The benefits of telecommuting are apparent—increased employee productivity, reduced costs, and more flexibility are only a few. In fact, people who work full time from home are more efficient than those who don’t.

The average commute to and from between home and office consumes 3-4 hours a day or 15-20 hours a week, resulting in wastage of productive man-hours and energy. This is accompanied by the stress we endure. Car usage in India has been growing by leaps and bounds, and public transportation is practically running at full capacity. If only more companies offer remote working opportunities, the productivity and creativity will shoot up phenomenally. But the question arises – how do we clock hours?

However, one of the major disadvantages of telecommuting is that remote workers miss out on daily interactions in the office, which often results in employees feeling isolated and disconnected from the team and the company as a whole. So how can companies help their remote workers feel empowered and fully part of the team and company even though they’re not physically present? Video conferencing is the answer, and here are some of the ways it can impact companies and their remote workers:

• Video conferencing capabilities can drive telecommuting initiatives by optimizing collaboration.This growing trend is unsurprising, considering that one of the key advantages to video conferencing is enhanced employee performance despite geographically dispersed teams. While most workers use phone, email, and messaging to interact, 80 percent of communication is based on visual cues. Video conferencing allows for the best-quality interactions available next to in-person meetings. Therefore, as employees become more geographically displaced, there is an increased possibility of misunderstanding or reduced flow in exchange of information. Employees capable of participating in meetings over video have a better read on coworker expressions and are far more engaged. This allows them to make more accurate decisions than with any other mode of remote communication.
• Video conferencing helps strengthen virtual teams by helping remote employees integrate more easily into the group. That makes more meetings more productive, shortening cycle times and decision-making for a host of business processes and interactions.
• Like most other lines of business, HR departments are on tight budgets, trying to do more with less. They have fewer people and resources, and yet the challenges they face are increasing, especially as they must support a growing number of remote and mobile workers. By using video conferencing to roll out information on new policies and procedures, train employees on new software or business processes, announce company-wide information, and strengthen corporate bonds, HR can reach all their employees anytime, anywhere. All this can be accomplished without giving up the value of visual communications and without the need for costly and time-consuming travel.
• HR can also use video conferencing to significantly improve their online training. As the marketplace becomes more global and competitive, employees and partners must be well-educated, both to do their jobs efficiently and to make the most of new technology. Organizations must continually train their employees, as quickly as possible and regardless of where they are located in relation to the company or its training staff.
• As companies ramp up hiring, video conferencing can make the recruiting and hiring process much more effective, without increasing costs. Remote applicants can interview with multiple managers and potential colleagues, giving everyone a better idea of one another and whether the candidate is a good fit for the organization. Once they’re hired, new employees can use video conferencing to get up to speed on company policies and procedures and train on applications and processes.

Remote workers and the companies they work for need the benefits of video conferencing to overcome geographical barriers for everything from collaboration to training. Value-added resellers (VARs) that have clients with remote workers can demonstrate the benefits of adding video conferencing equipment, which will provide the VAR with steady  commercial, revenue from products and services, and contracts for professional services and maintenance agreements

source: https://yourstory.com; http://www.ingrammicroadvisor.com

Virtual Learning Environments seem like the perfect blend of efficiency and practicality for a generation accustomed to speaking over video call, learning via the internet, and expanding their lives beyond their locations–and who might well be headed for a partly or entirely telecommuting job. Attending a college lecture in the digital world involves the same process of information exchange as talking to a friend via Smartphone. Maybe it should become just as flexible.

In fact, if your college is willing to explore the flexibility video conferencing can provide, you can choose to attend class in person or from the refuge of your home as each day presents itself. Washed out from an all-night study session, sit in on that morning lecture from home. Wake up refreshed and replenished, take the walk down to class in person.

The modern office is rapidly changing into a flexible workplace where employees are free to put in their hours from whichever location best suits their professional and personal lives.  So, it stands to reason that college campuses are starting to put more resources into education through video conferencing.

The wide availability of video calling devices and platforms means students, young and old, shouldn’t have to exclusively attend classes in person. In fact, it may soon become essential that educational centers provide video conferencing options, because the coming Generation Z is the most technologically savvy bunch of students any professor ever encountered.

