At one time, the telepresence industry was monopolized by industry bigwigs like Cisco with billion-dollar footprints across large business houses only. With the recent shift to democratization of technology, cloud-based, remote video-conferencing systems are shaping the small business-owner’s dream—and that too at a fraction of the cost of original telepresence systems. A guest post at the Forbes site reveals the story behind this technological transition.

Slow penetration into the grassroots market

Another major change has been the penetration of HD video-conferencing into the mobile market. Today, employees or team members stationed at home, at office, in the assembly line can join any meeting in a second’s notice with an alert sent directly to their smart devices. With faster laptops and advanced mobile devices, video chat systems have taken a giant leap from desktop collaboration to “collaboration anywhere, anytime?”

The video-chat and -conferencing systems have proliferated and immensely benefitted major industries—healthcare, banking, e-learning and training, sales and marketing to name a few. However, the one industry function that has experienced a widespread impact is the customer-service department.

Benefits of video-chat systems

Now, video-conferencing and video chats are commonplace on desktops, with school children and home-based service providers being able to connect with their worldwide contacts, friends, or clients. Many of these video-chat facilities like Skype provide the additional benefit of recording chat sessions. The most noteworthy benefits of video chat systems are:

  • Users do not need special hardware or installs to use them
  • The video chat systems enable one-to-one meetings
  • The video chat systems are also excellent for monitoring and recording customer service sessions.
  • The video chat facilities are ideal for training or problem-resolution purposes

According to a Frost & Sullivan survey, “Eighty five percent of the respondents indicated that they are aware of the benefits of video conferencing with fifty eight percent using it within their companies. Seventy eight percent of the respondents indicated that they are aware of the benefits of web conferencing with sixty percent routinely using it.”

Video-chat systems in Customer Service

The benefits of video conferencing in customer service are many, among which the ability to personalize customer engagement has been a top contender. The video-chat systems enable ongoing customer contact, one-to-one resolution of issues from remote service desks, and the facility for enjoying customer-service through emails, SMS alerts, and web store fronts.

Today’s tech-savvy customers rejoice at the thought of being able to access customer service at anytime from any location. The well-informed customer can rest easy knowing that the virtual buying experience does not stop with the sale of a product—it continues though the digital platform with the help of technological wonders like video chats. The virtual customer-service desk is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.