Since 2020, many companies have switched to remote work for employees. At first, this was dictated by circumstances, but then it turned out that this has many advantages.
One of the key issues of "remote" is employee coordination. Video conferencing programs help with this. They allow you to coordinate the actions of the team, simplify communication within it and generally make the work more efficient. One such program is the Russian video conferencing service eXpress.
This article talks about the use of video conferencing in remote work with real examples.
Advantages of remote work
Remote work has a number of advantages.
Here are the main ones:
- Savings for the company. If most of the employees work from home, there is no need for a large office, which means that you can reduce the cost of renting premises. Less office equipment, furniture, and consumables are also required. This also reduces the company's costs, and sometimes quite significantly.
- Savings for employees. If you work from home, you don't spend money on the road to the office, lunches, coffee breaks. Due to this, remote work is economically beneficial not only for the employer, but also for employees.
- Organizational flexibility. In remote teams, you can more flexibly build business processes, quickly transferring information and setting tasks. This is possible due to the peculiarities of communication, the lack of a live organization of employees in the office, traditionally associated with certain difficulties, delays and some degree of bureaucracy.
- Expanding geography. With remote work, a business can recruit qualified workers from any region, regardless of the location of its office.
Another plus for employees that will help keep them in the company is freedom. Even if they have a full working day, working from home is not the same as working from the office. There are no strict regulations for "remote work", some little things are allowed that are not welcomed in a traditional workplace. And many people like it. It is not for nothing that, according to a SuperJob survey, remote work is a determining factor for 40% of Russians, and they are even ready to accept a lower salary for it. And according to a study by the HH portal conducted after the pandemic, about 60% of employees would not like to return to the office from remote work. Such preferences allow for more effective personnel management and employee retention in the company.
At the same time, remote work can be no less effective than traditional work. If employees remain focused on their responsibilities, their productivity does not fall, but often increases. The main thing is to properly organize the interaction of teams with each other and with management. This can be done by discussing work issues in real time, which is also helped by video conferencing platforms. This is an effective tool for setting tasks and determining performance indicators.
Benefits of video conferencing when working remotely
Video conferencing software is not the only way to communicate remotely. But why should you choose it?
Here are the main reasons:
- Efficiency. Video conferencing allows teams to work together in real time, regardless of the location of each employee, which greatly simplifies the exchange of ideas and information, setting tasks and monitoring their implementation. This speeds up the project execution process and makes it much more efficient, allowing you to get the best possible result in a relatively short period of time.
- Improved communication. Video conferences, where employees can see each other, provide the effect of personal presence, which cannot be achieved by exchanging text messages (for example, via email or messengers). This helps to avoid misunderstandings and ensures the clearest possible exchange of information, which has a positive effect on project implementation and the implementation of joint tasks.
- Time and resource management. Compared to other tools for interaction between team members, a video conferencing service allows you to plan meetings and delegate work tasks more effectively. This helps optimize time and resources, makes it possible to coordinate schedules, distribute responsibilities, which makes the work process as harmonious and organized as possible.
- Supporting team spirit. It is no secret that when working remotely, employees do not feel like part of a team, which hinders coherence and can adversely affect their efficiency. Video conferences, where employees can interact with each other in live communication mode, help to neutralize this disadvantage of "remote work".
It is due to these advantages that more and more companies choose the eXpress video conferencing service to coordinate remote employees. It allows you to realize all the advantages of videoconferencing and make the work of remote teams very effective.
Videoconferencing service requirements
Videoconferencing platforms must meet a number of requirements:
- Independence of technologies. In the current economic and political conditions, the computer program used for videoconferencing must be independent of foreign suppliers. This guarantees its uninterrupted operation, and therefore the stability of the technical support of the company's activities.
- Favorable conditions. Tariffs for video conferencing platform services should be affordable for businesses. At the same time, there should be no restrictions within the basic tariff (for example, on the duration of calls). Otherwise, you will have to choose between increased costs and reduced limits, which is especially difficult for small companies.
- Functionality. The computer program used for video conferencing should offer a wide range of options for corporate communication, which is not limited to video conferencing. After all, as the business expands, the company's management will sooner or later have tasks that will be difficult to solve using conferences alone - additional tools will be needed.