Shifting Between Education Realities

Students attending Lake Michigan College’s Virtual Learning Environment already have this choice between attending class in person or via video conferencing. They can switch between the two as the weather, work schedules, personal commitments, or just a flat tire dictate. Well, it’s not quite as efficient as that, since students at the community college still have to sign up for digital delivery, set up the necessary connection, and maintain something of a regular routine. The program, which was first delivered as a pilot back in 2015, is certainly a step in the right direction, a good example of a coming wave of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE for short).

Like all good VLEs, the Lake Michigan system uses the two-way nature of video conferencing to allow students and professors to see each other in person, speak to each other, and share their faces and computer screens with the entire class. From a webcam on their computer–and HD cameras have become an affordable industry standard in recent years–they can be heard as clearly from home, at work, or during their professional lunch break as they can in the lecture hall. The business world got there first, but at least some colleges are catching up.

Video Conferencing for Flexible Offices

Around 3.9 million Americans currently work from home at least half the time, an increase of more than 110% over the past decade. That growth is made possible by advances in video conferencing that have made it easier and cheaper to use, but it also reflects a change in culture. By working from home half the time, those telecommuting employees are, logic suggests, also coming into the office 2-3 days a week. That means companies have to accommodate these workers with a whole new vocabulary of equipment. This translates to the hot desks we mentioned earlier, which are unassigned desks shared between employees, as well as huddle rooms, small versatile rooms set up for quick, on-the-fly video conferencing, usually with offsite colleagues. More frequent telecommuting has also meant reassessing the qualities of good management, but these sometimes-in, sometimes-out employees have proven to be happier, more productive, and less likely to quit.

Would these benefits transfer to students given the opportunity to learn via remote, two-way communication? If major American corporations, such as Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Cisco, are able to adapt to the demands of a technologically-empowered workforce, then surely major educational institutes can do likewise to support students–especially when those students represent the most digitally advanced generation yet.

Educating through Video Conferencing for Generation Z

Generation Zers were born between 1995 and 2010, meaning the oldest members make up the majority of current college students. The group makes up a quarter of the U.S. population, and has been using computers since elementary school, smartphones since high school, and social media since they developed social skills (or since their parents gave the OK).

The Facebook they grew up with, and are starting to tire of, is a good example of how digital these young lives have become. The social media giant’s recent move into office collaboration with Workplace by Facebook, and its pioneering work in e-commerce, means it now has an interest in how you work, play, shop, dine, communicate, get your news, and more.

That seems to be how Gen Z works, too. So aren’t these students going to be drawn to educational facilities that can fit into that digital way of being? Doesn’t it stand to reason that they’ll want to slip between the digital and “real” worlds for their education, the same way they do in their social life?

Virtual Learning Environments seem like the perfect blend of efficiency and practicality for a generation accustomed to speaking over video call, learning via the internet, and expanding their lives beyond their locations–and who might well be headed for a partly or entirely telecommuting job. Attending a college lecture in the digital world involves the same process of information exchange as talking to a friend via smartphone. Maybe it should become just as flexible.

Source:www.vcdaily.com

What is Telemedicine? Telemedicine uses video conferencing and other telecommunication tools to deliver healthcare at a distance. It promises patients greater convenience and time saved. For medical clinics and hospitals, it delivers time, money, and resource savings. In rural areas with fewer medical facilities, telemedicine promises better healthcare for residents.

Telemedicine provides access to healthcare information and records, enables access to specialists, improves communication between doctors and patients, and helps professionals gather and share important health data.

Technology supports telemedicine

A number of technologies make telemedicine a practical reality. Video conferencing plays a key role, together with secure, low-cost mobile communications that support real-time collaboration through tablets and smartphones.

Video conferencing is available on mobile devices with a high-speed Internet connection and softphone, a software application. Because video conferencing reach any location with Internet access, a mobile collaboration between doctors and colleagues or doctors and patients can occur inside hospitals, medical centers, and anywhere in the country, even remote rural areas.

Healthcare professionals transmit data such as electronic records and other documentation securely. In addition to real-time video collaboration, doctors use recorded video content to support patient education, aftercare, and wellness programs in the community

Improving collaboration within hospitals

In hospitals, doctors and nurses frequently move between wards, visiting patients. To seek advice or collaborate with specialists, they connect and share patient information via the hospital’s internal wireless networks using smartphones or tablets.

Increasing access to specialists

To see and assess a patient over live video within minutes of arrival at the hospital. The faster a patient receives stroke treatment, the better chances they will recover without permanent disability. Video collaboration is accelerating ‘door to needle’ treatment by minutes, sometimes even hours, time-saving that could change a person’s life forever.

