If your business or organization has employees or members located throughout the world, group conferencing can supply a host of benefits. Group conferencing allows everyone to meet anywhere they can obtain an Internet connection, at any time of the day, in any time zone, without any investment for travel expenses. More and more companies are adopting group conferencing to stay connected. As traveling and home-based offices become more common, affordable video conferencing services exude a compelling appeal. There are a number of benefits that group conferencing can bring individuals and companies.

Reduce Travel Costs

In today’s economy, travel costs for business-related activities have become increasingly prohibitive. Nothing can replace the impact that live interactions can give, making the face-to-face interactions available on web conferencing is the next best option. While there are upfront costs for group conferencing services, the return-on-investment is generally swift. In addition to reducing travel costs, group conferencing can help decrease your company’s carbon footprint.

Strengthen Office Relationships

Group conferencing helps employees, colleagues and business partners get to know each better. Face-to-face communication allows people to talk on a deeper level than with a phone call or email, as most people tend to show more of their personality when they are able to see the other speaking. This is the ideal way to get ‘face time’ and improve relationships with your colleagues, whether you travel frequently or work from home.

Increase Productivity

Many companies find that allowing the use of group conferencing between colleagues’ results in better productivity. Dispersed project teams and work forces can present a number of challenges due to slow or non-existent communication between employees who reside in different locations. Most remote workers use e-mail, phone, or instant messaging applications to communicate, but these methods are at best halting. The use of group conferencing can boost productivity and motivation as decisions are made faster and participants are more likely to stay focused.

More Effective Communication

Group conferencing conveys much more useful information then telephone calls or emails can portray. Since 50 to 90 percent of what we communicate is non-verbal, it’s important for businesses to use face-to-face communication sources. Non-verbal communication is naturally eliminated in telephone and email contact. In group video conferencing, both body language and eye contact can be easily conveyed. The face-to-face experience that comes with group conferencing helps to reinforce relationships and eliminate any potential problems or misunderstandings.

Convenience

With group conferencing, people can meet from across all time zones, locations, and international boundaries. Some employees may not be able to attend a conference in person, such as potential hires or remote experts, but can still be present for the meeting. Business owners should consider the value that group conferencing can bring to meetings involving a number of people from multiple locations. There's no disputing the convenience of group conferencing. Recent studies have suggested that driving one hour for a conference uses the same amount of electrical power as over 1,000 hours of group conferences via the web.

Companies of all sizes and from any industry can adapt quickly to group video conferencing. Not only can group conferencing increase productivity, it can also cut a host of costs during difficult economic times. Costs of group conferencing services continue to drop, making it more affordable for small to large business alike. Group conferences have become one of the most efficient ways to communicate with customers, employees and sales prospects.

Author Bio:
This is a Guest Post by Lindsey from ProfessionalIntern.com.