Buying web conferencing software can be a daunting process. Meetings are important. Companies invest time and money into meetings because the outcome of meetings can be so much greater than the resources put into a meeting – the next great idea – the next big client – the plan that will generate more revenue – the actions needed to complete a project.
Great meetings happen when the meeting participants work as a team focused on the same goal. When people are meeting through a web platform, the process of becoming a team becomes complicated. If you want your web based meetings to be successful – if you want to get more out of meetings then you put in – you have to select a meeting platform with your goals and your participants in mind. Here are a few questions to get you started. The right functionality is a very important component in successful remote meetings. Think about your common meeting objectives and what you need to accomplish your goals. Odds are there is a web conferencing product that has all the features you need. You just have to find the right product or sometimes products. If your goals revolve around collaboration, you may need more than the product that says it’s “great for collaboration”. Many web conferencing products are marketed on the collaboration ticket. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they really facilitate the kind of collaboration you need. Some define collaboration as the ability to share screens and files or stream video of the participants. But for true collaboration, you might also need the functionality that allows your team to make changes to the same document in real time. Or you might need polls and chat features and breakout rooms. If you need to do collaboration and webinars, you may actually need two separate products. Beyond functionality, webinars on web conferencing products can become costly and unreliable. The functionality you need depends on your objectives and who you need to connect with. If you need help with this, we have an online conferencing evaluation that will help with this process. Just answer a few questions and you’ll get a free side by side comparison. If you’re meeting with a lot of people outside your organization – clients, vendors, etc. – you will probably want a product that doesn’t require downloads. Web conferencing that requires downloads can present problems for the user because they don’t function well with firewalls. You might run into issues if your participants don’t have the correct system requirements for the program to function. Furthermore, many people don’t have administrative rights to install programs on their computers. Before they can meet with you, they’ll have to track down IT to install it. If you’re meeting internally, downloads aren’t as much of an issue. Just be sure to work with your IT department to ensure everything runs smoothly. Many web conferencing products operate with VoIP (Voice over IP). Communication over the IP network can be less reliable then the circuit-switch public telephone network. It all depends on the internet connections of the users. You can be pretty confident in using VoIP if the participants in your meeting have broadband internet connections. However, you’ll want a service that allows you to integrate with an audio conference provider if you’re participants’ connections are unknown or you plan on having meetings with mobile users. This integration will increase the quality of your calls and often decrease cost. Many web conferencing providers allow APIs to build onto the web conferencing system. If your company depends on a Learning Management System (LMS), Marketing Tool, a special calendar, event manager or whatever, you’ll want to ensure the web conferencing provider has the ability to integrate with your current systems or will allow you to apply a custom API to the program. How important is your brand? Many meeting products allow for customization of the meeting web portal. Maybe you meet with a lot of clients or investors. Would you like to reinforce your brand with a meeting space that matches your brand? In this modern age of cyber-attacks, identity theft and iCloud hacks, the security of your business is absolutely essential. You might even be in an industry that requires a certain level of security and encryption by law. It’s important for you to find out exactly the level of security you need and find a service that can reliability provide it. Here’s a little more about web conference security. If you’re like most companies, your workforce is increasingly more mobile. Check and test your possible web conference providers for ease of use while on the go. Many provide free mobile apps that allow people to join a meeting with the touch of a button. Some even offer video web conferencing. There really is no excuse for a mobile workforce to settle for subpar or feature-restricted mobile web conferencing when there are so many great mobile options on the market. Do you want to stand out in your company and create meetings that are truly successful? This takes more than a product that has the right functionality. It takes more than a product that is reliable, secure or adaptable. It takes a partner that is willing to work with you to create an environment where your meetings will truly thrive. You need a partner that will give you the tools and guidance you need to turn every mundane meeting into a team working on solving problems and accomplishing goals. TEAMINGS happens to be the only company that does this. If you want to learn more, click this. We hope these questions help you find the right conferencing solution for your company. Most importantly, we hope this reminds you just how important and full of opportunity meetings really are. Whether you use our services or not, we wish you successful meetings! If you would like more meeting tips and insights, please sign up for out newsletter.
What functionality do I need to achieve my goals?
Will we use the product for internal meetings, external meetings or both?
Do I trust VoIP for my most important meetings?
Do I need system integration?
Do I need interface customization?
How important is security?
How mobile is our workforce?
How important are my meetings?
