Virtual Meetings: Utilization of Technology by Organizations for Managing Businesses

Utilization of Information Technology by Organizations

Virtual meetings in information technology sounds familiar now. The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has resulted in extensive apprehension and economic adversity for customers, organizations, and communities across the world. It has forced businesses to implement virtual meetings along with new strategic approaches towards efficient ways of working with consumers, suppliers, and colleagues. Organizations are also required to decide on the best implementation of technology. So that they can conduct a virtual meetings with their workforce by holding video/audio conferences, exchanging documents, managing projects, and tracking the progress.

How do they get managed?

Today, organizations can test various innovative approaches to pandemic response with the help of the latest technologies. Such as cloud computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, 4G/5G networks. Since this pandemic is an unforeseeable future, organizations and its employees are currently working from home to manage the day to day operation. This indicates that people who once met face to face must now attend virtual meetings to coordinate their daily work. Virtual meetings which are also known as remote meetings in information technology are similar to traditional face-to-face meetings where it takes place through an online platform with the help of technology. No matter where they allow individuals to communicate at the right time and exchange information from any part of the world.

They can be efficient or more effective than traditional meetings. Organizations can establish platforms such as Zoom, Webex, Go to Meetings, Microsoft Teams, and Google Hangouts to manage and smoothly run their business operations. The way of working remotely from home is not a new idea. But after the outbreak of COVID it has turned out to be more convenient than ever before. In countries such as India and China, where huge multinational corporations are located, companies have adopted the culture of Bring Your Meeting (BYOM). By using various platforms such as WeChat Work, Alibaba’s DingTalk, and Zoom. This way, organizations aim to continue and manage their businesses without any disruptions hosting online virtual meetings and conferences.

Advantages for organizations using virtual meetings:

Saves the significant cost of the organizations over the traditional meetings
Can be effectual during the time of crisis or change.
Improves productivity.
Better for the time saving and the environment as it reduces travel and thus eliminates carbon emission.
Use as a virtual workspace by sharing screens and allows brainstorming.
Easy to record and discuss missed session and meetings.
Provides secure access to data, enterprise applications, conference calls, and remote meetings

Disadvantages for organizations using virtual meetings:

Not a full replicate of office cultures and operations.
Most organizations cannot shift their regular in-person meeting structure to virtual meetings.
Not everyone will be paying full attention and has the chance to speak up.
Can create obstacles due to poor internet connections.
Hardware and storage capacity can be low to sustain the digital lead.