The Benefits and Challenges of Video Communication

The use of video calling and video chat apps has skyrocketed in recent years, surging past its previous popularity by 48% in 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a sudden surge in the use of video-based technology such as video calling apps. These video calling apps have become a powerful business tool for communication and collaboration as well. It is the life-line of remotely-located workforce as it becomes an easy, flexible and secure technology for end-to-end encrypted video communication. The market size for video-based services is expected to be $13 billion by 2028. A PWC report found that 83% of employers and 71% of employees have reported positive results from working remotely during the pandemic. With many companies planning to continue with a hybrid workplace model, video calling API will continue to play a crucial role in facilitating remote work and collaboration.

While video calling has many advantages, it also has its share of disadvantages. In this article, we will explore both the advantages and disadvantages of video calling, as well as ways to overcome the disadvantages.

Video Calling: What Are the Advantages?

The future of the workplace is expected to be a hybrid situation, with the majority of the staff expected to be remote workers and a few critical role facilitators on-premise. Video calling is expected to be the most important tool to facilitate such a change.

1. Reduces Travel Costs: One of the biggest advantages of video calling is that it reduces the need for in-person meetings, which can save time and money. Businesses can use video conferencing to connect with clients, partners, and employees from around the world without having to pay for travel expenses.
2. Enhances Teamwork: Video calling allows remote teams to work together in real time, which can improve collaboration and teamwork. It allows team members to see each other’s facial expressions and body language, which can enhance communication and understanding.
3. Improved Communication: Video calling allows people to see and hear each other, which can foster a greater sense of connection and understanding. This can be particularly useful for teams that are spread out across different locations or time zones.
4. More Flexible: Video conferencing allows people to attend meetings from anywhere, which can make it easier for businesses to accommodate employees who need to work remotely or have flexible schedules.
5. Increased Productivity: Video conferencing can increase productivity by making it easier for teams to stay connected and collaborate, even when they are not in the same physical location.

Thus, the advantages of video calling include the ability to see the person you are communicating with, which can improve the sense of connection and make it easier to communicate non-verbally. Video calling can also be more efficient than in-person meetings, as it eliminates the need to travel. Additionally, video calling can be useful for remote teams and people who are not able to meet in person.

Video Calling: What Are the Disadvantages?

1. Can Be Harder to Focus: Video conferencing can be distracting, particularly if participants are not in a dedicated workspace. The constant movement and noise in the background can make it harder to focus on the task at hand.
2. Time Delay between Responses: Video conferencing can be affected by latency or delays, which can make it harder to have a seamless conversation. This can be frustrating and make it harder to understand what is being said.
3. The Technology Can Fail: Video conferencing relies on technology, which means that it can be affected by technical issues such as poor internet connection, hardware failures, and software bugs.
4. Audio Quality Is Poor: The quality of the audio in a video call feature can be poor, which can make it difficult to hear what is being said. This can be particularly problematic for people with hearing impairments.

Hence, video calling has several disadvantages such as technical difficulties, privacy and security concerns, and mental and physical exhaustion.

Video Communication: Overcoming the Disadvantages

1. Create a Dedicated Workspace: To overcome the distraction of video conferencing, it’s important to create a dedicated workspace that is free from distractions. This can include closing unnecessary tabs and applications, turning off notifications, and choosing a quiet location to work from.
2. Use Quality Equipment: To overcome the issue of poor audio quality, it’s important to use quality equipment such as a headset or microphone. This can help improve the call’s sound quality and make it easier to hear what is being said.
3. Test the Technology: To ensure that the technology is working properly, it’s important to test the video conferencing equipment and software before the call. This can help to identify and resolve any issues before they become a problem.
4. Be Patient: To overcome the time delay between responses, it’s essential to be patient and wait for the other person to finish speaking. This can help to avoid interruptions and ensure that everyone is heard.
5. Be Prepared: To overcome the issue of technology failure, it’s essential to be prepared with a backup plan. This can include having a phone number to call if the video conferencing equipment or internet connection fails or having a document to share in case the screen-sharing feature doesn’t work.

In conclusion, building a video chat app has many advantages and disadvantages. However, with a few processes, video calls can be made more productive and less draining, allowing for better communication and collaboration. One of the most important reasons video calling has grown in popularity is the  End-to-End encryption security feature offered by apps in this category. This is supported by including AES Encryption in the Video API.

Take Away

Video calling has become an essential tool for businesses and individuals in 2021-2022. It offers many advantages such as reducing travel costs, enhancing teamwork, improving communication and being more flexible. However, it also has its disadvantages such as difficulty to focus, the time delay between responses, technology failure and poor audio quality. To overcome these disadvantages, it’s important to create a dedicated workspace, use quality equipment, test the technology, be patient and be prepared. With the right approach and tools, video calling apps can be a powerful tool to connect and collaborate with others.