How to Choose the Best Video Conferencing Platform for Your Business?

People have started using video conferencing technology more than expected in recent years. Particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses across the globe have realised the importance and usability of this technology. It eliminates the need for expensive and time-consuming travelling to connect with clients, shareholders, partners and colleagues. Rapid advancement in video conferencing technology has made face-to-face conversations even more realistic and advanced.

The real growth was witnessed in 2020 when the use of video conferencing applications and software hit a record 62 million downloads. The biggest hurdle at that time, and even today, is choosing the right video conferencing platform. This is crucial for accelerating business's growth and making video conferencing sessions more productive. This post will teach us how to choose the right video-calling equipment. But let us first understand what is a video conferencing solution.

What Is Video Conferencing?

Video conferencing is a solution that businesses and even common people can use to make face-to-face conversations realistic and very easily accessible, regardless of the location. Some very common things are required for this, like a webcam, a microphone, the right software and of course, an Internet connection. Once you have these things in hand, you can launch a video conferencing session by calling anyone from any part of the world. In recent times, the definition of video conferencing has stretched beyond simply conveying your image and audio from one handset to another. Now, it has emerged as a solution that eliminates geographical boundaries and makes remote workers easily accessible to contractors, and customers can also stay connected to companies directly. As mentioned above, the real evolution was witnessed in 2020, when cloud video conferencing emerged as a cheaper and more efficient way to initiate face-to-face communication.

How To Choose The Right Video Conferencing Application?

After the COVID-19 pandemic, many service providers have surfaced in the markets to make the selection complex. In this situation, choosing the right video conferencing solution that can influence productivity levels positively becomes essential. This means businesses must consider their needs and expectations before investing. They can also ask some top questions and answer them by themselves to get a clear view of how and what to choose.

Top Questions To Ask Before Investing In Video Conferencing Solutions

What Kind Of Video Conferencing Solutions Are Basically Needed?

As mentioned above, video conferencing solutions are available in a wide range of formats, and the good thing is that vendors can customise them to suit different business needs. For example, full meeting room kits are present to output spaces in the business and fulfil the requirement of immersive video sessions.

The kits offered as a part of these video conferencing solutions even include whiteboard equipment and tools for official content sharing. Apart from this, several other solutions are there that you must evaluate carefully before making any decision. You must also determine the right software and hardware for video conferencing within and outside the business.

What Features Are Needed?

Video conferencing solutions and tools can support and enhance your business and grow it forward. The only stipulation is that you must select it carefully based on your business's requirements. This means you have to assess your needs carefully and note down the main features you want and the main task you want your video conferencing application to complete. Here is a list of 10 must-have features in modern-day video conferencing solutions to reinforce the power of virtual meetings.

●     Unlimited Recording

●     Realtime Chat

●     Private & Secure Meetings

●     Background Replacement

●     Noise Reduction

●     Speaker Tracking

●     Ar Facemasks & Avatars

●     Event Performance & Attendee

●     Unlimited Participants

●     Powerpoint As A Virtual Background

For example, you might require the unlimited recording feature to record the entire meeting, use it for future reference, and share it with people who couldn't attend.

You might also require screen-sharing or file-sharing features to make your video conferencing more expressive.

There are other tools for collaboration and elevating the video calling experience.

What Are Your User Requirements?

Another fundamental question to answer while selecting video conferencing solutions is regarding your user requirements. Some common questions to answer in this regard are –

Do you need a video calling application that can support your employees across the globe?

Whether you want the data gathered by your video conferencing application to remain specific at the data centre location or not?

The most important question is what devices your employees will use to connect and whether they will have access from their smartphones, tablets and similar handheld devices.

The answers to these questions will help you select the right video conferencing solution for your business.

How Many Team Members Will Use The Video Conferencing Solution?

While introducing video conferencing solutions in your company, you have to ask this question yourself about the number of users. This will also include counting the remote workers because they are the biggest beneficiaries of these solutions. You must include everyone important from your team, including the frontline workers, to access the video conferencing technology. The number of employees you choose to use the application will help you determine the right software and impact your choice of VC platform.

What Efforts Will You Make To Protect Data And Ensure Privacy?

This is a significant feature to look for in any video conferencing application. You must ensure that the software is encrypted and the sessions are completely safe and fully defended. Even if the team members are logging in from external devices, the application should allow them secure access. This can be done easily by understanding different video conferencing solutions safety configurations and evaluating your business's safety-related needs.

Determine Video Conferencing Quality

When selecting the right video conferencing solution, you must determine the video conferencing quality of the shortlisted solutions. It should allow you access to at least 4k videos and deliver the best quality conference for your teams and customers. Hence, dealing with vendors that promise consistent HD video and HD quality video calling experience is important.

Think About The Future Also

There is no point in selecting a video-conferencing application that fulfils your current needs and is unsure about the future. The ideal choice is the video conferencing solutions full of all futuristic features you would love to use if you scale up soon. For instance – it should come with AI assistance and analytics in your video conferencing.

Support Simplicity

Lastly, it is essential that shortlisted video conferencing solutions are all very simple to use and embrace even by the least technology freak team members at your office. Your video conferencing application should integrate naturally with the existing tools, and there are no better solutions than one-click video calling applications. It is ideal to search for a vendor who is always available when your team members need extra help in using these tools.