Video conferencing is used for everything from providing guided tours of remote manufacturing facilities, to conducting legal depositions, to interviewing job candidates across the globe. Due to its cost effectiveness, video has another purposeful use that businesses leverage on a daily basis.

Video conferencing brings employees into the office regardless of where in the world they’re working. With the increase in the number of remote employees in today’s workforce, the true collaboration built on the interaction between employees empowers them to address issues and devise solutions across virtual space.

Due in large part to the sophistication of technology, companies have been able to downsize the amount of square footage they require. Oftentimes, sales teams and customer support representatives can seamlessly work beyond the confines of office walls at a significant cost savings.

However, the downside of this real estate downsize is that employees who are toiling away in home offices and satellite locations can become disconnected from the home base and their fellow employees. Email and social media platforms are standard means of remaining in touch, but they still can’t replace the next best thing to being there and that’s sitting around a conference table during a brainstorming session and receiving the instantaneous feedback video delivers.

Video Conferencing Reinforces Employee Value

Even though remote employees don’t work in the office full time, they are just as significant as any other member of the team. Their projects move business forward, they contribute important ideas to the company, and they interact with clients to keep relationships strong. They are just as invested in the success of the business as any other employee.

Unfortunately, if remote employees are rarely (or never) in the office, other team members tend to develop an out-of-sight-out-of-mind mentality about them. It doesn’t mean they don’t value their contributions, but if they don’t see them consistently, they do tend to fall off the collective radar.

When you implement high quality video conferencing equipment, your remote employees can better interact with the in-house employees on a regular basis. Not only will this strengthen the collaboration on projects, it will foster more positive relationships amongst employees in general.

Video Conferencing: The Contemporary Conference Room

The upside to having fewer employees on site is the availability of space to accommodate a more robust conference room. These new epicenters of activity showcase the sleeker designs of video equipment and its ability to be wall-mounted, installed in custom cabinetry, and even embedded into boardroom tables.

Conference and/or collaboration rooms have become the virtual hubs for everything from file sharing to multi-point calls. Because it is this multi-purpose aspect that defines contemporary conference room design, we’ve found that Polycom’s video solutions and Video Furniture International (VFI) are the types of vendors who understand how to manufacture the equipment that integrates employees. With the smaller footprint of today’s offices, one of the best investments a company can make is in this type of hardware.

Be Everywhere with Video Conferencing

In order for projects to be successful, teams need to blend. By adding remote employees into face-to-face collaborations with employees who work in the office, you can help keep your team functioning optimally. Having a professionally installed system at your disposal even opens the doors to employee talent you might otherwise not have been able to cultivate --- your access to resources becomes limitless.

With the right video conferencing equipment, you can even take remote employment to the next level by being able to increase your virtual workforce. With the value of video to unify your team, you will always remain under the same technological roof.3