This morning I came in at 7 a.m. There were four of us in a room using a videoconferencing unit, and there were six of the Japanese and three of the Europeans in their rooms. Considering the cost of international flights for 13 people, for some companies, videoconferencing makes sense. While videoconferencing may be perfect for an international conglomerate like Sony, where huge groups of people have to be addressed multiple times a week, for a 30-employee company in Delaware whose employees fly to Boston once or twice a year for customer meetings, it is likely a waste of money. The bottom line is that meeting-room tools should enhance the kinds of meetings your company regularly holds.
Projectors tend to offer something for just about every business presentation or meeting.
A document camera, while in many instances a valuable collaborative tool, may not be suitable for most. Consider the results of your meetings. While not a panacea, meeting technology can help companies keep in pace with presentation tools and let meeting participants work more quickly and efficiently as a group. Paul Pirner is an associate editor for AV Avenue.