The concept of keeping teams connected through regular conference calls is certainly nothing new. This revolutionary technology has been at the heart of successful businesses for years now, as modern workplaces continue to favour remote meetings and flexible working practises. According to research of How Screen Sharing Technology is Improving Conference Calls, each year businesses can spend over 163 billion minutes on conference calls in the UK and US alone.
However, these audio-based meetings often suffer from frustrating communication issues, as distracting background noise, sound delays and other technological-related conference-room-call-discussion hiccups inevitably result in lengthy, unproductive sessions. In fact, the same LoopUp research found that the average conference call will waste 15 minutes on setting up the required technology and dealing with distractions, equating to an estimated £26 billion in lost revenue.
Fortunately, conferencing technology is continuing to evolve, with many platforms now utilising screen sharing software and other visual elements to improve conference-room-discussion-laptops to far above the current average the overall meeting experience. Although many of these innovative web conferencing solutions. How Screen Sharing Technology is Improving Conference Calls in severely under-utilised, screen sharing technology undoubtedly helps businesses get much more out of their meetings.
Seamless File Sharing
Standard audio conference calls often involve attendees having to download applicable files before the meeting can start, while traditional face-to-face meetings can involve these files being downloaded, printed and read prior to the session. The result is a great deal of wasted time and, in some cases, even greater amounts of wasted paper—but the days of having to share and download such large files have finally come to an end.
Screen sharing ensures the distribution and accessibility of this information is much more straight-forward, as attendees can simply view the relevant material on their screens in real-time. Since the best web conferencing platforms allow all attendees to share their screen with others, the opportunity for collaboration is also greatly increased, while it’s significantly easier for teams to receive feedback and make faster decisions.
Visualisation Increases Engagement
Without question, visual information is more effective than data delivered via audio or text platforms. 90% of information transmitted to the human brain is visual, meaning that we’re all ingrained with a natural ability to process visual data much faster. Of course, screen sharing technology allows you to introduce these valuable visual elements to your conference calls, helping attendees to digest information at speed and boosting the overall productivity of the meeting.
More importantly, the ability to share and display relevant information will make the entire meeting much more interactive, ensuring attendees become increasingly engaged with the discussion and feel encouraged to actively participate. Instead of struggling to explain difficult concepts or convoluted bits of information, you can simply share your screen with everyone and show them exactly what you’re talking about.
Ultimately, this not only saves you a great deal of wasted time, but also makes sure participants remain fully attentive throughout the meeting.
Keep Attendees on Track
Whereas traditional audio calls can often turn into a one-way presentation, screen sharing ensures that attendees are always on the same page and can keep up to speed with the discussion. Although the visual advantages of screen sharing undoubtedly increase meeting engagement, the biggest benefit is arguably the sense of clarity it brings to your communications.
A typical audio call can often lead to miscommunication and ambiguity, with many attendees constantly straining to hear what’s being said and inevitably struggling to keep up with the discussion. However, modern web conferencing platforms allow you to share your screen with other participants in real-time, meaning they can always view the relevant slides, files or information, and effortlessly stay on track.
Save Time and Increase Productivity
Screen sharing technology will ultimately improve the efficiency of your conference calls, ensuring attendees remain completely focused on the discussion and significantly improving the productivity of sessions. Although you can never fully eradicate the need for occasional face-to-face interaction, these advanced web conferencing platforms allow businesses to seamlessly host presentations, brainstorm ideas and report on results from remote locations.
Takeaway
Saving you money on travel costs and unnecessary wasted time, web conferencing allows your meetings to become much more flexible; while the addition of screen sharing software encourages attendees to participate, collaborate and provide each other with truly valuable feedback.
Since remote working practises are continuing to grow in popularity so rapidly, this technology could prove essential towards helping teams work together and improve the overall quality of results in 2019.