60 per cent of businesses opt for conference calls over face-to-face meetings as the global nature of most industries push firms to opt out of traditional meetings.
A YouGov survey carried out on behalf of RingCentral UK found that face-to-face meetings are becoming less possible due to workforces that are dispersed across multiple locations that are often around the world.
Of those surveyed, 66 per cent stated that the biggest disadvantage of traditional face-to-face meetings is the time it takes to travel to and from them, 50 per cent ranking cost as the worst disadvantage.
“Many companies still prefer traditional face-to-face meetings as they are considered more personable and engaging than audio conference calls, but travelling to and from meetings is costly and time-consuming. Businesses are already beginning to see that video conferencing is the answer to bridge this gap,” said Lars Nordhild Rønning, General Manager, EMEA, at RingCentral UK.
A third [33 per cent] think that conference calls are more viable for their business and that using them facilitated overseas connections that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise due to the cost of travel involved.
One of the main worries about relying on video or audio conferencing is the lower level of focus and this is illustrated by the fact that 19 per cent admitted conducting a conference call in pyjamas or from an unfamiliar location such as a bathroom or outdoors.
46 per cent still think face-to-face meetings make the most sense for their business and doubts about conference calls still very much exist with 35 per cent put off video conferencing by poor audio or visual quality. Meanwhile, 28 per cent blamed the complexity of setting up the technology for not bothering to implement a conference calling strategy.
“Businesses must look to new technologies such as High-Definition [HD] video conferencing that flawlessly meet business expectations to help them maintain relationships, achieve their business goals and remain as efficient as possible,” Rønning added.
