Online Meetings – Reducing Burden on Environment While Increasing Productivity

India has earned immense appreciation for showing its concern towards climate care. According to reports, domestic corporate firms are contributing their bit towards reducing the national carbon footprint. In such a scenario, it has become imperative for such firms to adopt eco-friendly methods, which help them in going green. Online meeting solutions offer them one such way of helping the environment while increasing their business productivity. The advancements in technology have made online meetings as productive as conventional meetings. Through these meetings, thousands of users can interact with each other in real-time virtually even if they are located in different geographical locations. For online conference calls, any prior notifications or advance reservation is not required, as participants can opt for on-demand sessions anytime and start the meeting without leaving their workstation. These meetings are cost-effective as there is no need to travel or spend money on renting a conference room. Since there is no need to travel, companies are not responsible for any CO2 emissions, thus saving the environment. In order to conduct a remote meeting, organisations only require a computer or any 3G-enabled handheld device, like a Smartphone or tablet computer, with a high speed Internet connection and web conference application. These applications should be compatible with various operating systems, such as Linux, Mac and Windows for computer and iOS, Android and BBOS for Smartphones. In terms of productivity, there are several features of remote meetings that helps in establishing real-time collaboration amongst participants. White boarding is an important feature that enables users to create freehand mark-ups of documents just like it is done in a traditional meeting. Attendees can also have integrated Instant Messaging (IM) applications through which they can communicate individually or with the whole group without disrupting the meeting. In addition, these also help in informing all the participants about the changes taking place in the project along with its growth and development. A web conference can easily be recorded/shared and used for future references and archiving. Further, these meetings are easy to control due to their encryption as per the strictest security protocol, thus eliminating the chances of data leaks. Participants need special permission from the moderator or the correct login ID and password to join the meeting, therefore there is no chance of unauthorised entry. There are many professionals who still believe that a web conference cannot offer the same level of sophistication that a conventional meeting does. For such users, Conference Service Providers (CSPs) like Arkadin offer operator-assisted events, wherein high end meetings are moderated by experts assigned by the firm. On the other hand, on-demand collaboration sessions are useful for hosting impromptu remote meetings. Hence, the reduction in car rides and airline trips ultimately results in a positive effect on the environment. To conclude, it can be said that online meeting not only reduces business travelling but also decreases carbon footprint, hence proves to be beneficial for small, medium as well as large scale business firms.