When you compare the amount of time your employees are spending coordinating meetings and video conferences to that of actually accomplishing their job functions, you will be shocked to discover how much time they are devoting to the meeting scheduling process. There are two key reasons for this:

• A majority of meetings have to be rescheduled or cancelled
• They are relying on outdated, manual methods

Since a majority of meetings are rescheduled or cancelled, the chance for scheduling errors is much greater than ever before, especially if manual methods are being utilized. This makes it even more important to have a scheduling solution in place that virtually eliminates the chance for errors. Investing in scheduling software that is fast and easy-to-use enables employees to schedule, reschedule, cancel or make changes to an existing meeting without taking too much time away from their day will save you money and enable them to be more productive. What type of scheduling solution provides you with everything you need and fits even the tightest budget – web-based!

With web-based scheduling software in place you invest a little and gain a lot. A web-based scheduling solution provides the flexibility, scalability and mobility needed in today’s hectic and constantly shifting business environment. It is the most cost effective way to provide everyone in your company with access to a centralized location where they can address all their scheduling needs and facilitate any additional services that might be needed – catering, AV, security, etc. – for a meeting or video conference. A robust and comprehensive scheduling solution is one of the best investments any organization can make and since web-based scheduling software scales up or down depending on the needs of a company, it is able to fit into your budget.

Administrative Assistants are usually responsible for scheduling meetings, video conferences and events.  This typically takes hours out of this person’s day and interferes with other tasks that need to get done.  They have to check the schedules and calendars of all the participants, secure a meeting location based on the requirements and parameters provided, and arrange for any additional services – catering, a/v equipment, parking passes, security badges, etc. – that might be needed.  The coordination of multi-venue conferences is even more time consuming and can take days to arrange.  If anything changes at the last minute, or after a meeting has been set, the meeting coordinator will have to start the scheduling process all over.  This amounts to time wasted and money lost.  Scheduling meetings and events is important, but it should only take minutes – not hours or days.  You might be asking, is this even possible?

Yes, when you implement scheduling software that allows your company to automate the scheduling process.  Automating the scheduling process ensures that nothing will be missed.  Not all scheduling solutions are created equal, and not all of them allow you to automate the scheduling process.  A few important features to look for:

• Anywhere, anytime access from multiple entry points
• A centralized, customizable dashboard
• Every step of the process is on one screen
• Disseminates the proper information to the proper individuals
• You can create and manage templates making the scheduling process even faster

The right scheduling software will have all of these features and more, plus it will make coordinating meetings and video conferences easier and faster – and it will save your organization time and money.

Before you can implement a successful UC strategy, you must first define what unified communications is and how it will bring your team and your customers together. Unified Communications is the art of uniting people from anywhere around the world through collaboration tools accessible from any device at anytime. UC is comprised of several “real-time” collaboration tools such as instant/text messaging, team sites, file sharing capabilities and video conferencing. Remember that employees want to use technology and tools that will allow them to get their work done faster, better and more collaboratively. Since there are several options available for each of these technologies and tools, a workforce provisioning analysis should be conducted prior to finalizing which programs everyone will be required to utilize. This step is particularly important for small to mid-size companies that do not maintain a dedicated office space and are less likely to maintain a Virtual Private Network (VPN). After evaluating and establishing the tools you will be using to communicate on a regular basis, make sure everyone understands how to use them. If the tools selected are not easily understood they will not be used – remember tools that are intuitive are tools that will get used. If training is required for certain tools, make it a team building event that everyone needs to attend and learn together.

With collaboration tools in place that everyone understands and utilizes to communicate with one another, meeting on a regular basis to address individual roles and responsibilities is important. Whether it’s daily, weekly or monthly – meeting with your team is a must! Thanks to the ability to hold a video conference or coordinate a centralized meeting venue for in-person meetings, scheduling your team’s regular meeting should be easy. And, during your regular team meetings you will witness firsthand how dedicated and hardworking your employees really are.

Creating and cultivating a virtual team that understands your business, customers and the tools available to them will deliver the best results. Since every individual in your team is compelled to prove his or her worth to you and the team, you can be confident you will be getting the best from everyone. With everyone on your virtual team communicating, collaborating and working together as if they were in one location, your company is now “humming” and you can be confident your clients’ concerns and deadlines will be met in a timely fashion.

The same unified communications and collaboration tools should be utilized to connect and communicate with your clients. By providing a means of open communication, your clients will see you as agile, flexible, adaptable and attentive to their needs and will look forward to working with you. Remember, a winning UC program is one that is carefully thought out, developed and easy to utilize by everyone involved – you, your team and your clients.

In the business environment, we have trimmed our budgets, traveling only when necessary and learning to do more with less. By utilizing video conferencing tools to bring people together and keep projects on track you are equipping your business with the tools necessary to succeed in today’s competitive market. The use of video conferencing also allows you to be attentive to your client’s deadlines and increasing the productivity of your employees. Clients appreciate when you are available to meet with them at a moment’s notice, even when you are on the go. Addressing last minute changes or concerns quickly, and face-to-face, ensures the issues in question are understood by all parties and will be properly resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.

Employees that telecommute or travel frequently will also appreciate using video conferencing as a means of meeting with you, fellow team members and clients face-to-face. Traveling to meet with clients’ in-person can be not only expensive and time consuming; it can also bring unexpected challenges such as: bad weather layovers, flight cancellations, missed connections, etc. In the past if any of these traveling challenges had been encountered, meetings would have to be rescheduled or cancelled, but that is no longer the case. Now when such challenges are encountered executives or sales representatives can contact clients and apprise them of the situation and request to hold a video conference instead. Video conferencing is a versatile, flexible and adaptable tool that allows everyone in you organization to be accessible and productive no matter where they are located.

Not only can the use of video conferencing increase productivity, it can also decrease your organization’s carbon footprint. According to Friends of The Earth, air travel is the fastest growing source of the greenhouse gases leading to climate change. When you chose to hold a video conference vs. traveling to hold an in-person meeting, you are not only saving time and money you are also helping to save the planet.

As the cost of traveling continues to rise and environmental concerns are brought to the forefront, companies are starting to engage video conferencing more than ever before, both as a cost-effect way to conduct meetings and increase their green sustainability efforts. By conducting videoconferences vs. in-person meetings, you can actually meet with more clients, business colleagues and mobile employees making your day more productive.

Traveling on a regular basis is still a necessity for some in the corporate world, making it extremely difficult to stay abreast of everything going on back at the office. And for C-level executives, it can be extremely hard to meet with the sales team or an important client at moment’s notice while traveling to meet with another client. Traveling hinders collaboration and makes addressing a client’s needs quickly almost impossible. If those same C-level executives had access to a scheduling app that offered dual capabilities – that of scheduling a meeting or video conference and the ability to launch meetings or video conferences automatically – being able to connect instantly with the sales team, his or her colleagues or clients at a moment’s notice would no longer be a hindrance. They would actually be able to accomplish more. The ability to stay connected with your co-workers, colleagues and clients while you are on the go ensures an opportunity is never missed.

Companies, enterprises and small business with mobile workforces are already demanding more from the mobile devices they use to get the job done. Among these tools are meeting scheduling apps for these mobile devices. There are several scheduling apps on the market that allow you to arrange a time and place to meet. However, for companies that employ a mobile workforce and corporate executives that travel often, these types of scheduling apps are limiting. They allow you to do one thing, schedule a meeting. Solution: a scheduling app that does it all. If you have an app that not only schedules meetings and video conferences, but also has the ability to launch them automatically – imagine how much more you would be able to accomplish while on the go.