The demand for online video conferencing tools is skyrocketing. According to Transparency Market Research, video conferencing market is set to grow by $6 billion by 2020. There are a vast number of vendors catering to the demand in the marketplace; however, they all don’t offer the same level of services. This makes it difficult to choose the best online video conferencing for IT solution providers, as indicated by Blue Jeans. With tight budgets, you can’t afford to choose any provider since many of them will have an initial commitment period which can make you get stuck with the wrong choice. It is important to take some time to research before you choose the service provider. By following certain simple tips, you can choose the best online video conferencing provider with confidence.
To help you choose, here are few tips to keep in mind while researching for the best video conferencing provider:
Know Your Needs
It is important to understand your needs because any product that doesn’t satisfy your unique requirements is not worth spending your money. Knowing whether you conduct unlimited conferencing or just need software for rare occasions helps in determining the size of the video conferencing plan. You can talk about your needs with the provider so you can get the plan that best suits your needs optimizing the project to minimize the budget. You can focus on your particular needs like connectivity to mobile devices, real-time online collaboration, etc.
Recommendations
You can always learn from the experience of others and seek advice to avoid reinventing the wheel. You can ask for software information from a similar sized company and get to know the challenges they are facing. You can also request recommendations from your users who are ultimately going to use the service. It is one of the best ways to find the best online video conferencing tool. People will be more involved since they are part of the entire implementation right from the start. You can search the Internet and read reviews and compare various providers to make an informed decision.
Checklist
Have a list to verify the features that are required. You can save important features that you need to compare and certain important questions that need to be answered. You can also test to ensure that the tool fits in well within your environment. This aspect makes it easy to have a checklist and start comparing all the tools side-by-side to find the best system. It may be cumbersome, but it’s worth the entire process since it offers benefits for a long time.
Test
It is crucial to examine the video conference tools to come to a conclusion. All the features shown in the paper may not exactly work in your environment. You may need certain changes in your IT environment to exploit the tool to the maximum. You can know these issues only when you start using it. It is not a smart idea to buy before you use it, as indicated by industry experts on Mashable website. Fortunately, most providers will offer a trial, if not ask the service provider for a trial to ensure the video conferencing tool satisfies all your requirements. During the trial, you may even come up with something that you have overlooked. Always test before jumping to the conclusion.
Ask Questions
Never shy away from asking important questions. The only way you can understand the product better is by asking questions. You can ask about the equipment and ask your team about the difficulties they foresee. You can ask people who are already using the service to get to know their experience. The right fit has to be chosen with care. It is not useful if you over design or under design the tool. Always check whether the provider allows you to scale effortlessly without the need for additional investment. If it is not scalable, it may not be right to implement it, especially in a growing IT environment.
Real-life Setting
Always prefer to use the service in a real life setting. It may show good performance in an ideal setting during the demo. But, in real life situations, it may not be ideal. People may access video conferencing system from throughout the world. It is during these times you need to know how the service withstands and what kind of quality you get. You have to consider these critical issues before you make the decision.
Let Team Members Try
It is not enough to try the service by yourself. You may have blind spots, which can lead to overlooking certain important aspects. It is always best to invite your team members to try the service and give their opinion. You may even seek professional help. When you are asking your team to try out the service, ensure that you are not influencing them with your decision. Get their independent review so that it is unbiased.
Choosing a good video conferencing product takes time, and it is worth spending the time initially so that it saves time and money in the long run.
A quality video conferencing tool makes all the difference … great suggestions!