First Steps for Purchasing a Video Conferencing Solution

By Lori Shepherd
Updated: March 28, 2011

There are numerous reasons to consider video conferencing within any business environment, reasons ranging from increasing productivity of staff to reducing travel costs, to return on investment, not to mention the transformation of work environments due to the rise of mobile staff, whatever the reason, deciding to make the purchase appears to be a smart business investment. But before you make the purchase be sure to consider the following key factors when researching video conferencing solutions for your business:

Video ConferencingWeb Conferencing versus Video Conferencing: Know the Difference

Video conferencing offers numerous communication benefits that are not available with web conferencing. Popular internet chatting services can certainly connect one person with another, but not much more. One-to-one contact might be ideal for regular business meetings, but rarely suffices for meetings where numerous employees are attending.

High-Speed Internet Connections: A Must

Does your business have high-speed internet connection? It will need to in order to allow video and audio to stream without a hitch. When meeting participants are connected successfully, they’ll be able to communicate with each other without experiencing system lag.

Security Considerations

Anytime proprietary information is the subject of discussion suitable for concerned parties in a video conferencing environment then your connection must be secure. For normal use this may not be the case. In highly secure meeting environments premium video conferencing solutions will offer encryption features whereby the data being streamed between meeting participants is protected.

Video Conferencing for Tight Budgets

Video conferencing offers numerous benefits to business which can be quite costly, particular for businesses with tight budgets. Thankfully, among the numerous video conferencing providers available, are those providing video conference room rentals. Usually these solutions are purchasable as a standalone service or as a service bundled with other services including office rental, virtual office solutions, and postal address rentals, among others. The benefit of renting is that you pay only for the times it is used which may be the most practical option if your businesses need video conferencing infrequently.

These are all important considerations to keep in mind while researching video conferencing solutions. Much to think of for sure, however, given the broad range of excellent solutions on the market, and many of them suited for various budgets, businesses of all sizes can now join in the video conferencing environment.

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