5 surprising use cases for video conferencing

The ability to communicate face to face someone no matter where in the world both parties are is a huge achievement, and it’s why so many businesses have been adopting video conferencing solutions of late. According to a recent report from Transparency Market Research, the video conferencing market was worth close to $3.7 billion in 2014. It’s expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 8.5 percent between last year and 2023, with companies like Cisco leading the pack.

“The market is largely driven by the growing globalization of business organizations, coupled by the need for scalable communication methods,” the report noted.

But, corporations are far from the only ones adopting video conferencing technology. In fact, a wide variety of organizations are now utilizing these solutions, as these surprising use cases show:

1) Helping businesses hire anyone

Human resources professionals have their hands full just dealing with the employees an organization already has, and their jobs become even more difficult during the hiring process. Finding, interviewing and onboarding someone to fill a role is no easy feat, as it can take weeks of effort to fully get someone in the door and ramped up.

To help simplify this typically fraught process, many HR professionals have begun leveraging video conferencing technology, Online Recruitment magazine reported. For one, scheduling a video call is often far easier than scheduling an in-person meeting. Plus, it’s easier for HR professionals to get a sense of what a candidate is like through video conferencing than it would be through a standard telephone call. This technology is also ideal when remote candidates are being considered, allowing companies to hire qualified talent no matter where they happen to reside.

2) Settling legal disputes

What happens when a court case involves two parties who live on opposite sides of the country or the globe? In that past, either one or both of them would have to fly a long way to be in court. Not only would this delay cases, but sometimes the courts would pay for plane tickets, making this an expensive proposition as well.

To make matters simpler, the court system in Nova Scotia, Canada, has turned to video conferencing technology, CBC News reported. This ensures that all parties involved in a court hearing can still give testimony no matter where they live at any given moment. William Leahey, a family lawyer in Halifax, told CBC News this technology is especially handy now that apps and websites let people find potential mates throughout the world.

“It’s very expensive to fly that witness to Nova Scotia, so we’ll set up a video feed so that that witness can testify here in Nova Scotia while remaining in California or Texas,” Leahey said. “Just a few years ago that was unthinkable.”

Video conferencing helps settle legal disputes.

3) Keeping families together during rough times

The health care field is leading the way in video conferencing adoption. One of the biggest use cases in this area thus far has been telehealth, connecting doctors to patients who live far away from hospitals or other medical care centers. But, this is far from video conferencing’s only use case in this space.

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University will soon be trialing a new system that allows cancer patients to stay in touch with loved ones and others throughout their lengthy hospital stays with video conferencing, Cleveland.com reported. The goal of this initiative, according to Sara Douglas, assistant dean for research at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, is to ensure that everyone involved in a cancer patient’s care knows about what is happening with treatment at all times.

4) Safeguarding the world

When 28 of the biggest countries of the world want to communicate on military and defense matters, they turn to video conferencing. According to TechTarget, the member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, more commonly known as NATO, use video conferencing lines to make sure that key stakeholders in Virginia, Belgium and elsewhere around the globe are able to securely stay in touch.

5) Making banking easier for everyone

For people who are hard of hearing or fully deaf, using an ATM can sometimes be a difficult experience. The Australian bank Westpac is turning to video conferencing to make it easier for this group, Finextra reported. With this technology in place, someone who is deaf or hard of hearing can use a video conference line to chat in sign language with a bank representative, ensuring that this population is able to most effectively use an ATM.

Cisco + iT1 Source = Video conferencing success

Companies interested in adopting video conferencing technology should turn to Cisco, a leader in this space. Companies interested in adopting Cisco video conferencing technology should turn to iT1 Source. As a Cisco Premier Partner, iT1 Source can ensure that your business gets the most out of a Cisco video conferencing solution, no matter what you’re using it for. To learn more about video conferencing and Cisco’s offerings, be sure to reach out to an iT1 Source representative today.