Online meetings or virtual meetings, held over the internet or using a web-enabled computer program are growing in popularity throughout companies large and small because they want to connect to geographically dispersed teams, improve productivity, and cut travel costs. Historically, these types of meetings were typically used for board meetings, but have since grown to include a wide variety of business functions including; sales presentations, investor meetings, staff meetings, and education and training programs. They are also used for seminars, product demonstrations, press releases, free business presentations, introductions, product demos, and teleseminars among other purposes. In today’s economic climate this type of meeting has become quite popular due to their low cost and convenience. Below is a discussion of what you can expect when you attend an educational conference online.
In an educational online meeting software solution you’ll be assigned a seminar host that will generally be a professional speaker who specializes in the niche your company represents. The purpose of the seminar host is to provide guidance on the specific needs of your audience, answer questions, make suggestions, answer questions, give testimonials and otherwise assist your attendees during the duration of the seminar. There are some online meeting solutions that enable the attendees of the seminar to call home telephones so they can take their own messages, and there are others that do not. You should consider which type of interface makes the most sense for your audience. Some people are visual and others are more comfortable listening while browsing on a screen than in person.
Educational online meetings have many benefits, such as reduced costs, more flexibility, increased productivity, higher attendance, more opportunities for collaboration, increased communication, increased knowledge sharing, and enhanced understanding. One of the advantages of virtual meetings is that there is no travel expenses for your entire team. Most online meeting software solutions offer discounts on the rates for additional speakers and hosting fees. You don’t have to pay for hotel accommodations, food, or even a cab fare when you participate in online educational meetings. With online meetings, you can even take your laptop with you if you want!
Educational online meetings tend to be highly productive. You’ll be able to hold group meetings that cover wide topics such as the latest news on your company’s products and services. Your team members will appreciate the opportunity to discuss complex matters such as financial issues and complicated litigation without having to worry about time. If you want your team members to remember important information, you might want to consider video conferencing. Through video conferencing, your team members can view a slide presentation that helps them remember what was discussed.
In addition to educational and productive meetings, you may also want to conduct business during off hours. When you participate in educational or productive online meeting solutions, you can still conduct business during non-peak hours, such as night or weekend. Since online meeting solutions include a great number of features, it’s easy to conduct business while your employees are at home. For example, you can record a video conference that shows employees at their desk working. Then you can upload the video to a site like YouTube so your team members can watch it.
Another highly recommended resource for conducting online conferences is Google Hangouts. Hangouts can be accessed through a variety of web browsers. It’s highly recommended that you join a free conference call hosting service before committing to Google Hangouts. Google Hangouts offers free video conferencing, which is very helpful for businesses that aren’t able to meet in person. Google Hangouts will allow your team members to view and hear the video conference live.
It’s also a good idea to participate in a virtual brainstorming session before you host an in-person meeting. This way you can gather input from all of your team members on a wide variety of topics before making a decision. You can create a virtual “cork board” online where you can list possible solutions to any problem you come up with. This will help you arrive at a solution faster than if you were to conduct a physical conference call.
To help make your Google Hangouts experience even better, try to get some Placeware. This is a great way to get some ideas from your online conference participants. Some of the best Placeware tools include: Google Hangouts plus a chrome extension and gotomeeting. If you use gotomeeting on your Google Hangouts meetings, be sure to download the Google Chrome extension. These extensions will automatically put your files into your clipboard when you are done sharing a conversation.