24 June 2014

More and more businesses are starting to take advantage of the power of web conferencing, and for very good reason. Web conferencing is both an efficient and cost effective way for businesses to communicate with their employees, as well as their clients. Unfortunately, not too many business owners know about online conferencing, despite its growing popularity.

Business owners who know about web conferencing, yet have opted not to utilize it as a tool for interaction, likely don't realize how much businesses can benefit from this tool. Here are some advantages of online conferencing for businesses.

What is Web Conferencing?

Of course, it is important to know the gist of web conferencing before even focusing on the many benefits this tool entails for businesses, both large and small.

Web conferencing is a type of real-time collaboration in which a multitude of computer users all see the same content on their screens at all times. All users are connected to the Internet. As you can imagine, web conferencing enables users to hold business seminars and meetings, conduct demonstrations, give presentations, offer customer support, and provide online education.

In order for online conferencing tools like UberConference to be effective as a teaching and learning method, one must strive to use them in an interactive manner. If there's only one person doing all the talking and everyone else is just listening, web conferencing becomes less beneficial. Online conferencing sessions become more like lectures and people will cease to pay attention.

When online conferencing is made interactive, all participants benefit in some way or form. Fortunately, making web conferencing interactive isn't very difficult. Tools like UberConference allow all users to communicate and interact with the person holding the session, as well as other users who are attending.

The Benefits

Now that the basics of web conferencing have been covered, it'll be easier to understand how businesses can benefit immensely from this valuable tool. Some of the many benefits of online conferencing are greater accessibility, increased interaction, more learning opportunity, and more active learning.

Greater Accessibility

The first advantage of web conferencing for businesses is that it allows for greater accessibility. When it comes to collaborations without the use of web conferencing, every single person has to be at the same place at the same time. Obviously, this is not very convenient, nor is it always possible. This is especially true if the people you're collaborating with aren't your employees.

With online conferencing, accessibility isn't an issue at all. As long as someone has access to the Internet and a working computer, they'll be able to participate in the collaboration. One won't have to worry about people not being able to go due to transportation or distance. In fact, more people will attend the conference because distance simply won't be an issue.

While a greater amount of people attending your conferences isn't good in all cases, it can be extremely beneficial in others. For example, imagine a business is developing a new product or service and would like some feedback from their clients. This business can do so by holding a conference.

However, even the most dedicated customers aren't going to drop everything and do hours of traveling in order to attend this conference. In fact, this business would be extremely lucky if most of the customers who actually lived nearby came to the conference. Therefore, if the business is holding a traditional conference, they simply aren't going to get too many opinions on their new product.

On the other hand, this scenario would be completely different if the business held an online conference instead. Turnout would be way higher and they would actually get plenty of opinions.

Increased Interaction

The second advantage of web conferencing for businesses is that it promotes increased interaction among members. All of the people who attend an online conference can speak to the host, and in most cases, they will also be able to speak with other people who happen to be attending the online conference.

Everyone will have the opportunity to ask questions or request clarification to make sure they understand everything that is being said. In traditional conferences, many people hesitate to ask questions because they don't want to interrupt. Others wait for the "right time," which often never comes, and if it does come, they've often forgotten the question by then. When it comes to online conferencing, people are comfortable enough to ask questions because of the more relaxed atmosphere.

In most conferences, there's a leader or lecturer who's conveying the information to the rest of the group. When it comes to traditional conferences, information tends to flow in a one-way direction. On the other hand, everyone learns from each others with web conferencing.

Increased Active Learning

Yet another benefit of web conferencing for businesses is the increased active learning. In general, people are going to learn more from online conferencing rather than traditional conferencing, and there are two main reasons for this.

First of all, people obviously learn more when they're actually paying attention to what's being said. During traditional conferences, many people opt not to listen to the lecturer after some time. This is because there is usually only one person talking during a traditional conference. Everyone else is listening, or at least, supposed to be listening. This is bound to get boring for many people, especially if the conference is lengthy or if the lecturer isn't doing a good job.

Second of all, when one interacts with other people, they become more involved in the learning process. Most people find it far easier to remember information as well as how to apply the information when the process of learning is more hands-on. Therefore, if you truly want people to take something away from your teachings, you should definitely hold a web conference.

Increased Learning Opportunity

The final advantage of web conferencing for businesses is that it increases learning opportunity. What this means is that people will learn more of what they need to know, and not what they already know, when attending an online conference.

When a lecturer doesn't interact with the people being lectured, he or she will only teach what they happen to know. However, when an online conferencing tool that allows interaction is used, the amount that is both taught and learned increases substantially. The different types of people attending the lecture will bring different viewpoints to the table. This will eventually lead to an increase in the amount of information that is being taught.

As you can see, there are so many benefits that businesses can derive from web conferencing tools like UberConference. While web conferencing is not without its disadvantages, its many advantages make it a worthy choice for all businesses.

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