Our lives are becoming more and more dependent on remote work and virtual meetings. In the business world, the majority of virtual meetings take place when employees live in different locations. In addition to the growth in popularity of virtual meetings, virtual gatherings with friends, employees, and family are common. You may hold virtual meetings anywhere and with anyone. There are a few things that you and your team should be aware of before implementing virtual event technology.

What is a Virtual Meeting?

The best method for fostering real-time engagement between listeners and speakers is virtual meetings. This type of meeting takes place over the Internet and allows sharing of audio and video. Through lectures, conversations, and tutoring, they provide a mechanism to include people in completely interactive, online learning experiences. Most business conduct virtual meetings frequently to include distant team members from around the world. The most important aspect is that they are all conversing and seeing each other on the screen while using a virtual team meeting platform

Event planners would require a PC, laptop, or mobile device with a microphone or camera, online meeting software, and an internet/data connection in order to host a virtual meeting. Virtual meetings are flexible and can include participants who can join through an internet connection. An Internet browser is essential to run virtual meeting platforms. 

Importance of Virtual Meeting

One of the many lessons the COVID pandemic imparted to humanity was the importance of meeting online in order to bridge the gap created by physical distance. By allowing video during virtual meetings, team members may interact, collaborate, and brainstorm ideas without missing out on crucial elements like body language and facial expressions.

Types of Virtual Meeting 

The kind of virtual conference you choose will depend on the requirements of your team and your company. There are a few distinct varieties. Web conferencing, webinars and video conferencing will be the main types covered in this article.

Web Conferencing

It is typically described as a more interactive form of a virtual meeting. For virtual meetings, presentations, team projects (using whiteboards and screen sharing, for example), and training sessions,web conference is the ideal option. Colleagues can collaborate on the same project concurrently using web conferencing. Web conferences for brainstorming sessions are very common and can be more effective than in-person meetings. Coworkers can collaborate in real-time while meeting at the same shared resource using cloud-based collaboration tools, which range from straightforward Word documents to feature-rich digital whiteboards.

Video Conferencing

A lot of people prefer video conferences since they allow for the most face-to-face engagement. High-quality video and audio are used in these online meetings so that participants may see and hear one another as if they were in the same room.

The easiest way to observe someone’s body language, facial expressions, and other physical indicators is by conducting a virtual meeting. In order to promote team and connection building, video conferencing is the most effective type of virtual meeting. Most event planners use high-quality video conferencing and its features

Teleconferencing

A teleconference is often an audio-only gathering that participants from distant locations can attend by dialing in. These work best in small group settings where there is active participation from everyone. The fundamental advantage of teleconferencing is its simplicity: setting up a call requires less technical expertise than other forms of virtual meetings. The disadvantage is that you cannot see the emotions and body language of other individuals.

Webinar

Webinars are a type of web conference, however, they usually function as a one-way seminar where hosts or panelists give presentations to participants. Organizations are using webinars more frequently to increase demand for their products by hosting thought leadership sessions or technical demonstrations led by subject matter experts. These discussions can be quite engaging and beneficial for participants who want to ask specific questions regarding things they are interested in.

To make the virtual meeting more interesting and participatory, businesses and marketers employ online meeting platforms. Virtual meeting platforms offer a wide range of interactive features, including live polls, surveys, live chat, and more.

Benefits of Virtual Meeting 

Some common benefits of hosting a virtual meeting are:

• Virtual meetings allow you to cut travel costs because you can collaborate closely and remotely.
• It offers an opportunity to gain new clients and customers from way outside your local area and domestic market. 
• Virtual meetings can help you to reach a wider audience because there is no geographical restriction.  
• Virtual meetings offer flexibility
• Virtual meetings allow establishing a more personal relationship with the audience 
• Allows attendees to join the meeting from anywhere 
• It requires less time and cost compared to in-person meetings
• Anyone can easily join the meeting with a stable internet connection and electronic device.
• It can help you to maintain the physical safety of your attendees. 
• Most virtual event platforms come with share files or screen share features. These features make it effective and simple to share documents and visuals with the participants.  
• You can also record your virtual meeting and broadcast it to different channels. It is beneficial for the individuals who were unable to join the virtual meeting.