Changing the pattern of patient visits

As an alternative to a home visit, doctors may video or Web conference with patients with less mobile or medically unable to visit a health center. Doctors discuss the patient’s condition and recommend medication or treatment.

Remote monitoring systems grant access to critical patient data, like those with heart conditions or diabetes. This reduces home visits for routine assessments and provides timely alerts of changes in patients’ conditions that may require urgent attention.

Reducing hospital readmissions

Many hospitals find that readmissions put further pressure on their already limited resources. Although patients receive aftercare instructions before being discharged, when problems occur, patients are readmitted for further treatment or support. There are five areas that frequently lead to hospital readmissions:

• Hospitals creation and implementation of effective discharge plans.
• Patient non-compliance with medication and care instructions.
• Compromised follow-up care due to poor collaboration.
• Family caregivers not connected or informed to assist with care.
• Patient condition deteriorates and necessary care not accessed.

Video collaboration and content management solutions help hospitals to deal with these challenges.

To improve patient discharge plans, hospitals can offer live, collaborative video at the time of discharge. A live conversation ensures patients, caregivers, and family members participate in the creation of a discharge plan and fully understand what action to take as the patient returns home.

Hospitals may also create a video recording explaining the discharge plan for the patient and family. The information explains what to expect in a normal recovery, compared to symptoms that represent a risk to the patient.

If patients forget the care instructions or have difficulty with their medication, the hospital sends reminders via real-time video collaboration or a pre-recorded video library. This makes reviewing patient care easy.

As part of the recovery process, patients and caregivers benefit from the support of their assigned healthcare providers. They can have virtual access to their primary care physician, case manager, or other professionals via live video. These video follow-ups help long-term patients benefit from feeling connected to their continued care.

Video collaboration assists the patients’ family who may live outside the area but want to participate in the care process. Family members can participate in video calls to create home care plans, learn to recognize risks, and assist with communication.

If a long-term patient’s condition changes or deteriorates, video collaboration enables access to their care team without resorting to readmission. Real-time video interaction helps case managers, nutritionists, physical therapists, primary care physicians, and others adapt treatment plans as changes occur in health and behavior.

Improving access to rural healthcare

In remote areas with limited medical resources, telemedicine provides local doctors a higher standard of care for their patients. Besides the opportunity for virtual home visits, telemedicine gives local professionals access to specialists anywhere in the country.

Local doctors gain insight into cases and procedures beyond their own experience or skills. It assists the diagnosis of complex cases, even allowing surgeons to conduct complex procedures with live video under the direction of a remote expert.

Supporting preventative care in the community

Telemedicine is playing an important role in preventative medicine. As part of the National Prevention Strategy, video conferencing enables hospitals, clinics, health departments, community health centers, community colleges, and facilities like rehab centers and skilled nursing facilities to collaborate and provide community-based services that contribute to the health and wellness of the public.

In smoking cessation programs or alcohol and drug abuse prevention, community teams utilize pre-recorded educational content or hold live interactive video sessions. They hear from experts in the field and discuss issues with doctors and nurses as well as peers in the community who struggle with similar problems.

Changing attitudes

Despite the promise and recent accomplishments of telemedicine, barriers to its wider adoption remain. A study by The Economist Intelligence Unit found 49 percent of respondents believe patients would be concerned about the risk of data breaches.

Although video collaboration is capable of providing benefits throughout the healthcare industry, professionals must be aware of privacy issues. Any organization providing doctors, nurses, and other workers with remote access to patient data must ensure the security of data transmitted by video or other communication channels.

Some insurers refuse to support telemedicine due to increased costs for fewer perceived health benefits. And, State medical boards impose differing telemedicine laws and restrictions on doctors. Procedures for telemedical treatment are not standardized across State lines.

Looking to the future, telemedicine has the potential to transform the way doctors deliver care, promising improved treatment, and saving more than time and money

source:voipreport.com

Huddle room video conferencing is more than setting up a webcam and speakerphone in a small room. Why huddle rooms should be part of your collaboration strategy?

For decades, collaboration technology has been limited to larger, integrated, and expensive meeting rooms. But next generation workers, and the need for companies to complete on a global basis, will drive demand for collaboration solutions throughout the organization. Workforce is embracing a new way of working where connectivity, rich media and access to content across devices and locations are a given. Modular and flexible solutions allow teams to transform their works paces.  Over the next few years, advanced audio-visual and collaboration products and services will make their way into the millions of existing smaller meeting rooms (huddle rooms).

