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The Benefits of Video Conferencing
Over at the Law Department Management blog, Rees Morrison shares some reasons why law firms should consider video conferencing, particularly in a down economy where clients are looking for ways to cut fat out of the budget. For starters, video conferencing saves money. As Morrison describes, several large corporations report cutting travel expenses considerably by using video conferencing.
But cost isn't the sole return. As Morrison writes:
Reductions in the
wear and tear from travel counts for something. Further, with the
ability to see people, lawyers and clients can get to know each other
more quickly; familiarity breeds content. Aside from the vexations of
travel, the ease of a phone-plus-visual meeting enables more frequent
meetings so there is a quality improvement.
A second point
regarding teleconferencing, oriented externally instead of internally,
is that it improves screening interviews of candidates and law firms.
Nothing surpasses an in-person meeting, but for reasons of cost,
burden, and expediency, an on-screen presence may suffice.
Increasingly, I've been using Skype to conduct video conversations with colleagues and vendors. Like Morrison, I find that it injects a personal element into relationships that can't be matched by e-mail, Twitter or the ability to post photos on Facebook. The only drawback that I've found has nothing to do with technology: I need to make sure that my office is always tidy in the event that a Skype call comes through.
Is your law firm or in-house office using video conferencing? Do you find that it enhances the attorney-client relationship or doesn't make much of a difference?
Posted by Carolyn Elefant on April 27, 2009 at 03:24 PM | Permalink
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