Member Article

More businesses must take note of live video

Facebook has Facebook Live, Twitter has Periscope, and Tumblr has Tumblr Live. The uptake of live video communication on social media platforms has transformed the way we communicate. Whether it is Prince Harry taking an HIV test, or Twitter showing live matches at Wimbledon - someone is streaming, and the world is watching.

Now that live video has been incorporated into our day-to-day lives, it’s becoming increasingly important for more employers to pick up on the trend and utilise it within the workplace. A recent BlueJeans’ Love Live report revealed 85% of employees use video communications as part of their personal lives; however, the same report also found that only 28% of these workers feel that their employers are proactively encouraging them to use video to communicate at work.

In an increasingly virtual world, and with employees favouring the use of new technologies and video within the workplace, why should more businesses embrace the video revolution?

Using the latest tech

Thanks to the consumerisation of technology the everyday employee is savvier than ever, a regular user of cutting edge hardware and online resources for personal use; they crave the ability to use these same tools in their working environment as revealed in the recent BlueJeans’ survey. Whether it’s an app such as WhatsApp, tool such as Google Docs, or live video service such as Periscope, workers understand how consumer focused applications can make big differences to their working day.

With technology playing an integral part to millions of consumers’ lives, it seems only natural that these tools are carried across to working environments. After all, generally speaking, people spend 40 hours a week at work. Innovative businesses, who want to empower their workforce and grow their company, must therefore look to the consumer sphere for technological guidance. With 63% of employees stating their company should incorporate better live video capabilities; this is a great place to start.

It’s time for flexible working

The rise of consumer applications and resources also gives workers the ability to work remotely without hindering their productivity. Flexible working is something which workers have increasingly demanded over the past few years, especially after the government developed its flexible working initiative in 2014. Thanks to advances in live video technology, this can now be made a reality.

Businesses have often argued that remote workers lose that ‘face to face’ connection with colleagues. Thanks to live video however, the human factor, something which is so important in modern business, is not hindered. With the right video capabilities in place colleagues and customers can engage anywhere, anytime, without losing the all-important personal approach.

Flexible working also ensures a productive work-life balance for workers, this has the potential to influence positive cultural change across the whole business and of course keep workers happy. A failure to implement such initiatives will leave employees looking for workplace alternatives.

Live Video: A portal to the globe

With all the major social networks having implemented live video technology, it is an obvious step for businesses to start looking at such platforms for their business interests. The adaptability of video technology and the boundaries which it allows businesses to break down means meetings are no longer restricted by time or location. When working on a project, the right talent from across the globe can be brought together to create the best teams for the job. Need to connect your IT specialist in San Francisco with your marketing team in London? No problem. Live video makes this “face to face” connection painless.

The opportunities are rife when it comes to video collaboration and 72% of employees feel that live video is set to play a useful role in the next two years. With 36 per cent wanting to see live video used more than other methods such email (27 per cent), instant messaging (26 per cent) and phone calls (24 percent), employees believe it will create stronger relationships and even reduce the volume of daily emails.

As the world becomes even more connected, the live video trend will continue to increase, so will the speed in which news is disseminated across the globe. As more organisations continue to embrace live video, it has the potential to transform the workplace, increase collaboration and efficiencies, save time, and reduce costs to both individual employees and businesses as a whole. It also helps position brands as tech-savvy, forward thinking, innovators. It will be interesting to see how live video developments in the consumer world will infiltrate businesses over the next few years – some are already predicting Facebook Live will take over as the “world’s live news network”.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by James Campanini .