Shelter Products Finds Cost Savings and More with TrueConf Videoconferencing
April 23, 2015
By Steve Anderson
Contributing TMCnet Writer
The benefits of videoconferencing are quite well known by now; businesses are routinely using it to improve communication and to save money on travel expenses. But it's one thing to hear about these benefits in the abstract, and another entirely to see it in work. Shelter Products Inc. recently showed off how it put TrueConf videoconferencing tools to work.
Shelter Products is a widely distributed operation; with five offices in California, Oregon, Texas, Iowa and Alabama, it's clear that the company has a lot of ground to cover. With three different time zones involved, it's not surprising that Shelter Products wanted an easier, simpler way to improve communications among branches. With an MPLS network in place, the company embarked on an extensive evaluation process looking for just the right way to leverage that network and get better communications going, a process which eventually led the company to TrueConf.
More specifically, it led the company to TrueConf Server, a product that managed to distinguish itself from a crowd of over 20 such products considered, according to Shelter Products' IT operations manager Aaron Funk. Funk detailed that the TrueConf product was not only just what the company was looking for in terms of features available, but it was also offering this package at less cost than many of the other products out there.
Once the videoconferencing server was deployed in Shelter Products' Oregon headquarters, the company began to put it to work resolving the various communications issues the company was experiencing. With most of the conferencing sessions held in conference rooms, issues of sound and video quality could be fairly readily addressed thanks to fairly constant conditions. Cost savings and communications improvements followed as the company could address issues in one video-based conference rather than with multiple trips and multiple meetings.
Perhaps the most noteworthy part of the Shelter Products experience was that it somewhat bucked the norm, eschewing a cloud-based option for a physical option. Indeed, Funk noted that most cloud solutions do work very well under the right conditions, but for maximum control over the operations and environment, only the more physical solution would do. Since TrueConf allows a company to leverage advantages in its internal network for better service, the end result can be better overall service, assuming the internal network is constantly maintained to its peak.
While the difference between cloud and physical solution is often one of philosophy, and one that can be expressed as a matter of preference, it's clear that for some businesses the physical solution is best. But that's what's great about conferencing; there is a solution out there for every company’s needs.
The end result here is that conferencing offers a variety of options, and regardless of which one is chosen, the right one may be just an evaluation process away. TrueConf proved its value for Shelter Products, and conferencing proved its value for an industry.
Edited by Dominick Sorrentino
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