Virtual meetings have become an important tool for team collaboration in modern businesses. Top video conferencing platforms come integrated with a vast array of features such as chat, instant messaging, document sharing, transcription, screen sharing and more. Many firms use business transcription services to ensure accurate documentation of virtual meetings for review and reference.

Virtual meetings have increased through 2021 will continue to grow in 2022 and beyond. According to Grand View Research, the global video conferencing market size, which was valued at USD 6.28 billion in 2021, is expected to expand at a CAGR of 12.5% during 2022-2030. The main factors that account for these trends are the popularity of remote working and pandemic-induced work-at-home policies. The introduction of state-of-the-art video meeting platforms and apps along with reliable video transcription service options support this growth.

Businesses can use virtual meetings for conducting training sessions, seminars and workshops, bringing people together for decision making, delivering sales presentations, and more. Effective use of online communication tools can improve productivity. Let’s take a look at the different ways businesses can use video meetings:

• Connect with a geographically dispersed team: Scheduling regular meetings is one of the many ways to manage remote teams. Video calls simulate the routine being-in-the-office ambience and are the ideal way to boost the efficiency of remote teams are missing out on. It’s important to schedule regular online briefings or meetings to create a routine so that teams can communicate effectively, which will reduce stress. However, make sure to provide various communication options so that remote employees can communicate urgent matters to the right person immediately.
• Drive efficient and quick decision-making: Remote meetings can help you take decisions faster and more efficiently. Virtual meeting software allows you to share documents, share screens, engage in real-time messaging and video conferencing so that you can deliver information faster to make the right decisions. In well-run virtual meetings, the agenda will be provided in advance so that everyone is prepared. Virtual meeting rules are followed, and the session will start and end of time. All of this will improve productivity and efficiency, save time and drive faster project completion.
• Collaborate from anywhere, anytime: With the mobility supported by virtual meeting tools, you can meet up with your team from anywhere and at any time. It’s easy and convenient to set up online meetings on mobile devices and laptops, share and collaborate on documents and stay productive from anywhere. Moreover, you can connect with teams in different time zones with online tools. As meeting software supports flex work and telecommuting, it promotes engagement and does away with the need to postpone or reschedule meetings.
• Save time and money: Virtual meeting tools are a great option for companies that do not have physical space to conduct in-person meetings and conferences. Video conferencing can eliminate the hassles and costs associated with building maintenance. Virtual meetings also cut down on travel expenses. From airfare, accommodation, to vehicle maintenance, travelling for work costs money. With online meetings set up in a well-planned controlled environment, employees can communicate face-to-face from the comfort of their homes, which saves both commuting time and money.
• Promote meeting equity: Virtual meetings create an environment where all employees have a voice. In other words, as a Forbes article notes, “discussion dominators are diminished”. Video conferencing is designed with features to level the playing field. The mute button ensures that everyone is on the same page and that people who tend to dominate in-office meetings have to observe the proprieties when they are muted.
• Improve the recruitment process: Virtual meeting tools are useful for the hiring process. They provide a great deal of flexibility for recruiters and applicants. Recruiters can screen candidates online which cuts travel expenses and time when they are located in distant locations. They can also meet candidates online before meeting them face-to-face, which allows both parties to observe important visual cues. Video interviews can also be recorded and transcribed using a video transcription service, so that those on the recruiting team who couldn’t make the meeting can evaluate the interview. That brings us to the importance of documenting all remote business communications.

Meeting Transcription for Accurate and Consistent Records

While online video conferencing tools allow you to record meetings, it’s important to have written records of these interactions. In fact, top video conferencing software come with features that allow you to do that. For example, during a Zoom meeting or webinar, you can enable speech to text transcription. Once these robot transcription services are enabled in your Zoom account, this option will be available permanently during all your meetings. Meeting transcription is useful for many reasons:

• Avoids the need for manual note-taking
• Provides clear records that can be kept to remind teams about the points discussed
• Notes can be organized to find specific information in them
• The interactions can be easily summarized which supports quick decision making
• Transcripts can be shared with team members who could not participate
• The records can be stored for future reference

However, even with automated transcripts, businesses continue to hire meeting transcription services. The reason is that while AI-enabled transcription is fast and available real-time, accuracy depends on the “human touch”. Robot transcription cannot handle complex speech, multi-faceted words or homophones. As a result, it cannot provide the standard 99% accuracy which is crucial for business meeting records. The best strategy would be to have the transcripts generated by your virtual meeting platform vetted by a business transcription service provider.