5 Trends Influencing Teleconferencing

March 30, 2020

As said before, having efficient internal communications means the need for an equally efficient solutions for teleconferencing. Likewise, it’s equally essential to know the technologies and trends that shape teleconferencing as we know it for the coming years. As quoted in a Frost & Sullivan study for the Workplace of 2025;  “Key technologies are playing a crucial role in unleashing the full power of the new workplace, such as unified communications and collaboration, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, video conferencing solutions, huddle rooms, and advanced headsets”. On that note, here are 5 trends influencing teleconferencing to keep in mind:

Mobile-First Design

In 2018 alone, 52.2% of all global web traffic was via mobile phones. This is testament to how the emergence of powerful, affordable and reliable smart phones has shifted the attention of the entire world towards mobile. This particular smartphone revolution should not be taken lightly, as it will continue to drive the growth of video and audio conferencing services. Teleconferencing therefore needs to be founded on a mobile-first design to begin with. Right from opening the app, MultiCall  lets you carry out your group call in just three steps:

• Download the app onto your phone, either from the App Store or Google Play Store.
• Register your details
• Validate them with OTPs.

And with that, you are good to go!

Simple & Aesthetic User Experience

There was a time when only the tech-savvy individuals could operate the latest offerings in  technology. But now, more than ever,  a simpler and more aesthetically pleasing interface is a key metric or teams (virtual or physical) to consider prior to agreeing and acquiring a web conferencing service. This is asserted especially considering a more intuitive user experience being a major factor in considering a solution. The conferencing tools that are made available to the company’s employees should be well designed to meet the needs in its purpose, performance and price.

In the process, even complete beginners should be able to adapt easily to the technology. This is also asserted considering that customer awareness & product knowledge is constantly on the rise; specially in how it adds value for them. In order to minimize training costs, Virtual teams will look to simpler and more aesthetically pleasing interfaces prior to purchasing a web conferencing service. MultiCall has tutorials on operating each aspect of the app, as seen in the manner of the walkthroughs below. You can also understand more about how our app works in this video here .

Connecting VoIP to PSTN

In order to understand this particular trend clearly, the concepts of VoIP and PSTN need to be clearly defined. Also called IP telephony, Voice over Internet Protocol essentially is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice and multimedia communications via Internet Protocol networks, such as the Internet. PSTN, or Public Switched Telephone Network by contrast, refers to the combination of the world's circuit-switched telephone networks that are operated by national, regional, or local telephone operators, in the process providing infrastructure and services for public telecommunication. Due to the multiple benefits that it offers over PSTN, VolP has been on the rise as a solution for conferencing calls.

This includes but is not limited to:

• • Scalability: This is important keeping in mind the need of having a communication solution that can accommodate for large teams to carry out teleconferences during remote working.

• • Remote Working: The lockdowns imposed worldwide means that whole companies are continuing to work fully remote; pressing the need for a reliable medium that can rapidly transmit information of all sorts and size.

• • Installation Costs: Minimal equipment required for setup and data usage (usually the user’s own equipment and provider), accordingly means lesser cost for setting up a conferencing solution.

• • Analytics: Real-time monitoring is vital for companies to monitor their services usage with 100% control and efficacy on their spending.

And yet, we have seen at times like the present situation when working from home that having a functional high-speed network may not always be possible. The result of running on VoIP alone therein may pose a problem due to conferencing quality being occasionally compromised, and PSTN consequently takes greater preference due to reliability. The more appropriate solution therefore would be to have a solution that bridges VoIP and PSTN, bringing the best of both communication worlds, and their benefits. And MultiCall is one such solution; bridging VoIP to the point of data usage only required to initiate the call, while bringing a voice call sound quality that is on par with that of PSTN’s , if not better.

Companies using Multiple Conferencing Solutions

With the speed and capability of computers growing exponentially, and the costs of the same halving, businesses are able to implement effective strategies for more efficient internal communications, and have created myriad innovations of various audio, video, file sharing and collaborative solutions. Services, however are offered by different providers, leading to firms using multiple conferencing providers at a time. With VoIP having the capabilities; increasingly necessary to allow for your phone service to easily integrate with other software to improve efficiency and to ease overall use. MultiCall able to integrate directly with phone to utilize user’s own personal contacts to group call.

File Sharing and Collaborative Workspace

Aspects such as file-sharing and collaborative work space are elements that conferencing services will have to take in order to further mature their products, and better tailor them for the office of the future. This also means that they should be able to make information searchable, digestible and available at the ready. The growth of fields such as 5G and cloud computing are to be monitored toward facilitating the implementation of said trend.

Consequently, like with teleconferencing itself, the trends’ effectiveness in influencing also evolve based on disruptions and the various businesses’ needs. And so, commit, disrupt and reach more now at MultiCall.

“I'm a great believer that any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each other, and how they can achieve the kind of freedoms that they're interested in.”  -Bill Gates