Video has only recently become a mainstream option for businesses. If your organization does not have a forward-looking video strategy, then you’re probably entrenched in legacy-based and hardware-based systems for dedicated use in a boardroom. Additionally, you’re probably thinking of video as a stand-alone application, rather than integrating it into a broader collaboration vision.

When considering today’s collaboration needs, video is far more pervasive and practical than conference room scenarios. While conference rooms are still important, huddle rooms have emerged as equally important for collaboration. Huddle rooms are typically smaller meeting spaces that suit different use cases and need to be part of your strategy, whether for video or your overall collaboration planning.

As workforce become more distributed, the need for collaboration becomes more important. Informal and ad hoc meetings are becoming more common, especially among small teams. Huddle rooms are ideal for this mode of working. To support that workflow with business-grade tools, you need to consider purpose-built video services. Video vendors are tuned into this shift in the market and now offer right-sized services for huddle room video conferencing.

There’s a big gap between costly telepresence systems for large groups and consumer-grade applications that anyone can grab from the web. Huddle rooms need to support serious collaboration — and that means having reliable connectivity, high-quality audio and video, full integration with other applications, a consistent user experience and, of course, ease of use. You can’t get that with a patchwork approach using somebody’s webcam and a noisy speakerphone, especially if two or more people are on the call.

Huddle rooms are ideal for those in-between video collaboration needs. If you’re adding huddle rooms as purpose-built collaboration spaces, you need to think strategically about the tools. Organizations have a wide range of video services to choose from based on cost and quality. You need to plan your video choices in tandem with planning for your huddle rooms. This strategic approach provides employees with a holistic service for small-scale collaboration. Once deployed, the benefits should be evident immediately.

Source:http://searchunifiedcommunications.techtarget.com/answer/How-do-huddle-rooms-fit-in-video-conferencing-strategies

Collaboration has undergone a major change since it moved out of the boardroom. It’s more democratic, available and affordable for every employee. It’s accessible from any location on any desktop or mobile device. And, it’s becoming an integral part of the workplace of the future.

Collaboration is successful when employees throughout the organization are able to easily interact, participate in projects, share ideas, and provide feedback to colleagues. To support this, they need easy-to-use channels of communication and a quality experience when they collaborate. That helps build a collaborative environment by engaging people and showing how collaboration can transform working practices.

While solutions like VoIP and Unified Communications (UC) offer many important collaboration features and services, it’s important to focus on how those features help employees to do their work more efficiently.

Recent findings from Avaya, including the Team Engagement Solution Survey, offer some useful insights. The survey helps to identify how much value collaboration solutions add and where they need to change.

Email lives on

One question produced surprising results. When businesses were asked which collaboration solution was most important for enabling employees to get work done, email topped the list at 91 percent.

Office suites at 47 percent were ahead of web conferencing at 38 percent and instant messaging at 35 percent. Respondents also ranked email as the top solution for ease of use at 83 percent with instant messaging not too far behind at 67 percent.

Although email is frequently written off as a solution of the past, the survey indicates that it remains an important part of the collaboration process.

Integration is essential

There was a strong indication from businesses that integration of communication and collaboration tools is important. In fact, 90 percent agreed it was important.

When asked about the importance of integrating collaboration tools with business applications such as customer relationship management (CRM) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, 78 percent of respondents were in favor.

However, opinion was divided over whether different types of collaboration tool work well together. For example, 51 percent of respondents felt that instant messaging and web conferencing were well integrated, while 49 percent felt they didn’t work together.

Collaboration solutions need more

The survey also asked businesses about their “wish lists” for collaboration. The most popular “must have” was a feature that supports screen sharing. That resonated with 95 percent of respondents.

Close behind with 92 percent was a solution that allows users to schedule meetings from their calendar apps. Integration with productivity tools like Microsoft Office or Google Docs was popular with 77 percent of respondents.

User experience improves ROI

The emphasis on driving team engagement through the right collaboration tools has a positive impact on ROI, according to Avaya.  52 percent of engaged employees say that work brings out their most creative ideas, helping to increase innovation and drive future growth.

The most-engaged workplaces experience 18 percent higher productivity and 12 percent higher profitability. Highly engaged employees are 87 percent less likely to leave, reducing recruitment costs and retaining skills and knowledge.

Source: http://thevoipreport.com