Webcasts, video conferences, online classrooms, and on-demand presentations and training…have all become even hotter tools for the corporate world of late. Is the technology driving this popularity? Yes and no. The technology is not particularly new; it’s been around for several years now. Likewise, broadband access (required to effectively watch and/or participate in online events) has been a staple for corporations and road warriors for a time also, albeit enhanced by the explosion of wireless networks and devises for universal 3G connectivity.
No, the recent popularity of these tools has advanced due to the sluggish economy, and corporate efforts to rein in their costs. Fuel prices have significantly increased the expense of traveling; yet business goes on, and communication and collaboration must also. In addition, the online tools for collaboration and interaction have steadily gotten better. State-of-the-art videoconferencing systems are expensive ($20-$100k), but the experience can be so lifelike as to closely replicate a “live meeting”. The screens are life size, often with a conference table between you and the screens so that it appears your associates are across the table from you. Gone are the jerky videos feed with shadowed images and low quality sound.
Although the economy has jump-started this trend, “…These technology tools are going to change the way corporations think about travel and work in the long run,” say analysts at Forester Research.
The results can be seen not only in the expensive new telepresence systems like those from Cisco Systems and HP, but also in more mainstream collaboration technologies — Web conferencing, online document sharing, wikis and Internet telephony. Simple audio and desktop presentations in Web-based meetings, for example, are now more likely to be in sync and interactive, as evidenced by my company’s simple Foodservice University FORUM webinars over the last two years.
Companies of all sizes are beginning to shift to web-based meetings for both training and sales presentations. Back in the day, we used to travel to have an introductory meeting to explore the viability of doing business with a new customer. Now salespeople can arrange an online presentation to interactively present their capabilities and explore the sales opportunities, using simple screen-sharing technologies like WebEx or GoToWebinar, along with a conference telephone . And clients often prefer these events to the interruptions of a personal meeting early in the relationship. Of course, no one suggests that face-to-face meetings are obsolete. Quite the contrary. However, the process of selectively focusing business travel is much more productive and cost-effective.
Over the course of the next several weeks, TPMusings will examine the tools and technology involved in online collaboration, adding a few foodservice-centric ideas for how to use them as a devise to differentiate yourself from your competition.
Watch this space…
“Companies are often tempted to throttle back on investment and innovation during recessions, and experience shows that that's often the best time to ratchet innovation efforts up." --- John Kao, innovation consultant