Telepresence vs video conferencing: What’s the difference?
The biggest problems facing businesses today are not limited
to staffing, marketing, or revenue issues.
While these are the issues of all seasons for companies worldwide,
the real problem now is how to manage your remote meetings seamlessly.
Frozen videos. Fixed sound. Irregular video conferencing
with frequent interruptions has become an expected part of any online meeting:
"Can you hear me?"
"Hello!?? I think I lost you again.
"Can you mute your microphone, please?"
"Can you hear me now?"
"I didn't see you."
"Let me try to hang up and call you back."
Sound so familiar? We think so.
If you regularly host video meetings for your remote
teammates, these scenarios are bound to happen.
And while technical gremlins disrupting video conferencing
are commonplace these days, we shouldn't accept them as the new norm of
business.
As your business grows, your need to communicate more
effectively with internal teams and external customers becomes a critical task,
not only to your success but also to your survival.
And let's be honest: You can't keep running software with
spotty, unreliable video meetings. This is a sure path to incompetence, and
incompetence is the enemy of progress.
You can't just disable your video or make an excuse for a spotty
internet connection, like when pitching your business to a board of investors.
It should look clear, sound sharp, and make a quick
impression on your audience to crush your presentations.
It would help if you had a real-world, professional, and robust
solution like telepresence, which is the more attractive cousin to video
conferencing (which you may not know exists).
But here's the thing. Choosing between telepresence and
videoconferencing has become more complicated in recent years, as telepresence
systems have become less expensive and videoconferencing tools have become more
powerful. So let's dive into it.
In this article, we will cover the following:
What exactly is telepresence technology?
What is the difference between telepresence and video
conferencing?
When to choose telepresence over video conferencing
Buy a video conferencing tool? (Or just curious about what
to look for?) Get our free checklist to help you choose the right one for your
team or business. @smarttechpros
What is telepresence?
Remember Dr Evil in Austin Powers: International Man of
Mystery?
In the film, Dr Evil demands a "$100 billion" ransom
from the UN authorities via jumbotron-sized HD video conferencing technology:
Telepresence in Austin power
This is the closest (somewhat simplistic) example of
telepresence, minus the sinister plot.
Historically, telepresence has been considered a more
advanced version of video conferencing that uses superior technology to allow
meeting participants to broadcast high-quality audio and video.
The problem is technology: telepresence requires a solid
technical team at all user endpoints (such as webcam, laptop, speakers, and
desktop) for a fantastic meeting experience.
Combined with the high quality of the audiovisual equipment,
the telepresence experience is like talking to your remote audience in person
without environmental distraction.
It's called telepresence because it gives you the experience
of "teleporting" somewhere else to be in the presence of your
audience, like using a virtual reality (VR) headset to experience a parallel
world that is in the virtual world.
(There's also a nickname for video teleconferencing:
"telepresence" because it gives you the virtual experience of being
in a remote location with the help of cutting-edge technology.)
Telepresence Meeting greatly amplifies the video
conferencing experience and provides a genuinely immersive meeting experience.
Sounds from another world.
Well, the good news is that you no longer have to sell your
kidneys to pay for telepresence technology to meet your growing business needs.
Yes, it is more expensive to set up telepresence than video
conferencing, but now you can create virtual meeting rooms to reduce the cost
significantly. (We'll discuss the cost part in detail later.)
The point is that while telepresence sounds premium, it is
no longer entirely out of the reach of small businesses. @techgeeksblogger
