When we discuss today’s business phone systems, we reference technologies much more advanced than the archaic receiver and a dial pad. Rather, modern phone systems have been rejuvenated by the integration of the Internet. For example, companies enjoy a myriad of phone system functions from instant messaging to receiving faxes on their personal devices when away from the office. But, perhaps the most disruptive contemporary phone system feature is web conferencing.

In fact, Frost & Sullivan’s 2014 report on the emerging trends in web conferencing states that, “Web conferencing is becoming a key business enabler that is connecting and engaging employees, customers and partners as never before.”

Now, web conferencing is a practical business tool that enables organizations to communicate more frequently and seamlessly with geographically disparate partners, colleagues and is even used to interview potential new hires. Case in point, web conferencing is an integral part of a business’s communication system, as companies that forgo this feature stand to face correspondence restrictions.

So what are the top trends that are making web conferencing a global business necessity? Let’s look closely into a few of them, such as:

Simpler product design

Web conferencing is easy to use and provides a more convenient avenue for holding international conferences or interviews. And, businesses that choose best-in-class unified communications (UC) providers that offer WebRTC-based Web conferencing experience the most expedient web conferencing experience. For example, with WebRTC integration conference organizers can initiate a meeting with a multitude of attendees by prompting their invitees to click a link which then creates a browser-to-browser conferencing session. In other words, users don’t need to download external clients or plug-ins to begin a meeting, rather, a session can initiate with a click of the mouse.

Unified experience

Web conferencing streamlines business communications as it integrates the advantages of an audio and video experience into one platform. Users can leverage a more comprehensive conferencing experience from remote locations that evokes the same feeling as a round table conference.  As such, organizations can increase their productivity levels by communicating more often and more effectively with their international partners and colleagues without drawbacks like travel expenses or downtime. What’s more, the adaptability of today’s business phone system technology enables individuals to gain access to their business’s UC tools from their personal devices. To this end, productivity levels are increased even further as web conferencing sessions aren’t restricted to the office, employees can also enter meetings from their mobile devices.

Feature-rich workspace

In addition to the virtual face-to-face forum web conferencing affords its users, best-in-class platforms also provide supplementary features to complete the experience. More specifically, file sharing capability, online whiteboards—a tool that enables users to type shareable notes within the web conferencing interface—and screen sharing enable a robust collaborative conference. Converging each of these collaborative tools enables businesses to simplify their communications and cover more ground in one session. For example, file sharing and screen sharing helps web conferencing users access each others’ documents in near real-time—almost as if the meeting were in person—making for an all encompassing meeting.

With web conferencing you can gain all of today’s most effective collaboration tools under one centralized platform. Do you want to know more about web conferencing? Find out how a range of industries are using it to improve their communications, here!