Video conferencing: Tailor the template to your needs

In order for a business to be successful, it’s important for all employees, managers and top level executives to be on the same page and this is easier said than done when you have a large company spanning cities and even countries. It’s not always feasible to fly down employees to a single location due to the high cost factor. In this case, a video conferencing system is the most cost-effective way to have all members present in the meeting without having to actually leave their offices. Cisco and Polycom are two of the industry bigwigs in this field and provide a wide range of solutions across different industries and businesses. These solutions are also customisable depending on your business needs and requirements. So, let’s go through some of the steps you should follow while choosing a solution.

Decide on a budget
First and foremost, you need to decide on a budget for the set-up. Teleconferencing systems come in different price ranges and the features also vary. If you have a low budget, simple tools like AnyMeeting or GoToMeeting should do the trick.

Make sure you have the prerequisites
In order to have a steady video and audio feed, you’re going to have a good Internet connection. A 1Mbps line should be your bare minimum and if you’re planning on setting up an HD video camera, then a faster connection will be useful. Also, make sure you dedicate enough bandwidth to the system when on a call as the connection is also shared by other employees in the organisation. Make sure your conference room is big enough to accommodate at least 10 people or more and that there’s sufficient lighting.

Figure out what features you need
If you will be having a conference call with just one person then a simple Skype subscription would suffice. However, you will be holding regular meetings and collaborate with the people attending the meeting, then make sure you ask your vendor for this feature when signing up. You need to think ahead and see all the possible uses you would have with the system and then, pick one accordingly. You may not always find a perfect fit, but this way you can customise it and you won’t end up paying for features you’ll never use.

Security
This is an important aspect as well, the solution you decide on must comply with or fall within your company’s security policies. During high-level meetings, a lot of sensitive data travels and it’s important the data are not intercepted and used against your company. It’s important to make sure all the data streams are encrypted.

Think of your participants
While you may install the latest hi-tech telepresence system at your end , what about the participants who will be joining? You need to make sure the solution you choose is, at the very least, compatible with other types of systems that are in use at your various branches. If firewalls are an issue, then a browser based video conferencing system is your best bet.

Your options in the market
Apart from Cisco and Polycom that provide various hardware solutions for different scenarios, there are also plenty of web conferencing services to choose from that often end up being a cheaper solution. GoToMeeting and Cisco’s Webex are two very popular services that allow real-time screen sharing, ability to record meetings, private chat, file transfer, webcam support, toll-free calling and much more. Other services with similar features include Infinite, InterCall, ClickMeeting, Adobe Connect Pro, Microsoft Office 365 and FUZE Meeting.