The Four most Rocking Trends in Video Conferencing Technology of 2017

October 3rd, 2017 by ali No comments »

Cloud, software-based Codecs, less costs, mobile video conferencing: this is the mantra that has been echoing in the world of video conferencing throughout the whole year

2017 is going to end. So, an obvious question is what the big trends in video conferencing have been this year?  What has been changing in this technology that has grown up as fast as more than 20% on a yearly basis up to now?

More cloud-based platforms

The cloud technology could not but disrupt even video conferencing. Not surprisingly, in 2017 there has been a mushrooming of cloud-based products and solutions, like exTalks. The pros of clouds are high and fast scalability and easy integration between multiple media like messaging, remote collaboration, emailing etc. The risks are much concerned with sensitive and private data security, as it is necessary to rely upon third parties.

Software-based Codecs

Hardware-based Codecs are dedicated chips that encode and decode a digital video stream. Once upon the time, they were the only guarantee of a high quality video conferencing service; today, they are regarded as devices that limit customization and create some platform compatibility issues.

This is the reason why the market has shifted to software-based Codecs. They offer a higher level of flexibility and cost much less, without penalizing performances.

Much more cost-effectiveness

Expensive video conferencing hardware is dead. Solutions like R-HUB`s TurboMeeting (http://www.rhubcom.com) assure users small, silent, highly performing  video conferencing servers that need no dedicated IT team and are fully plug and play devices. The utilization of the on-premises technology means the top in terms of data security, while the adoption of a flat policy license allows TurboMeeting users to add up to 3000 participants per chat room at a time.

Have your video conferences even on your mobile

The number of people that wish to attend video conferences through their tablets and mobiles is on the increase. This is the reason why every producer has launched a version of its video conferencing product even for iPhones, Android and any sort of smart phones. Yet, mobile video conferencing has not yet become the mainstream. Undoubtedly, there are still some technical issues; however, the spreading of IP network gives us reason to hope.

In conclusion, clouds, software-based codecs, cost-effectiveness and mobile video conferencing are the four leading trends of this year. It is too early to say what is going on next year, but probably most of these trends will get on in the future. We will see.

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Cloud or On-Premise Video Conferencing? The pros and cons of two Deployment Models

October 2nd, 2017 by ali No comments »

Both cloud and on-premise video conferencing have advantages and disadvantages, and your specific needs heavily impact on which model would fit your business. In general, on premises deployment is better for organizations that need a high level of data security, while clouds are fir for startups and organizations with low budget and high expectations of fast scaling up

The time to choose the right video conferencing technology for your organization has come along, and you cannot decide between cloud and on-premises deployment. Undoubtedly, it is not an easy choice, as these technologies are not a fit for every kind of business. Therefore, it is important to understand what they both can offer before purchasing.

Cloud video conferencing means fast scaling up and low initial budget

Clouds are great options for small organizations with low budgets that expect to grow fast, as scaling up is very easy and convenient in this deployment model.  Additionally, server providers have got able to offer video conferencing services that are comparable in terms of quality to on-premises, thank s to the combination of inexpensive bandwidth and last year storage advancements.

One disadvantage of cloud is the limited number of simultaneous users for each call, usually 25 -50. This could create an issue for some kinds of businesses. Consider that an on premises server based technology like R-HUB`s TurboMeeting (http://www.rhubcom.com) allow you to host much more guests per call, up to 3000.

Another tricky aspect of clouds is data safety. Clouds are necessarily managed by third parties, and the risk that unauthorized people can have access to your most private data is real. Then, it is important to carefully check the data security protocol of your provider.

On premise video conferencing means full control and more power

The great advantage of this deployment model is that everything is under your control. No process is then passed to third parties, which enables the top level of data security. This technology is then particularly fit for risk-adverse organizations like governments or financial institutions.

Another advantage is that on premise servers are more powerful and allow much more simultaneous users than clouds. This is important when the times come along to give webinars, for example, an event that could have a potentially unlimited number of attendants.

The disadvantages of on premises deployment are its costs which are higher than cloud based solutions. However, today’s web conferencing solutions have brilliantly addressed these issues. Coming back to our previous example, TurboMeeting servers are fully plug and play devices that are remotely maintained and updated by the manufacturer.

As an effect, you do not need to hire any devote IT team any more.  The price of a server of this suite does not exceed 2000/2500$ depending on the model, and R-HUB`s flat license policy allows you to add as many participants as you wish to any call without paying extra money for additional licenses.

In conclusion, both deployment forms assure you the best in terms of HD video quality and cost-effectiveness today. Yet, on premises server based solutions guarantee a higher data safety.

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3 Easy and Effective Tips to Successfully Manage Remote Teams

September 21st, 2017 by ali No comments »

Working with remote teams is different from working with ordinary teams, as a lot of things can go wrong. Miscommunication due to the lack of face-to-face interactions, misaligned goals and issues caused by different time zones can fatally lead to failure and frustrate weeks and weeks of hard labor.

It is then advisable to comply with some best practices that have been worked out by some business experts of digital team management. Therefore, we have listed below 3 very effective tips to successfully manage a remote team.

Technology first

It is difficult to manage remote workers without the right technology. It is not only a matter of HD definition; consider, for example, the problem of remote real time collaboration: the delay of frames during a conference call can be so much disturbing that participants prefer to hung up and withdraw on a traditional text chat.

In that case, you won’t be able to utilize that stunning presentation you devoted a whole day to prepare, to share screens or record your conference.

