Mid Size Companies Must have Video Phones

I don’t know everything about your company but I know that if you have more than 100 employees, I’m 99.9% sure you should have at least a few video-enabled phones.

Six months ago, I allowed our employee, Josh, to work from home. This was the first time I’d ever had anyone telecommute for work. My opinions on working from home is a topic within itself that I’ll save for another blog. If you’ve read some of my previous blogs, you know that I have SimpleSignal‘s hosted PBX service as our office’s VoIP phone system.

So far, Josh is doing well and I am using our IM feature a lot to communicate with him at least a few times every day… BUT the thing that’s killing me is that I currently am not able to use SimpleSignal’s direct video call feature because neither of our phones have the little video screen.

As a small company owner, I have an extremely keen pulse on intra-company relationships and how those relationships are effecting productivity. As someone who prides myself on my ability to build relationships, the reason having no video is killing me is that I KNOW that not being able to interact with a face is making it more difficult for Josh and I to keep our relationship as strong as possible. In sales, one of the first things we are taught is that the best ways to build a relationship with someone (in order), are:

• Face to face
• Videoconferencing
• Phone
• Other… (i.e. email, social media, text, etc.)

We would absolutely be a better company if Josh and I were communicating over video. So guess what I’m about to buy?

Can you figure out why I’m talking about my small company’s experience when the title of this blog was about mid-size companies?

Because I’ve never run into a mid-size company that does not have remote employees, these days. If you are a mid-size company without any remote employees, congratulations but you are NOT the norm. Small companies sometimes lack remote workers… but almost NEVER with a mid-size company.

So why don’t all mid-size companies have video phones? You already know the answer because I’m sure you’ve noticed it too. In bigger companies, small inefficiencies often go unnoticed but in small companies, if you’re paying close attention, small problems stand out like a sore thumb. A mid-size company is much less likely to notice subtle concepts like: Why managers’ absolutely NEED to see their direct reports’ faces every day.

Not seeing a direct reports face everyday means less relationship, which means less cohesiveness and more turnover. The soft costs of those things will blow any argument out the door, so no more “yeah, but…”   Just get yourself some video and watch your teams’ performance increase. Then sit back and enjoy everyone telling you about your brilliant decision.

Need a quote on hosted VoIP providers that allow site-to-site video? Click below.

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About the Author
Mike Smith is the Founder and President of AeroCom and has been immersed in the business telecom and cloud industry since 1999. He has been the recipient of numerous industry awards and in 2011, he was honored as one of the top 40 business people in Orange County, CA., under 40 years old. Mike is passionate about simplifying the way IT buyers shop and select telecom and cloud solutions for their company. Follow Mike on LinkedIn, Twitter or SpiceWorks.