A successful business communication strategy will keep everyone, from administrative assistants to project leaders, informed on a regular basis. The system must be flexible, customizable to a certain degree, and as instantaneous as picking up the telephone. Innovations involving the Internet and video conferencing allow business people from all over the world to communicate "face to face" without the need for costly plane tickets.
Video Conferencing
Since it is not always cost-effective to purchase plane tickets for domestic and international business trips, video conferencing services have become increasingly popular. This ties a high-speed Internet connection to advanced voice and video technology so that each participant in a conference room can communicate in a meeting format from any location in the world. The words and video are streamed, just as you would stream a live feed from a web camera online.
Individual video phones allow participants to video conference into a central location from the comfort of their desk, instead of having to go to a conference room that is wired with special audio visual equipment.
Secure Instant Messaging
Encrypted instant messaging programs allow you to send messages within a business without the concern of third parties viewing your sensitive data. Some services allow you to share video and links with a simple copy and paste into your chat screen. You can set up web cams on each work computer so that employees can instant message and talk with others face to face without ever having to leave their desk. This may help to reduce waste that is caused by time spent walking from desk to desk, and from idle chatter amongst workers.
Online Project Boards
Set up a job project board. This is a web-based project management tool that allows employees to work and communicate as if they were sitting in a room together, no matter where they are in the world. The site provides workers and managers with project updates, places to write comments and messages (which can notify another person via email if he or she is not logged in at the time), and set up a public calendar of "to-dos." This is a high tech way of facilitating communication amongst offices. For about $150 a month (prices may vary) you can set up an unlimited number of projects and users.
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