The Casual Tech

The internet has brought so many great innovations into our lives, both personally and professionally. When we lived overseas on military assignment in the late 90’s, many of our colleagues spent hundreds of dollars per month on telephone bills because the rates to call back to the United States were so high. We avoided those costs because we took advantage of web conferencing to stay in contact with our friends and family back home. Not only did we not have to pay outrageous sums of money to stay in touch, we also were able to see our loved ones since we utilized video capabilities as well.

It turns out we were ahead of our time back then, as we learned from our business associates once we came back stateside and left the military behind for the business world. When I had my first web conference at work, I was already very familiar with the technology and the software, which went a long way towards impressing my boss. It led to me organizing and leading many web seminars for our department when we communicated with vendors.

The same cost benefits that we experienced while living overseas are being realized by the business world today when they take advantage of this technology. Web conferencing means no airfare, gas, toll, hotel or other travel related costs and no long distance phone call rates. Even when commuting with a few people, travel expenses can sky rocket – and how frustrating that must be when the result of a visit does not end in a sale. Smart companies are regularly using web conferencing as a means to connect with potential customers while paying close attention to the bottom line. If the meeting doesn’t result in a sale, much less is lost.

Have you taken advantage of web conferencing either personally or professionally? What were your experiences with it? Mine have been mostly positive – I’d be interested to hear your views.