Over the last five years, we’ve seen how the development of video-enabled software has transformed the way we communicate with one another and how organizations conduct business. By allowing us to virtually be in the same room as someone located in another city, video is enabling businesses to be more productive, efficient and personal.
In fact, a survey conducted by Cisco found that an estimated 87 percent of young executives believe video offers a “significant positive impact” on an organization. In addition, 94 percent said video can help overcome language barriers.
While the benefits of video solutions remain clear, we haven’t seen the widespread business adoption of video solutions across the enterprise. The question remains: When will businesses start to heavily integrate high definition video communication solutions into their organizations?
In order to integrate rich video into business culture, attitudes toward video must change. Technology owners need to “own” virtual experiences and integrate rich media experiences into their lives, by choosing video first.
Encouraging Adoption of Video
I recently read a blog by Dave Michels, unified computing strategies industry analyst, which encourages raising the confidence of video users so that they take that next step and relate to business acquaintances in a new way. After all, in many organizational settings, employees may be in two separate locations, but effective communication remains vital to business success. There are many aspects of communication that are enhanced by having face-to-face interaction with co-workers, such as analyzing one’s body language, being able to hold one’s attention, or simply nurturing distant relationships in ways traditional phone calls and emails cannot. As Michels mentions, why settle for compromised communications when video solutions are available?
It’s important to understand why video communication delivers such an incredible impact to our businesses. We already know that when deployed and used effectively, adding video to calls greatly strengthens internal relationships between teams & individual employees. How about outside of our organizations?
At Cisco our teams have had great success with using video to keep in touch with our customers. Leveraging TelePresence teams are able to bring subject matter expertise from across Canada and from around the world straight to the customer, removing the necessity for customers to incur travel time to and from offices. Teams are able to drive more relevant conversations in a more timely fashion. The right people, engaged at the right time, partnering with customers on fantastic projects.
This truly requires a transformation in each of us, in our colleagues, and in our organizations. As Michels accurately points out, the first step is that we need to embrace the future and “turn on” our cameras. Simply think video first!
For more information on Cisco’s internal video utilization, click here.
How can Cisco help your business organization with video integration solutions? I’d love to hear from you, please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
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