- Security. Information transmitted through the video conferencing service should be protected by reliable encryption algorithms. Ideally, other security measures should be applied as well. Otherwise, there is a risk that the data will fall into the hands of strangers, which may adversely affect the business.
It is also important to consider the scale of the conferences. Good video conferencing platforms are services that allow you to communicate with 100 or more people at the same time.
eXpress meets all these criteria. This makes it the optimal solution for any business.
What is the eXpress service and what can it do?
eXpress is a Russian video conferencing service. It runs on its own software, which is available in versions for Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS and Android operating systems. Thanks to this, it can be installed on almost all existing "smart" devices: from desktop computers to smartphones.
The eXpress Internet video conferencing software offers the following conference features:
- Invite more than 250 participants. This allows you to hold a truly large-scale online conference and without time limits.
- Record a call. When using eXpress, video conferences can be recorded. This is useful for both management and employees, as it allows you to avoid taking notes on paper at a meeting or recording the conference using third-party programs.
- Conference scheduling. Using eXpress, you can plan a future meeting and save the meeting to your calendar. This way, you will definitely hold them on time, and your employees will not miss them.
- Guest access. This useful feature allows you to hold conferences and meetings with partners or clients (they will be able to join the meeting even without installing the application - via a link).
- Action options. eXpress has functions for raising a hand and reacting to a speech. They greatly facilitate the conduct of video conferences. You can also ask a question in the video conference chat, which will not be deleted after its completion.
eXpress is not only a video conferencing program for the Internet. The service offers a number of additional functions for communication between remote employees. The first is a messenger that allows company employees to exchange messages with each other. The second is chatbots, which will be useful for automating various routine functions (adding participants to certain chats, congratulating employees, ordering a courier, service desk, etc.).
Since eXpress is a Russian video conferencing program, it uses data protection protocols that meet the strict requirements of domestic legislation and regulations. The security of the platform is confirmed by FSTEC of Russia Certificate No. 4232. It supports enhanced QES (upon request). The level of protection has passed eXpress has passed an independent audit. Thanks to this, you can be sure that the information transmitted via internal communication channels will not end up in the hands of strangers.
Data protection is ensured by the following tools:
- user authentication via three independent channels;
- one-time password from an SMS sent to the linked phone number;
- use of a personal user password;
- encrypted storage of application data on a mobile device;
- deletion of application data on any device upon command from the server (for example, in the event of device loss);
- E2EE encryption;
- GOST encryption (upon customer request).
This applies not only to video conferences, but also to other service tools (including messenger and chat bot).
Since eXpress is a Russian video conferencing program, service clients should not be afraid that sanctions will impose any restrictions on the software and it will become impossible to use it. This will definitely not happen.
How to start using the video conferencing program
You can download the eXpress video conferencing program for all operating systems on the official website of the service. To start using it, you do not have to subscribe right away. You can test the platform in demo mode absolutely free of charge. If for some reason you are not satisfied with it, you can delete it at any time and stop using it. And if you like it, you can pay for a subscription and continue using the service.
eXpress use cases
eXpress uses «Kofemaniya» as a platform for organizing video conferences for back office employees. Until 2023, the company did not have a centralized tool for this - employees interacted with each other using various messengers and Zoom. After deciding to use eXpress, integrating the service into the internal business processes of Coffee Mania and organizing centralized interaction between its employees, it was possible to improve, simplify and speed up communication.
The Russian service has facilitated data exchange, and also significantly increased the level of information security of the company and made it independent of foreign software.
Videoconferencing is an excellent way of communication for a remote team
Remote work has a number of advantages for the employer and employee, the main one of which is savings. But you need to somehow communicate with remote employees. And you also need to control them. Video conferencing platforms help with this. They make the company's work more efficient, improve interaction between team members, manage time and resources more effectively, and reduce the isolation of those working from home. Other communication methods for "remote workers" do not have these advantages.
One of the video conferencing services is eXpress. It allows you to conduct video conferences for 250+ people, provides a messenger and a chat bot, the information in which is protected by reliable encryption. The platform is Russian, so it will definitely not be disconnected due to sanctions. You can download the latest version of the eXpress video conferencing program on the official website of the service - there are versions for all popular operating systems.
