Although 22 % of workers could work from home, only 7.5 % of the total did so last year. In reality, we could all be adopting this remote work modality. Reasons? We live through crises that require us to maintain physical distance, or there are family situations or exceptional moments that prevent us from moving, and we want to stay connected. Reality has shown that we are not prepared: in Spain, 33.5 % of workers say they do not know how to handle basic digital work environments. Also dioceses, churches, educational institutions, professionals from many sectors (doctors, lawyers, consultants, etc.) face the challenge of moving their meetings or classes to a live online format.
Your benefits
You will reduce your travel costs. You will use time to your advantage. You will focus your attention on the problems to be solved and not on secondary issues. You will have the opportunity to invite more people to contribute value to the conversation, such as other members of the organization or specialists who otherwise would not attend. You will create a faster and more efficient exchange of ideas.
Some disadvantages
If you do not have adequate internet speed, you will have connectivity problems. You will need to have a budget for the hiring of the tool, if you choose a paid option.
Videoconferencing is making teleworking possible among professionals around the world, changing the work systems and routines of millions of companies. These are some of the most outstanding:
Google Meet. It is free and paid, created by Google for companies and educational centers. It allows you to create group video calls for meetings, conferences or webinars. Supported participants range from 100 to 250, depending on the payment plan. It allows you to record the meeting, which will be automatically saved in Google Drive along with the chat transcript file. A computer with an internet connection, a mobile device or a phone is all that is needed to use it.
Microsoft Teams. To use it, the organizer must have a licensed Office365 account. It is based on Groups Office365, and allows collaboration between people in the same team or developing a specific project, sharing resources; its main function is constant communication between team members. It has chat and recording of the meeting, and allows screen sharing. Other people from outside the team can be invited to the meetings. Teams.
Skype. It is well known, but ... did you know that Microsoft has revealed that it will leave us on July 31, 2021? What's more, as early as September 1, 2019, new Office365 customers incorporate as an app. Teams, and it is not possible to activate Skype for Business.
Cisco Webex. It is a secure cloud-hosted collaboration platform that provides a robust and scalable suite of audio, video and web conferencing products. It includes advanced artificial intelligence functionalities. Its secure platform protects user information without compromising features such as secure search and compliance with corporate security policies for shared and stored content.
GoToMeeting. It is a pay-per-use application, created for conferences and meetings. It supports conferences of up to 250 participants, who can connect via the Internet or by phone/tablets. The meeting organizer can share his entire screen or choose only a specific application. Like almost all platforms, it allows the session to be recorded and exported.
GoToWebhttps://global.gotowebinar.com/inar is a fee-based webinar platform, created for webinars, up to a total of 3,000 participants who can connect via the internet or phone/tablets, both iOS and Android. It is focused on webinars.
Zoom. It is one of the most popular options. It works in an intuitive way, making it user-friendly for everyone. It has a technical support team that solves any doubts. You can create meetings with video on or off, and screen sharing. It gives the option of a free trial when you start your registration, after which you will have available the option to schedule the videoconference: add the subject of the meeting and you will get a URL to share. In the "Invite others" button you can add more participants.
Jitsi Meet. It is a free web-based video conferencing, voice over IP and messaging application. It does not require the installation of an application; it operates through a web browser. The number of participants is limited only by the performance of the computer and the speed of the internet connection.
