Why GC Collab
Online Meeting Solution: Which One Is Right For You
In 1968, video conferencing was first introduced and promoted as a commercial solution at the World’s Fair in New York. In that system participants could communicate “via video” with another person for approximately 10 minutes at a time. Well, this machine was absurdly expensive, clunky and complex to set up. However, it was still cool for the ’60s.
Since then, the video conferencing technology has evolved significantly. In 2017, you can start video conferencing in a click for hours. From being easier to set up to being easily affordable, the new era video conferencing technologies has evolved like never before.
In 1968, we had only one video conferencing machine, but today, there are hundreds of video conferencing solutions available in the market. As we have multiple options to choose from, one question arises, which video conferencing systems and solutions should you choose for your business use.
Every enterprise opts for a technology that is easy to set up and easier to use. There are a number of video and web conferencing solutions available online, but which one of right for your business depends upon the capacity and requirement of your organization.
Industry leaders such as Cisco & Polycom enables you to set your office conferencing room into a virtual meeting room i.e. video conferencing room. However, setting up the hardware and starting the video conferencing usually consumes a few minutes of your productive time before every meeting. Additionally, the hardware of these solutions costs a fortune.
Another industry leader such as GoToMeeting, Zoom, BlueJeans, and others let you collaborate using their software of web conferencing services. To use most of these solutions, you might need to download software or plugins to get started. These solutions are lesser expensive than Polycom and Cisco, but might still not fit in your budget.
Whereas with GC Collab, which is a WebRTC-based solution, you can video connect with your team and clients in a click – without any download or plugin. The best part is that it can be integrated into your existing system, website, or mobile app, empowering you to start video calling directly from your digital environment.
GROWTH OF ONLINE FINANCIAL SERVICES
- 94 % of millennials conduct their transactional banking entirely online
- Digitization to improve customer experience will dominate payments growth initiatives.
- Faster, Seamless, and Secure transactions, support is required for financial service providers in an effort to drive long-term profitability.
Top Ten Features You need in a Web Conferencing System
Other than Meeting Scheduling, File Sharing, and Annotation there are many features that you should consider before choosing a web or video conferencing solution. To find the ideal solutions with the adequate level of reliability that is required to conduct successful meetings, training, and presentation, here is the list of must-have capabilities to look for when choosing your next video conferencing solution:
No Software/Plugin Installs
Video Conferencing has been on the market for many decades, however, it failed to tract global businesses at larger extent. The primary reason was the complexity to use the product. With the introduction of WebRTC and other technologies Video and Web Conferencing has become easier than ever. For every online meeting, you should make sure that your attendees can access your conference room in a click. Having a browser based system like GC Collab that truly does not require any software/plugin installs is essential to make your meetings productive. In addition to making the access easy every time you meet online, no software or plugin installs means no software upgrades which makes system maintenance convenient.
Screen Sharing
We all know the importance of Screen Sharing in Online meetings. If you want to talk about a report and want to show your new idea, screen sharing is important. During an ongoing video meeting, you don’t want to open a third-party software to share screen, neither will your attendees might want to. So, go for a video conferencing solution that offers one-click screen sharing functionality like GC Collab.
Website Integration
When “Live Chat” was introduced, from small to large businesses started integrating Live Chat into their website or digital environment. Now, with the introduction of technologies like WebRTC, you should choose a video conferencing solution that can be easily integrated into your website and your existing system. Integration doesn’t always mean a link from your site that will direct your users to the service provider’s website. You can also go for solutions that empower your attendees to access the conference room in a click.
One Click Video Recording
Above all, one of the most useful benefits of video conferencing solutions is the ability to record your entire video meetings for future references. Whether you are giving a presentation, discussing a report, hosting an important client meeting or interviewing someone, having the recording available in standard file formats to easily share, replay or listen to is a must-have functionality and one you will definitely use regularly. Saving the recording by a custom name is a plus. It can help you fetch a specific recording from a pile whenever you want.
Group and Individual Chat
We all know how important and beneficial internal chat is to every firm, however, those corporate chat clients can cost your organization hundreds of dollars. This feature is certainly a must-have capability for your team or client collaboration and should be included as part of any video conferencing solution you go for. Whether you come up with an idea and need to share it with an individual or select individuals during a meeting to ask anything, or you need to ask a query outside of a meeting, group and individual chat feature is essential.
Mobile Applications
The world is moving to mobile and so are businesses. Best video and web conferencing solutions will offer the capability to seamlessly use their solution through mobile applications. Mobile applications are incredibly useful for those who use conferencing frequently or daily. It’s crucial to find a solution that only requires you to download the mobile application once into your mobile devices, instead of with every single meeting like many service providers. This will ensure that you can host or join meetings in a click without time-consuming delays.
Instant Meeting
This is another useful feature that you should look for. Meeting scheduling is important for all those meetings which you have planned and the participants have registered on the system. What if you want to instantly meet your client to talk about the project or you immediately need to discuss something with your field team, or you don’t want the attendee to register or create account for video conferencing whatever is the case, instant meeting comes in here. With instant meeting, you can generate a unique URL and share it with attendees to start video meeting in no time.
Whiteboard
To seamlessly collaborate with your team and your clients or friends, you need a drawing tool like Whiteboard. This functionality is an added advantage and while meeting face-to-face online, you can pitch your ideas or can discuss anything specific. Some service providers like GC Collab also lets you save the Whiteboard in image format for future use.
Full Reporting
Other than all the above mentioned useful features, the back-end administration of your video or web conferencing platform is equally important. You should or might need to access analytics or reports on attendance, typed messages, attendees profile, shared files as soon as the meeting ends or in the future.
Here’s a table comparing the basic plans of top video conferencing service providers that can help you choose the right service provider for your business:
The Future
Collaboration is vital in business operation. As workforces continue to become more mobile and globally distributed, collaboration technologies like video and web conferencing, ensuring the team and clients stay connected effectively and easily personalize meetings.