“OK we’re going to get started here soon… bear with us, we’re having some technical difficulties.”
How many times have you heard some derivative of those words at the beginning of a virtual meeting in the past year and a half?
No one would argue that conferencing technology has been a crucial tool to keep work going with some degree of productivity and efficiency during this tumultuous period in global business. As noted previously on this blog, a senior health care executive recently told us, “I have no idea how my team could’ve worked together effectively without our regular video conferences.” Conferencing has proved to be an absolute essential for corporate communications, both to internal and external audiences.
Nevertheless, according to a detailed research report on virtual meetings from the Ovum Research firm, an incredible 95% of online meetings begin late. We’ve all experienced it and we all get it, but… 95%?? What does that equate to in lost time and money, not to mention less quantifiable metrics like frustration? And how does it impact your organization’s credibility if your message is critical to your mission?
Among the reasons for late meeting starts are some of the most common issues plaguing professionals who plan, host and attend work-related conferences. These include:
- Downloads required to join the meeting
- Corporate firewall or incompatible browser blocking conferencing software
- Trouble joining by phone (juggling numbers, access codes, etc.)
- Lack of up-to-date audio conferencing technology
- Lack of experience with online meeting technology
When your meeting includes hundreds (or even thousands) of participants, you can bet that most of these issues will come up – simultaneously, as your presenters are waiting to get started and the person who is hosting is under the gun to get it all to miraculously work right.
And when it’s a meeting that needs to make an impression, such as an investor relations call or company-wide announcement, it’s not just time that can be lost. Your credibility and reputation are also – and we apologize for the bad pun here, but it fits – “on the line.”
Late starts are among a whole list of technical and logistical challenges that you won’t need to wrangle with for your next can’t-fail conference, with Intellor on your side. Intellor is not a conferencing platform, software or technology tool. What Intellor IS, is a team of experienced experts that bring together the know-how, people and tools to successfully handle every aspect – from attendee management to rich-media streaming, post-event surveys and everything in-between – of your conference. An easy way to think of it is “conferencing as a service.”
We manage and host events every day across five continents for businesses, government agencies and NPOs, freeing them from the many technical challenges and frustrations that clearly (see research cited above) impede their in-house ability to deliver critical messages to their intended audiences.
When these events need to begin on time, flow without interruption, engage their audiences and involve multiple conferencing tools and technologies working together without a hitch – that’s when an expert partner like Intellor makes perfect sense.
Rather than frustrated participants, speakers and meeting organizers waiting around to get started, and losing precious time and money because of it – choose conferencing without compromises for your next mission-critical virtual meeting.
