Coronavirus pandemic has sparked a rise in the use of remote meetings and collaboration platforms. Businesses are dependent on online methods to continue their operations in this unprecedented situation. People are using remote platforms such as Teams, Zoom, Skype, & Google Meet to hold meetings, follow up their tasks and take updates from co-workers.
This has demonstrated the massive potential of remote meetings for major industries. As per a report by IMARC, “The global remote meeting market reached $4.5 billion in 2018 and expected to grow with a CAGR of 8% to reach $7.1 billion by 2024.”
“Online meeting spur collaboration and innovation through active dialogue and idea-sharing. This allows participants to not only build on each other’s ideas and work products real-time but to do so visually,” says Holly Benson, Enterprise Change & Human Capital Management Practice Head at Infosys.
A closer look at the remote work sector
The way people meet and work has witnessed drastic changes in recent years. Companies and firms are no longer limited to conventional meetings and physical conference rooms. However, with COVID-19 continuing to impact, teams everywhere are suddenly getting more dependent on remote platforms to conduct both internal and external meetings. This has also spurred a rise in the number of users on such platforms.
We have collected a few statistics to demonstrate the fast-changing scenario of remote meeting market:
- According to a survey conducted by Buffer and AngelList, “98% of respondents wish to work remotely for the rest of their careers. Also, 97% of them would recommend remote work to others.”
- As per another recent report by Barco ClickShare and Savanta, 53% of the participants said that their meetings are now conducted virtually.
- Video conferencing and collaboration tools have been on the gaining side of the whole scenario. Microsoft’s Teams saw a 500% increase in meetings, calls, and conference usage in China since the end of January.
- Microsoft also revealed that Skype saw a 70% increase in the number of users in a month. As a result, the time duration of Skype calls jumped 220% during the same time.
- Zoom’s user base has witnessed a steep rise in the last few weeks. According to the recent report by Apptopia, the platform registered 600,000 new downloads in a single day. This is the highest ever number of downloads for the company on a given day.
To help companies ensure productivity in this challenging time, these platforms have also offered additional features and removed usage limits. Microsoft Teams have added new features, promoting the use of the platform amongst companies and even families. Platforms like Google Hangouts Meet and Zoom have lifted usage limits and are offering more features to help organizations and families to connect easily.
A popular meeting automation platform, JIfflenow, has launched virtual meeting functionality in its platform to be used by hundreds of companies. This is what Ryan Porter, VP of Sales at Jifflenow, has to say, “We see great interest and momentum with customers converting meetings from cancelled events to remote meetings. Many companies, including many Fortune 1000 enterprises, are implementing this capability to drive sales.”
Key takeaways
So much has changed in businesses, but effective and productive meetings continue to be elemental to business success. Remote meeting technologies have become an indispensable part of a modern and progressive workplace. Using these platforms enhance flexibility for companies willing to communicate with the team and their clients. Adoption of remote work could lead to higher degrees of efficiency for businesses across the world.
As online meetings are crucial for businesses, ensuring their productivity is equally important. Akeo Meeting is a meeting management platform that helps you hold productive meetings. It allows you to schedule events in different time zones, take minutes in an easy-to-read template, assign and follow-up tasks easily. You can request access to try out the beta version here.
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