Price Quotes Comparision for Video Conferencing

By Catherine Hensley
Updated: July 05, 2011

Business owners need quick, reliable information when sifting through options for video conferencing tools and services. With so many vendors and products available on the market, it’s important to assess your needs before requesting price quotes so you’ll know exactly what to look for during the search process. This article will help you identify a number of ways to get accurate pricing information from video conferencing vendors.

Video conference capability is one of the most important tools in the workplace. The development of this technology has allowed for businesses all across the globe to work and connect with clients and customers. An employee stationed at an office in a different country, for example, can “attend” an important meeting at company headquarters through the use of video conferencing.

When you’re ready to compare price quotes for video conference tools and services, there are a number of options out there to help you during the selection process. If you’re interested in a particular company, find out whether it offers price quotes for the tools and/or services you like. Many video conferencing companies provide online price inquiry forms that are quick and easy to fill out. You enter your contact information and select which items you’re interested in (for instance, enhanced audio or visual capabilities or rental suites), and a company representative will contact you with a quote usually within 24 hours.

A similar option to contacting a company directly is to obtain multiple quotes from a third party tasked with gathering them for you. With this option, you’ll often fill out a similar online form as you did with the one company, but this time, the third party will search a variety of vendors in your geographical area for the price range, services, and features that you’re specifically searching for. Sometimes, the third party will contact you directly to learn more about your business needs. They will then select the vendors that best match your criteria and have those companies deliver their quotes and relevant information to you.

To get “instant” quotes, many vendors and price quoting websites have online “click through” pages (http://www.approvedindex.co.uk/videoconferencing/free-quote/). On such a page, you answer a group of preselected questions to assess the level of services that you need, such as how many locations will need to participate in a video conferencing session and what budget you are working with. Once you submit this form, price quotes based on your answers will be sent directly to you.

Before going through the price quote gathering process, it’s important to know exactly what your company needs and what capabilities — both functionally and budgetary — are at its disposal. This will ensure that you’re able to select the best option from the quotes you receive.