Virtual meeting rooms have been in use for a while now. But how much do you really know about them? And how can virtual tech help to make your everyday office meetings easier and more effective?
What Are Virtual Meeting Rooms?
Virtual meeting rooms are spaces that exist entirely within an online network, usually using a web browser. As the name suggests, they’re designed to emulate physical meeting room setups with respect to layout and equipment, but they do so from a distance without relying on logistics or permissions typically required to use physical room facilities.
In other words, virtual meeting rooms allow real-time collaboration from any location without needing specially designated broadcasting equipment. This is because the resulting video streaming is of a higher quality than more basic setups, offering users exceptional clarity of voice and on-screen content.
They can be used on their own or in conjunction with physical meeting room facilities that are already present within an office space, allowing both types of work to occur simultaneously on different devices if desired. Virtual meeting rooms are particularly useful for team meetings because they allow people to collaborate using any device. For example, employees might share laptops during a virtual video call while an employee not participating remotely is working away at the company’s main office location. Another option would have all participants viewing the same presentation at once via a centrally located monitor – no special equipment required.
Which Meetings Benefit From Using Meeting Rooms?
Virtual meeting rooms are ideal for sources of daily work meetings, such as weekly team meetings and biweekly staff updates. They’re also useful for meetings that include remote employees who would otherwise have to wait to watch a recording or rehash the proceedings at a later date. Virtual meeting rooms can be used effectively in a variety of other scenarios, including:
- Training sessions – Trainees can attend virtual training sessions from anywhere using any device.
- Informal discussions – Employees at different locations can place an informal call without worrying about conflicting schedules because they aren’t formally scheduled into their calendars.
- Cloud-based video calls – Remote workers that use cloud services (such as web apps built for employees to coordinate tasks and communicate, like Slack) can continue to do so without needing to take their attention away from the work at hand.
Workplace Collaboration Outside of Meetings
However, it’s not just during meetings that virtual meeting rooms can be useful for office workflow. They can also help employees collaborate throughout the work day in a range of other ways:
- Scheduling calls – When scheduling or rescheduling conference calls with remote or traveling employees, rather than sending emails back and forth multiple times trying to find an opening on everyone’s calendar (or having them all dial in via phone), workers can simply use the web app linked to the virtual meeting room. All team members will receive the link automatically, and the meeting can be scheduled within seconds.
- On-demand access – The meeting room can also be used for instant team meetings if need be (e.g., an ad hoc brainstorming session or an impromptu call to discuss a project). Because there’s no one physical location where all employees need to meet up at once, virtual rooms make it simple to hold impromptu sessions on demand via any device rather than creating additional physical space that requires more overhead.
Virtual Meeting Rooms vs Traditional Meeting Facilities: What Are the Benefits?
There are numerous positive aspects of virtual meeting rooms that allow them to stand as viable alternatives to traditional types of meeting facilities. These include:
- Portability – Because the video software is cloud-based, virtual meeting rooms can be accessed anywhere in the world with an internet connection. This means that they’re also more convenient than traditional facilities for employees who travel frequently or work remotely. They’re equally useful for employees who are working at times when it’s difficult to schedule a separate time on everyone’s calendar (e.g., late nights). Remote workers will also find them particularly advantageous since they don’t have to switch between their devices and physically locate themselves in one particular part of an office building in order to hold meetings.
- Making remote team members feel like they belong – Employees who aren’t able to attend physical meetings because of their location might feel left out of the decision-making process. Virtual meeting rooms can bridge this gap by offering them an easy way to participate in scheduled calls no matter where they are.
- Cost savings – An added benefit that many companies find attractive is that virtual meeting rooms require less overhead than traditional facilities do, since there’s no need for physical space or equipment. This provides a boost to your bottom line while also reducing unnecessary spending on common meeting room features such as wall paint, carpeting and furniture.
These are just some of the reasons why so many organizations have already adopted virtual meeting rooms as part of their office workflow. To learn more about how these solutions can be incorporated into your own operations, sign up with us , menetalk – leading business VoIP providers UK.
