Video conferencing has become a very popular and powerful tool that a lot of organizations use. Through the use of an internet connection or any event or conferring platform, participants in video conferences can interact with one another in real-time on their screens without the requirement for a dedicated meeting space. Continue reading to know more about the pros and cons of video conferencing.
Pros And Cons Of Video Conferencing
Pros Of Video Conferencing
1. Save Resources And Time
Time and resources are important for any business, every business wants to utilize its time and resources wisely. With video conferencing, they can smartly invest their time and resources.
To function effectively every business or organization needs proper communication and timely meetings. Before video conferencing, most companies had to host conferences in person which costs a lot of time and money to eliminate. Organizations have started using video conferencing. Video conferencing is an economical way of communication.
Even though conference calls were an option back then, they are no longer as efficient as web conferencing services. Video conferencing tools help the business save a lot of time and resources by offering a less expensive and more effective means of communication.
2. Increase Productivity
The productivity of an employee is essential for any organization. A lot of time gets saved when employees don’t have to travel to a certain place for a conference and that time can be utilized productively.
Instead of waiting for everyone to convene in a physical conference room, employees may handle issues as they arise. While participating in a virtual conference, teams can also multitask. Internal communication became simpler, quicker, and more practical than ever because of live video conferencing.
3. Reduce Carbon Footprints
Video conferencing is a simple way to help your business achieve its sustainability objectives. With video conferencing, there is no travel, all the employees national or global can join the conference from anywhere and it reduces carbon footprints to a greater extent. By using video conferencing you can easily support the environment and it can also build a positive image of your brand or business among the audience. The audience these days like to support such sustainable brands.
4. Global Reach
Travel is expensive. Undoubtedly, plane tickets, hotel stays, and vehicle rentals are expensive, but so is a local excursion. And all employees can’t travel and reach the same destination. But with video conferencing, you can reach you can have a wider reach. Global reach is another important advantage of hosting a video conference. With video conferencing, you can easily host a meeting or a conference for all your employees across the globe. It allows you to engage with your employees from different time zones at the same time.
5. Easy Collaboration
Nowadays, a lot of organizations collaborate on projects from offices spread out around the globe. The use of video conferencing tools like remote control, screen sharing, and whiteboard annotation can undoubtedly make it easier to collaborate on these projects.
Working on the same file in parallel is faster than allowing everyone to make their modifications independently. Just that is possible with video conferencing: your staff may update and alter files in real-time without having to wait for the last person to finish. It is easy to collaborate with anyone in the organization through video conferencing.
Cons Of Video Conferencing
1. Lack of Personal Touch
One of the biggest challenges of video conferencing is the absence of in-person interaction. You can’t have face-to-face interaction with your colleagues. Some time lack personal interaction and only communicate with coworkers and clients via video conference.
Loneliness and isolation are very real difficulties, as anyone who has worked from home for any length of time can attest. According to recent studies, those who work from home offices experience greater loneliness and isolation than those who must commute to the office every day.
And because of this a lot of people support the hybrid workplace. It creates a better balance to work from home but visit the workplace once a week.
2. Technical Errors Can Cause Issues
With live streaming services, technical errors can be a great issue. Technology has various advantages but still, there is always the scope for malfunctions with technology.
There are possibilities of several technical issues with an internet connection, software, video conferencing platform, server errors, etc. And most people don’t know how to deal with these issues as not everyone is tech-savvy enough to handle technical issues.
For businesses that run remotely, providing IT support for remote workers’ problems is essential. To put things in perspective, without video conferencing, people would likely have a lot more problems.
3. More Screen Time
Another disadvantage of video conferencing is that it increases the screen time of an individual. Staring at your thumbnail and communicating with a screen might become monotonous. Because it’s so simple to set up a video conference, many people go overboard and convene meetings that could have been conducted by email.
A normal office worker receives over 100 emails every day, and now that online meetings are becoming more and more popular, they are also expected to be available for video conferences. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that a lot of people are suffering from video call fatigue, a syndrome that develops when a person receives too much video communication and starts to feel drained, irritable, or even ill as a result. This detrimental effect, which could reduce your team’s productivity, is something you need to be aware of.
4. Less Organization
Organization can be a task sometimes during video conferencing. Because people can contact another person anytime and it can have a negative aspect.
People are more likely to show up unprepared for a video conference when they know they may schedule one whenever they like.
Employees can be obliged to attend meetings outside of normal working hours to clean up the mess that could have been avoided with a little more planning.
Managers must keep an eye on their staff members and ensure that video conferences are taken just as seriously as other meetings to prevent this situation.
Companies must also establish guidelines for when it is acceptable to contact staff after hours.
Key Takeaway
After reading about the advantages and disadvantages of video conferencing, you may decide whether to use it for your organization or not. If you select a video conferencing platform that is dependable, simple to use and includes high-quality capabilities for improved collaboration, few of the issues can be resolved.
