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The Next Best Thing To Being There 

No doubt you have heard the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words". More than likely you also have experienced the reality of the fact that 55 percent of communication is determined by nonverbal cues - namely tone of voice and body language. Noticeably absent from email and written forms of communication, these elements give us critical clues to the true natue of what another person is communicating. The power and significance of personal communication is undebateable. As important as it is however, getting face-to-face can simply be impossible at times.

The proposition of telepresence is to technologically produce the feeling of being present at a location other than where we physically are. Video conferencing is a simple, yet powerful example. Applications for video conferencing abound across a broad user spectrum from simple two-party PC-based conversations using a webcam and your laptop, to a remote classroom presentation, or a multisite multimedia interactive collaboration. Each one has its specific set of challenges and benefits but shares the common goal of facilitating face-to-face communication.  

Some commonly reported benefits from businesses using video conferencing are:

• Reduced travel time, stress and expense
• More efficient allocation of resources
• Accelerated decision making
• Increased productivity across dispersed workforces
• More accurate conveyance of information and ideas

How many times have you picked up the telephone and called someone to either confirm and/or clarify a series of email messages? Or sent document attachments with the email to illustrate an idea or product? Did the attachments make it past the email security? Then do you finally follow these initial communications with “we need to get together to go over this in detail”? The power of video conferencing will dramatically streamline this process.  

As an alternative, imagine that you place a video conference call with the same ease and convenience as making a telephone call. During the conference you present a video clip of a new marketing idea and chart a proposed schedule and cost table from your PC desktop. From their smile you know your idea was received well. After making changes to the schedule from their desktop, the campaign receives approval with a nod. 

This illustrates a potential real-life application of using video conference technology to improve the way we communicate in business. The two people in the example could have as easily been a group of ten, twenty, or more. They might have been in different areas of the same building, across town or around the globe. Locale does not dictate presence. Video conferencing overcomes physical boundaries to personal interaction.