Video Conferencing Is Transforming the Way Many Industries Interact

Recent advances in communications technology have been of great benefit not only to the consumer, but also to the enterprise market to a much larger degree. Indeed, the cost savings and collaborative capabilities of mobility, video conferencing and unified communications in the corporate environment cannot be overstated.

Video conferencing in particular is a major cost saver as it cuts down on the need to travel for face-to-face collaboration, and therefore greatly reduces travel expenses. These cost savings are particularly evident in organizations that have locations spread throughout a country or across the globe. Aside from improved employee collaboration and cost savings, video conferencing also enables more timely client communication to occur.

Indeed, the benefits of this technology are so important to the modern business, that technology news site Fast Company recently stated video conferencing has forever changed the way firms communicate. The site pointed to a number of studies which indicate that seeing the person you are communicating with greatly improves the effectiveness of the interaction to such a point that telephone conferencing is a waste of time and resources by contrast.

Furthermore, the fact that video conferencing is now so readily available obviously factors into the technology's success; consider the fact that once whole rooms were devoted to video conferencing where now a video call can be placed from any smartphone, tablet or laptop. Despite its relatively newfound mobility, the quality of video conferencing has also increased dramatically.

In fact, the low-cost availability of high definition video conferencing is having a pronounced effect on the healthcare industry. In particular, the clarity offered by HD video allows physicians to accurately diagnose patients remotely. As such, patients unable to get to a hospital or physician's office can now receive medical care comparable to that delivered in-office.

As such, it's no surprise that IDC expects video conferencing to experience dramatic growth throughout 2013.