the most benefits.
Although video conferencing isn’t the perfect tool for every interaction (more on this a bit later), it can help your team improve communication overall and bring a number of benefits to your company, team, and customers.
Here are some of the biggest pros to video conferencing:
1. Improved communication for better meetings
Having a good video conferencing platform lets you connect with your team—regardless of where they’re located. This isn’t anything new. It’s been one of the biggest benefits of video conferencing since it started to become popular.
But video conferencing does more to improve meeting quality than just bring people together. Sure, it’s great to be able to see other members of your team instead of just hearing their voices (especially when it’s impossible to get together in real life), but the additional features and capabilities that come with video conferencing tools can sometimes make virtual meetings even better than in-person ones.
Screen sharing is one example of this. When you’re on a video call, it’s easy to pull up a report, slide deck, or graphic to discuss:
With one person in control, you don’t need to worry about a participant looking at the wrong info or getting lost. Our whiteboard feature also makes it easy to collaborate on documents in real time:
When your video conferencing software is connected with content sharing platforms, you can also easily pull up other information or documents to make your meeting more dynamic.
Compared to in-person meetings or audio conferencing, video conferencing adds an extra visual component to your meetings. It can make it easier for your team to communicate, share ideas, and participate in brainstorming—plus, with breakout rooms, more people can participate without getting lost in the shuffle of a big meeting.
Here’s how RingCentral‘s video conferencing works:
2. Easy recording and playback
How many times have you sat in a conference taking notes and anxiously hoping you don’t miss something important? You’re so tuned in to the notes you’re taking that you’re not able to engage with the conversation in front of you.
Or, you can choose to participate in the conversation and run the risk of forgetting an important detail when the meeting is over. Even with meeting notes, you’re at the mercy of the person in charge to capture the things important to you.
With video conferencing, you don’t need to wish you could just replay that one conversation again—because recording the conversation is so easy. Most video conferencing features have recording capabilities built-in and included, so all you need to do is push a button. Once the meeting is over, your recording is saved and you can easily distribute it to your attendees for later reference.
Easy recording for every call means participants don’t need to choose between taking notes and participating. Everyone can sit back, be engaged with the conversation, and then go back to review the meeting as a whole if they need a refresher.
🕹️ Get a hands-on look at how RingCentral works by booking a product tour:
💰 You can also use this calculator to see roughly how much your business could save by using RingCentral to support your team’s communication with each other—and clients.
3. Happier employees
People feel satisfied with their jobs when they feel like they’re doing good work and they feel connected to the projects they’re working on. Keeping remote employees engaged comes with its own set of challenges. Video conferencing makes this possible by making it easy for teams to engage, get feedback, and ask questions––all things that can contribute to greater job satisfaction.
Video conferencing can also cut back on mandatory traveling, which can take a big toll on an employee’s work-life balance. Would your employees prefer staying home and tuning in virtually to a meeting, or taking days away from their family and sleeping in a hotel?
And it’s always important to make sure new employees start off on the right foot and are confident in their first few weeks. Recruiting new talent, going through the hiring process, and onboarding them to your team can be expensive. If you don’t all work in the same office, then video conferencing could be a great communication tool to keep everyone on the same page.
4. Better relationships with clients and customers
While you can certainly use video conferencing to connect with your teammates, it’s also a great way to communicate with clients.
This is especially true in industries that rely on strong (and hopefully long-term) client relationships, like real estate, finance, and law.
Even if you can’t physically meet in person, video conferencing lets you continue having those regular face-to-face conversations virtually with clients and nurture those relationships.
Bring even more polish and professionalism to your video chats with clients and customers: learn tips for better video conferencing etiquette!
So… should every call be a video call?
Video conferencing definitely has its benefits, but the answer is no—not every call needs to be a video call. In fact, too many video calls can actually start to feel a little overwhelming. And sometimes, a face-to-face meeting might be the best solution, even in the world of hybrid work.
To make video calls as beneficial as possible, they should be used strategically. When is it actually important to see the faces of everyone else on the call? Is sharing documents or presentations crucial to the conversation? Can the conversation be just as productive as an email or message?
Sometimes the answer isn’t always clear—and that’s okay. But this is where using a communications platform that allows for easy transitioning between conversation types is important.
With RingCentral, you can easily switch between chatting and video conferences so you don’t need to stress about the best way to connect. If you start in instant messaging and find it’s not working, you can be on a video call with the relevant parties in a matter of seconds—so you don’t have to waste time with all those extra steps:
When you’re looking for the right video conferencing software, don’t forget to think about security.
Get the most benefit from your video conferences
All video conferencing tools aren’t created equal. The real benefit lies in the specific features they offer—and how you use it.
Just like any other meeting, a video conference is only going to be as productive as you make it. If you really want to see the benefits of video conferencing beyond just a way to easily to connect with people around the world, you need to have a clear idea of what features you need to make your meetings more efficient and team members more productive (like screen sharing or digital annotations).
When you have a powerful video conferencing tool that does more than just let you see who you’re talking to, you can have better meetings, improved communication, and happier employees and customers.
Originally published Jul 01, 2020, updated Jul 22, 2022
