With the proliferation of high speed broadband services and the dissemination of powerful personal computers throughout homes in the developed world, communication has never before been more catered for. Telephony is an integral part of any business, be it conversations between company and clients, or just in-house between staff, clear communication is vital for successful practice. As digital technologies develop ever further there are more and more mediums springing up for spoken, written, and visual communication.
The internet has decentralised communication and as a result the problem of physical distance has been considerably diminished. Video conferencing has been around since the late 1960's but until the last half decade it has not been exploited effectively in the commercial business sector. Now customers and companies who are separated by thousands of miles of land and water can hold meetings as if they were in the same room. Often for effective communication of a strategy or idea a live conversation is needed and a face to face situation would be preferable. When this simply is not possible video conferencing can provide an excellent alternative answer. Of course there are other large advantages such as the massive amounts of time and money saved without the need to travel to and from these meetings. In addition with companies being encouraged to take their corporate social responsibility into consideration video conferencing can help keep their CSR to a minimum by reducing travel and therefore congestion. In industries that involve a lot of employees in a range of different locations such as the print arena, who all need to work remotely and also communicate between each other, video calling services such as Skype can be the perfect mode of network messaging.
Of course video calling does still lack in many important areas of verbal and non verbal communication. Eye contact is essential for cues in turn taking between participants, as are subtle gesticulations to specific members. Certain amounts of tone, pitch and intonation in speakers' voices can be lost in transit via video conferencing which can subsequently impede on the general communication. Frequently first time users find it quite surreal and awkward having to talk to a camera and listen to an image on a screen but as long as participants are aware of these issues surrounding body language and other facets of communication, verbal and non-verbal, video conferencing can be an excellent way to collectively discuss business matters in an affordable and effective form of communication.
Author Resource:-
John McE writes articles on a number of subjects including ICT communications and video conferencing. For more about antique fireplaces and mantels see Damovo.
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