Elements to Consider When Choosing a Video Conferencing Service for Your Small Business

Video conferencing services are becoming more and more important for your small businesses. For many small businesses, video conferencing is one of the best ways to organize things when employees and managers work in different places. Here are a few things to think about when trying to find the best video conferencing option for your small business.

1. Free Trial Options

If you want to make sure you have the best option for your company, you’re probably going to want to take the software out for a trial run before you upgrade. See what the limitations are on the software’s free trial; you may even find that the free trial works fine for meetings in general.

2. Price for the Full Version

Once you decide to upgrade to the full version, you want to know how you’re going to pay for it. Whether it’s a monthly fee, a one-time fee, or it’s bundled with a different subscription service, consider how expensive the upgrade is and what it gets you.

3. Screensharing Options

Screensharing is an important part of many companies’ meetings, so if you’re going to use a specific video conferencing service, it’s a good idea to check and see how it handles screensharing. Some options, like Ooma Meetings, may offer screensharing for more than one person at a time as well.

4. Requirements for Participation

How can you join a meeting that someone sets up with one of these products? Most of the time, the product will require that you download their software to join, although some options, like Cisco Webex, allow users to join via phone call. If you have many employees that aren’t very tech-savvy, these options may be hugely beneficial.

5. Integrations With Other Products

Some well-known video conferencing services offer integrations with other products that can be very beneficial if your company already functions with many of those products. For example, if you use GSuite or general Google tools for your company, you might want to consider Google Meet; if you use Outlook and Microsoft Office, you might want to try Microsoft Teams.

6. Business-Oriented Options

Some products are more oriented toward person-to-person discussions, while some are more about business opportunities. Zoom, for example, allows you to stream to hundreds of people at once, but there are no calendar options or ways to schedule recurring appointments. If you’re looking for a small business video conferencing tool, you might want to lean more toward tools like Ooma Meetings or Microsoft Teams for business-focused options.

Conclusion

There are many things you might want to consider when you’re thinking about what video conferencing service you’re going to use for your small business. At the end of the day, there are so many services because everyone wants something different. There isn’t necessarily a “best service” for everyone – your best service will depend completely on what elements you need in your video conferencing service, so make sure you look into a variety of options.