This is the reason why it is important to opt for professional video conferencing tools like R-HUB`s TurboMeeting (http://www.rhubcom.com) , a suite of video conferencing servers that assures fast and seamless streaming with very low delay, high quality image definition, crisp audio and all the necessary tools to engage your audience, like file sharing and polling.

Other reliable video conferencing solutions that are commonly used by organizations are GoToMeeting and Cisco Web Conferencing.

Stay on schedule

Delay or anticipate a virtual meeting is not as easy as you can expect. Remember that people are not physically there. So, you cannot constrain them to wait for some few minutes, and they could react to the new of a delay by missing the conference.

This happens quite often, especially when there are problems connected with different time zones, as distant worker have more difficulties in rearranging their daily time schedules than ordinary office workers.

Stick to your original plan

Dana Fox, Director of Global Customer Success at Athena Software, says that it is important “to clock the conversation and anticipate the transition for the next topic to make the shift easy and natural.” A good way to help people to keep focused is to state the length, the purpose and the possible outcomes of the conference or the individual speech at the beginning.

Make an agenda and stick to it once you have got it across to your team, as people do not welcome sudden changes of plans. Last, remember that you are the leader. Therefore, try to avoid deviations from each individual points set in your agenda.

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How to get a Promotion as a Remote Worker

September 20th, 2017 by ali No comments »

Five simple and easy tricks to effectively stand out in a workplace and get your boss`s attention

Remote workers wish to climb up the social ladder, like everybody on the planet. However, standing out in a virtual workplace is trickier than in a physical office. The traditional strategies and practices must be adapted to the specific conditions of the digital world that is characterized by distance and global competition.

However, the golden rule for standing out in digital workplaces is the same as physical offices. Be hardworking, and attract your boss’ attention on the fact that you are that way. What makes the difference is how. These five tips will help you to attract attention in a digital workplace.

Help your colleagues

Ask their questions, or, even better, help them actively through a tool like R-HUB`s web conferencing server (http://www.rhubcom.com ) that allows you to work collaboratively by sharing files, documents, and screens. This strategy will make you the person that your colleagues call or think of when in need or in troubles. The result is that your name will be one of the first to come up to your boss mind, when it is time to appoint a team leader.

Have a short meeting every day to update your team

Most remote workers keep the set of mind of traditional office workers. Therefore, they would like to go back to the past. A good idea to create a work environment that reminds the old meetings around the desk of the boss is to have a video conference every day to hand out possible updates and address possible challenges.  This is quite easy with tools like R-HUB`s TurboMeeting that ensure HD video conferences that resemble pretty much the reality under the profiles of both the quality of images and the crispness of sounds.

Use extra time to improve your skills

Remote workers do not have to commute, which means a great time saving. Employ this extra time on professional training or studying your matter of expertise. Do networking on socials like LinkedIn and join the group of discussions of your industry, in order to enlarge your professional network.

Propose new opportunities to your boss

Many organizations do not have a leadership program and welcome bottom-top proposals. Schedule a video conference with your boss on new potential projects periodically. TurboMeeting have many features and tools to make a video conference an engaging event, like screen and file sharing, polling, raising hands , and others. You will discover that a video conference can be even better than a real meeting thanks to TurboMeeting much functionality.

Reflect on your behavior

Showing respect to your colleagues and your boss is the key, as there is a big difference between a proactive person and a tyrant. Try to understand where the line lays. TurboMeeting recording function can be helpful, as it enables you to review a registered conference the day after and reflect on your behavior and your way to communicate.

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Some few little Tricks to build trust over Video when using TurboMeeting

September 18th, 2017 by ali No comments »

Researches give evidence that video conferences are slightly less effective than real in-person contact in building trust. According to a study of the University of Michigan, video conferencing comes second in the descending list of the effective forms of communication for building trust, while in-person contact still holds the first place.  The worst result is for text-messaging and emailing which stand in the far four position. Audio conferences fall half-way, by positioning themselves in the limbo of the third position.

What is there behind these results? It seems that the main problem with communicating and building trust is the loss of information that is implied in the usage of these media. For example, both visual and audio communication gets fatally lost in text-chatting. Unfortunately, some important data like the tone, inflection, peaks and accents of voice, the facial expression of the speaker, his possible frowning, and any other facial movements, are basilar pieces of information for our brains, in order to decide whether our interlocutors deserve our trust or not. In their researches, Gill and Gergle found out the importance of eyecontact. When it is poor, the result is more labored conversations and difficulties in turn-taking.

An effective strategy to tackle with these issues is to compensate the loss of information that is implied in video conferencing in some way. When using TurboMeeting for video conferencing, it is then important to follow some few best practices that have been developed expressly for this purpose. First, it is obviously important to keep eye contact with your interlocutor in order to avoid seeming untrustworthy. But there are others.

1 – Smile. Not only does smiling increase life expectancy, but it also affects trust, as it induces positive feelings. Some tests have been made about a possible link between trust and genuine smiling. The results are positive: it is proved that actually smiles increase trust.

2 – Walk or move your arms. Professor Erin Meyers advices that walking or moving your arms can improve the sound of the message, as it helps to regain “the interpersonal or persuasive edge” that is often lost through the video medium.

3 – Use more explicit verbal assents and positive emotion words. According to the researches of Gill and Gergle, this is a quite effective way to show willingness to cooperate that is used by conference groups.

4- Provide a work-style/personality profile. According to a group of scientists (Rusmann et al) , this trick speeds up the process of assessing trustworthiness.

If you are interested in virtual workplaces and the new techniques to manage distant teams, you are going to find further resources on R-HUB`s blog at http://www.rhubcom.com. It is also possible to enjoy a free trial period of 30 days of R-HUB`s video-conferencing products like TurboMeeting.

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