The rapid increase in remote working continues to shape the business landscape. As technological advances provide innovative new ways to connect and support an increasingly mobile workforce, the trend towards homeworking is gathering pace. In England and Wales alone, more than 10% of people now work remotely. Business leaders predict that in the next decade over half of all employees will work from home. This developing trend, along with the proliferation of mobile, social and digital media providing instant communication opportunities, has become a catalyst for an increased uptake in leading-edge videoconferencing technologies as companies seek new ways to optimise their mobile workforce.
Videoconferencing is emerging as a highly valuable channel of business communication. Once regarded as a luxury reserved for senior management and requiring expensive, high-end videoconferencing suites, developments in technology are making communication via video accessible to employees throughout any organisation – irrespective of their location.
The advent of tools such as unified communications and converged networks is helping businesses ensure that remote workers remain connected and engaged. Furthermore, they are providing employers with the ability to combine applications, make information accessible and integrate data from remote and disparate systems over a single network. This has extended the capabilities of videoconferencing, enabling businesses to facilitate faster, more reliable and more efficient communications – and empowering remote workers with increased accessibility to real-time information and colleague dialogue.
Videoconferencing technology also brings with it multimedia opportunities that allow employees to work collaboratively. Integrated Interactive Whiteboards allow participants to share, edit and approve electronic documents during the course of a live call, increasing productivity and accelerating the speed to market of key projects.
Moreover, in an increasingly mobile world, videoconferencing is securely available via a standard desktop from anywhere on any network and on any device.
The benefits of videoconferencing translate across every business sector. In healthcare, for example, surgeons are able to receive advice and support – during surgery – from external consultants via a video feed. And likewise, hospitals are able to broadcast best-practice surgical techniques to train and develop staff.