Three benefits of doing business using video conferencing

01 Apr 2019 | SMB, Voice and Collaboration, Digitalisation | 5-min read

Video conferencing technology has advanced so that you can participate even if you are not at your desktop or laptop. Solutions such as Singtel BizConference allow participants to join in from their desktop, mobile device (via an app), video conference room, or telephone dial-in.

Singtel BizConference also has collaboration features that further enhance the quality of the discussion. For example, you are able to share your mobile screen or app, so if you are discussing a certain contract, you can pull it up on your mobile and share the screen with other participants. This ensures that all the participants know exactly what you are referring to and removes the likelihood of any confusion or misunderstanding.

Participants are able to annotate on the presentation being shared and contribute to what is being discussed, regardless of which platform they are using. BizConference also has a polling function that enables businesses to make decisions faster – as opposed to waiting for everyone to reply on an email thread. Effective collaboration as a result of video conferencing improves productivity and helps you maintain a sustained competitive advantage for your business.

If pictures are worth a thousand words, surely a video is worth a lot more. Very often, the meaning and intentions of various parties within long email chains can get lost, obscured or buried. Audio conferencing can also fall short as you are unable to see the visual cues of participants in the discussion. As such, business owners may miss out on expressions of agreement or concern.

With video conferencing, however, these expressions are clearer – and can be quickly addressed. For example, if a particular supplier is concerned about meeting a certain deadline, that is easily picked up on in a video conference – and steps can be quickly taken to address any concerns.

This personal touch can also help participants in the discussion feel more comfortable about getting their questions and issues addressed – the face-to-face aspect enables participants to get to know each other better than is possible with emails or even audio conferencing. This can result in a more productive discussion.

Studies have also been conducted that show that executives believe that video conferencing improves the quality of communication. Video conferencing also helps to improve the degree of understanding among participants in the discussion.

Video conferencing means that you do not have to travel in order to have a productive meeting with your employees and partners – and this reduces time and cost. This will only further drive business productivity as many issues can be discussed and solved remotely by simply scheduling and organising a video conference. Attendance is likely to be increased with video conferencing, too – which means that important parties are all kept on board and aware.

Even if parties are not available to attend the video meeting, Singtel BizConference allows for cloud recording, which means that those who were not able to attend can view the recording of the meeting through a shareable link.

While some parts of Southeast Asia may not have an internet connection as fast and stable as Singapore’s, this will not hamper video communication for your partners and employees in the region. Singtel BizConference ensures optimal audio and video quality even when on a less than ideal internet connection. This means that you can still have clear video and audio – which is significantly better than other video conferencing apps.