Desktop Videoconferencing Tips for the Business Manager

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Videoconferencing is fast becoming a must-have tool for business. In a recent Wainhouse Research whitepaper, What Every Business / Line Manager Needs to Know About Desktop Videoconferencing, sponsored by Avistar Communications Corporation (www.avistar.com), a leader in unified visual communications solutions, states, “Business / line managers looking to enhance the productivity, efficiency, and profitability of their organizations should view desktop videoconferencing as a compelling alternative to traditional audio calls and expensive business travel.” Following are three tips for business managers who are evaluating desktop videoconferencing as a powerful communications tool:

“Business / line managers looking to enhance the productivity, efficiency, and profitability of their organizations should view desktop videoconferencing as a compelling alternative to traditional audio calls and expensive business travel.”

• Hang up the phone. When the phone or web meeting just won’t do, desktop videoconferencing can turn up your communications considerably. Audio calls can be distracting and unfocused, especially if participants are multitasking during the call or the speakers are hard to hear. Desktop videoconferencing solutions, such as those offered by Avistar, enable participants to read non-verbal communications cues, focus their attention on the subject matter at hand, and truly “be present” the entire time. According to Wainhouse’s “What Every Business Line Manager Needs to Know about Desktop Videoconferencing, “Savvy business professionals recognize that there are situations in which the ‘connectedness’ and intimacy provided by an audio call are simply not sufficient. When a higher impact communication session is required, desktop videoconferencing is a compelling alternative.”¹
• Further reduce the cost of business travel. In today’s economy, organizations have cut down on business travel, with good reason. The average U.S. business trip now costs $1,080 according to American Express². For the price of one trip, businesses can buy several commercial-grade desktop videoconferencing systems, and restore the feelings of connectedness, trust and communication that face-to-face meetings provide.
• Build in life/work balance. Telecommuters find videoconferencing brings both tangible and intangible benefits, including helping increased morale, productivity and loyalty, and reduced stress and costs related to commuting. According to the Telework Research Network (TRN), allowing one employee to work from home half the time could save the company $10,000 and the employee $6,800 annually -- not to mention time spent snarled in traffic.³ Managers welcome videoconferencing because it keeps communications strong over long distances and it opens the door to a wider pool of skilled workers who need the flexibility that working from home provides.

Whether it serves as a better replacement for a traditional audio call or web meeting, or as a viable face-to-face alternative to business travel, desktop videoconferencing is an effective way to reduce costs, save time, improve communication, increase productivity, instill a corporate culture and provide a level of work-life balance. The Wainhouse report states, “Business / line managers can enjoy a wide array of soft and hard benefits via the use of desktop videoconferencing solutions. Once considered a tool for techies only, today’s desktop video systems provide a compelling combination of cost-effectiveness, ease of use, and reliable performance.”⁴

About Avistar

Avistar (AVSR.PK) is an innovation leader in the unified visual communications industry, with more than 15 years of experience providing proven business-class desktop videoconferencing technology. Avistar’s solutions are used across a broad spectrum of industries with deployments ranging in size from 30-30,000 users. Avistar’s technology also helps to power solutions from IBM, LifeSize, Logitech and many other leading unified communications vendors. Avistar works with leading channel partners and resellers including AVI-SPL, Fontel, Jenne, Media Plus, SDG and Sotel in more than 40 countries. For more information, please visit www.avistar.com.

¹ “What Every Business / Line Manager Needs to Know About Desktop Videoconferencing,” Page 7, Wainhouse Research, 10/09

² http://home3.americanexpress.com/corp/pc/2009/f2010.asp

³ Telecommuting Saves $10K Per Employee Yearly, GreenBiz, 7/6/10

⁴ “What Every Business / Line Manager Needs to Know About Desktop Videoconferencing,” Page 12, Wainhouse Research, 10/09