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Factors To Consider When Choosing The Right Video Conferencing Platform

Video conferencing is more of a necessity than a nicety in the modern business world; it’s the most convenient way to connect with people in remote locations and helps you to share, communicate, and collaborate in more ways than it was even conceived to be possible. With this need for conferencing technology, there’s also been an increase in the number of platforms available, with each providing a different service that’ll be more beneficial to the different requirements that businesses may have. There are lots of different things to consider when choosing your company’s video conferencing platform, so here’s a look at some of the major factors to consider before you decide which option to use for your conferencing needs.

Attendees

The people attending your video conference are the fundamental factor that will need focusing on – you’ll need to take a look at the number of expected attendees, the location of those involved, as well as the devices that they’ll be using to ensure that everything runs as smooth as possible. Much of this will depend upon the size of your company; large-scale conferences are likely going to need a more secure platform to handle the number of connections involved, whereas smaller conferences and meetings can use simpler, more streamlined platforms that are easy to use on a cross-device level.

It might seem a bit obvious, but for small, off the cuff conversations, free consumer tools can be an effective tool. However, we’d suggest steering away from these tools within the workplace as they have limitations when it comes to larger and more formal conferences. Cisco Webex operates very efficiently for conferences with bigger audiences and attendance figures, with the ability to host multiple separate video feeds or split-screen presenters at once – this makes it a far more suitable choice for companies looking for these high-attendance conferences.

Type Of Meeting

As we all know, there isn’t one set structure that every video conference follows – each is set up differently to achieve different results, so it’s important to bear that in mind when choosing your platform. The setup for a Q&A session is likely to be drastically different from that of a presentation or lecture; one of these scenarios essentially depends upon communication with a call and response pattern, whereas the other will require an uninterrupted flow that allows the presenter to get their point and message across without distraction. Different platforms are capable of offering functions such as split screening and user voice muting, which helps to combat some of the potential issues which could arise across the different types of meeting you’ll be looking to take part in.

Whilst it’s great to have everyone communicating at once, it can sometimes become far too hectic in large video conferences, so a structured meeting with segments for talking and listening is sure to help everyone get the information they need without any frustrations.

Language

You’ll need to give some thought to language considerations, as well. It can be harder for people who don’t speak the meeting’s language natively to follow a video conference than it can to follow a meeting in person. That’s because so much is lost in terms of non-verbal cues during video conferencing. Attend a meeting in person and you can interpret not just the speaker’s body language but that of the other attendees, helping to provide an overall mood of the room. Video conferencing solutions aren’t able to deliver this, which can make it harder for those who speak other languages to engage with the proceedings.

This is where video conferencing interpretation services come in. Available for meetings, webinars and more, depending on which platform you use, interpreters can deliver the proceedings in real-time in a range of languages. For example, Zoom interpretation services are available for both audio and video calls. Zoom uses this feature to allow users to host meetings in over 100 languages. Professional interpreters connect effortlessly to the call and ensure that all those present can join in equally, regardless of which languages they speak.

App Integration

Another major feature that you’ll want to keep an eye out for is app integration compatibility, as this is something that can hugely impact the functionality and how effective the platform is for the uses you intend to implement it for. Skype for Business and Microsoft’s newest offering, Teams, are great for those who are already working with the Office 365 package thanks to the seamless integration that allows you to easily share, edit and collaborate on work for a more cohesive sense of teamwork.

Alongside the integration of apps, you’ll also want to be wary of device compatibility. Different devices and operating systems will react in their own way to the platforms that are available, so you’ll want to make sure that the platform you choose will work properly across the devices that you and your colleagues use.

In an age where collaboration is of the utmost importance, video conferencing technology is a vital feature for every forward-thinking company to look into and utilise – without it, they run the risk of falling behind the pack and being left in the dust. Whether you’re a small company looking for new ways to keep in contact with remote workers or a multinational conglomerate holding quarterly lectures and conferences, there is a platform to suit your needs – it’s all about evaluating your uses for the technology then finding the best fit for you.

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