Despite the surge of technology that allows people to work from home and the numerous health and personal benefits it offers, many companies haven’t yet embraced it as much as they could and are yet to discover the benefits of employee monitoring tools. There are some downsides, but having business video conferencing for IT like BlueJeans software is an affordable and easy way to conduct regular business operations remotely, part time or even full time. Many sectors, particularly healthcare, have already used it to transform their work practices and make things much easier and quicker for themselves and their customers. Here are just a few of the benefits for both individuals and corporations as a whole:
- Open Hiring
It’s obvious that every company needs to hire the best people they can find in order to stay ahead of their competitors. But this does reduce your hiring pool to the people in your immediate area. It also makes things more difficult for job seekers who can only find work in their own area. This makes it harder for them to find work in certain industries which are only located in urban centres. Hiring and working remotely allows for open hiring and more options for both recruiters and job seekers. If there is somebody you want to work with who isn’t willing to relocate, you can still add them to your staff thanks to remote working. Job seekers can also tap into their dream industries without always needing to move to an expensive city centre, which also improves workplace equality. It is also much easier to train multiple new hires remotely thanks to screen sharing software and uploading training videos to cloud storage.
- Time Saving
Tightened budgets and increased competition means that companies need to pay closer attention to their productivity and time management. But as Video Conferencing Guide points out, travelling two hours to make an appointment and then two hours back again takes four whole hours of productivity out of a day that could be better spent on more important tasks. Making the appointment remotely would only take a short time out of your schedule. This is why the software has become so popular in the medical industry, as it allows doctors to make an instant diagnosis and provide test results much quicker than they used to. Hiring and training, which take up a large amount of time in any company, are also streamlined and simplified when done with online tools. Online conferencing really does give businesses the gift of time by allowing people to achieve more in a shorter space of time. Not only does it cut out the need for long and expensive travel, it allows colleagues to contact each other easily, access and distribute files and information, and provide training to multiple people at once.
- Cost Saving
Post credit crunch, businesses need to find as many ways to save money as possible. Individuals also need to make the most out of their pay cheque and make it stretch as far as possible. The single cost of a conferencing software subscription can potentially save a company thousands each year in travel expenses, renting office space, setting up conferences and other large events, and thousands of other smaller expenses. Individuals too can save money on travel, eating out, coffee runs, formal clothes, and multiple other things. Even just working from home for one or two days a week can save substantial amounts of money.
- Access to Information
A surprising amount of hold ups are caused by people not gaining access to the information or files they need because it is sitting in somebody else’s computer or on their desk. It wasn’t that long ago when sharing information meant physically bringing them over to other people’s desks, or even mailing them back and forth. Today, technology has evolved so much that even exchanging information through e-mail seems somewhat archaic. Cloud storage makes information accessible for all who need to see it, including video files and online meetings. Livestreaming big conferences or events means they are accessible to everyone, not only those who can afford to fly out to the conference and book a hotel room. If somebody can’t make an online meeting, training session, or conference, you can instead record the livestream, save it to the cloud storage, and allow others to access it whenever they need to. This also prevents the need to make the same lecture or share the same piece of information multiple times to different people. Buzzle says that it is even possible to share and update information in real time, meaning nobody is ever left behind our outdated.
While companies will always need some opportunities for colleagues to meet in person, there are multiple benefits to allowing staff to work from home even if it is only for a few days each month. Take advantage of your conferencing software and encourage more home working and remote hiring and you will see the advantages it has to you, your colleagues, and your entire company.