The ability for employees to connect and collaborate across multiple locations is crucial for any modern business or organization, regardless of size or industry. Video conferencing is a key component in any successful collaboration strategy – businesses and government work and communicate more effectively when they use expertly-designed and integrated audiovisual systems.
But collaboration doesn’t mean the same thing to every organization – or even every person within a single organization. So how do you decide what collaboration looks like in your environment? Answering these questions will help your organization decide how to find unified collaboration technology that is the right fit for your unique needs.
What Does Collaboration Mean to You?
Depending on whom you ask, collaboration can mean something completely different. Do you want a full video, audio and content-sharing system, or will just video and audio do? For some, collaboration simply means the ability to chat across multiple locations. For others, it means also having voice and video. Or the solution could just be conference sharing. Also important – do you need employees to have the ability to collaborate beyond the conference room across all devices, including mobile phones? It’s crucial to fully understand your collaboration needs before making a purchase.
Do You Have Buy-In From All Departments?
Various departments within your organization might have completely different ideas about what collaboration means to them. The sales department might need a bring-your-own-device solution so that remote and traveling employees can easily connect, while the marketing department may not see that as a priority. It’s important to find a unified collaboration technology that meets the needs of all departments, not just some. All departments should be consulted in the planning process. It’s helpful to schedule a “meeting of the minds” with representatives of all departments.
How Will Employees Use the Technology in Workflow?
Before investing in unified collaboration technology, it’s also important to give some serious thought to how employees will use the technology in their workflow. Will they use it to save traveling time by holding remote meetings instead? Will they use it to chat internally with coworkers, or also to communicate with outside contacts and customers? Will the technology be used daily, weekly, monthly? Having the answers to these questions will help your provider design the best customized solution.
What Equipment Do You Already Have?
Building a video collaboration system or improving the one you have shouldn’t mean getting rid of all your existing equipment. Some providers offer only one solution to meet your needs. The best unified collaboration providers are technology agnostic – meaning they work with multiple solutions and won’t require you to purchase all new products if the ones you have are workable. They can develop a customized solution that meets your needs and the needs of the audience you’re trying to reach while also remaining budget conscious.
What Are the Specific Needs of Your Industry?
Just as needs can vary among different businesses and various departments, certain industries have unique needs when it comes to unified collaboration technology. In healthcare, for example, network security is a high priority to protect patient privacy and stay compliant with HIPPA laws. In the financial industry, content-sharing capabilities are often important to share and review critical documents. Think about the communication needs that are most crucial to your specific industry.
VSGi and Polycom have partnered to provide organizations with outstanding and seamless collaboration solutions. Using Polycom’s industry-leading collaboration technologies, VSGi designs, sells and supports video conferencing and AV integration for conference rooms, board rooms, offices, educational facilities and more. The partnership between these industry leaders offers organizations the most advanced technology at an affordable cost to foster true collaboration, even across multiple locations.
11 Questions You Need to Ask a Video Collaboration Solution Provider
With cutting-edge advances in voice, video and content sharing solutions, organizations can extend seamless collaboration across every team and department so everyone can work together face-to-face – no matter where they are located. Find out what questions you should be asking a potential video conferencing solution provider by downloading this infographic.
