Are You Tired of Hearing About Video Conferencing Yet?

Are you tired of me talking about video conferencing yet?  As much as I would like to be discussing the NBA play-offs (I’m a Bull’s fan) it’s not making me nor you any  $$… but what is?  Video!

If you got the latest addition of Conferencing News, you would see that it’s heavily covering video conferencing.  Looking out about 6-12 months is when the video world is going to explode.   What is causing this shift?

           1.  BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)- there’s that word again.  I’ve mentioned it many times. IT departments are digging BYOD.  People are now accustomed to having technical solutions at home, they are use to desktop solutions and apps.  IT departments are positively responding to features such as forward facing cameras.  This makes video conferencing an attractive prospect for enhancing BYOD.

           2.  Collaboration- it’s here.  It’s no longer a buzz word.  People are now sharing as well as collaborating.  In the past, people would speak on the phone and then follow up on email.  Today- this is happening together.  This shift is due to the fact that people are naturally collaborating in their personal lives.  We now use desktop and mobile video conferencing to chat, share internet links, photos, collaborate on documents, etc.  Video Conferencing allows a platform for these team collaboration spaces to take place and businesses are realizing they are effective, productive, efficient and convenient.  

       3.  Interop, Interop, Interop- there’s this word again too….. The video conferencing industry has always been particularly closed forcing businesses to commit to one vendor for long periods of time… that is gone!  Barriers are being broken by the convergence of telecom.  Businesses seek non-proprietary open solutions.  What this means is today, video is a thing you do vs. being a place you’d go to.  (like a conference room).

Agents, do you realize you can give your prospect free demo for a 7 days?  Let’s put these products in their hands, let them test drive.   Give me a call.  877-716-8255 x78253

-          Caroline

Make it Rain With the Clouds

In October I discussed cloud technology and the growth of BYOD- how do you turn this into dollars for your organization?  Are you on the edge of accepting and adapting to the “cloud” technology we are embracing for 2013?  Technology is certainly surging forward in cloud computing and mobile devices.   So what does this mean for you?

Go big and Go home- Last October, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that close to 13.4 million Americans work from home, an increase of 4 million remote workers since 1999. (Source: FlexJobs). Channel Partners and Resellers need to incorporate virtual collaboration technologies that empower these independent workers.  With the Conference Group, we have a variety of products that will enable your customer to do this.  (MegaMeeting, LotusLive, and Vidyo)

Stay afloat- The Cloud is defining our industry rapidly.  There has been a predominate shift in businesses moving from standard video conference room environments (hardware) to selecting companies offering cloud based services such as Mega Meeting, Vidyo and Lotus Live.  The key factors behind this transition are:  spontaneous meetings between companies can quickly lay out the next steps, articulate good ideas, and build consensus.  By turning on a webcam, companies can double the effectiveness of their communication with remote employees and their clients since 45% of communication depends on body language. Selling cloud based conferencing will build more genuine, trusting relationships and avoid traditionally common miscommunications about ever-changing devices, pricing, and service levels, etc.

Do you have your license to drive sales- Licensing and seat based products are becoming the model for the future. Customers will use companies that are easy to do business with.  Licenses and seat based conferencing make doing business easy. Traditionally, customers have paid by the minute. Today, conferencing providers sell licenses/seats; an all-you-can-eat scenario, or bundles, something where you might pay a fixed fee per month for bundled services. Empowered by a robust partner program, companies selling the Conference Group will see less price erosion, will be able to deliver a more valuable product to their end-user, and generate a predictable expense for users and revenue for their business.

The convergence of the cloud and mobile space should start some valuable dialogues between you and your client.  Give me a call to find out how we can roll these products out to your clients!

Caroline Rogers 877-716-8255 x78253 or crogers@conferencegroup.com

The "New" Agent

I just got back from Austin, TX and the CvxExpo / ITEXPO was great!!   Realizing I am no “techie”, and I just learned what BYOD means, I can say that it was an amazingly educational and fun trip!  With the convergence of IT and telecom, its giving way to a new agent.  There comes a tie that our traditional agents need to understand how to adapt and capitalize on this evolution, especially for the survival of their business.  This is where I fit in.

The show had 3 video conferencing sessions and I was lucky enough to be asked to join one of the panels.  On Thursday, October 4^th, I joined Charles Studt with Intelepeer and Scott Whatron with Vidtel to present a session called “Bridging the Video Conferencing Chasm”.  

A quick excerpt “Companies looking to deploy and use video conferencing services often are forced to muddle their way through platforms, disparate standards and an assortment of devices and rooms systems”….. My first thought was “huh?’… But then I started thinking, “why do we make this so hard?” We often wonder why our agents aren’t selling video and I believe it’s because there is a perception of the traditional video conferencing systems that were extremely expensive and complicated.   The video conferencing services we offer eliminate the need for hardware, integrate with existing video conferencing room systems, and are browser-based.  In my world, Agents want to know 3 simple things… Does it work?  Is it user friendly/easy to use? And Do I get paid on it?  With the Conference Group, the answer to these three questions is YES!!

So, why haven’t you contacted the Conference Group about Video Conferencing?  Starting next week, I will be holding additional video conferencing sessions with all of you.  Have your video camera ready and buckle-up; it’s time to get excited and start selling it!

Contact Caroline Rogers at caroline.rogers@conferencegroup.com 
877-716-8255 x78253  or Cell:  302-530-1666