There’s no shortage of choices for video meeting platforms, from dedicated video conferencing solutions to omnichannel communication platforms. There are so many, in fact, that nearly everyone has their personal preferences and favorites, which don’t always align.
In business environments, this can become an inconvenience. If one team relies on Zoom, for instance, while the higher-ups prefer Microsoft Teams, what happens when they need to have a meeting? Can all parties use the tools they prefer without compromising efficiency?
Let’s take a look at the state of multivendor meetings and how the right data can help optimize efficiency no matter how many platforms you have to navigate.
Multivendor Meetings Summarized
To begin, let’s look at what multivendor meetings are, and how common an occurrence they are.
Multivendor meetings are any video conferences that use two or more different platforms, such as Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom. According to research from Vyopta, around 70 percent of organizations use two or more platforms in their work environments, so multivendor environments are rather common.
There are many reasons why an organization would have different communication platforms. Sometimes one is kept as a backup in case of downtime or other emergencies, while other times different departments have unique meeting needs that only certain platforms can provide. Personal biases are also common, such as a CEO preferring a different platform than the rest of the company.
Many of these meeting platforms do allow guests to join meetings via a link or dial-in number, so it’s not too difficult for people to join a meeting on a platform they don’t typically use. But that often leaves the guests without access to certain features or tools, so it might not be optimal.
How to Make Multivendor Meetings Work
With all this in mind, how can organizations optimize their multivendor meetings? It all comes down to two things: data and technology.
First, you’ll need the right technology in place to communicate across different endpoints. Different video conferencing platforms can connect to each other using an interop solution, so each participant can use the meeting platform they prefer.
However, just connecting the platforms is only part of the process. To truly have an optimized multivendor environment, you need to look at the meeting data and see what’s effective.
For instance, if your company uses multiple platforms, which ones are being used the most, and which are left untouched? When the different solutions are used, either independently or connected, how’s the overall call quality? This information will give you a better perspective on your communications and identify areas for improvement.
You can gather this data with help from companies like Vyopta, which helps companies collect and use data to gain insights into their meetings. This includes information like VPN usage vs office space usage, meeting productivity, and how many participants are not only in meetings but engaging with them.
This data delves into multiple aspects of each call, from how often video is used to the quality of peripherals on the end user’s side. For instance, if a customer is using a personal headset rather than the headset provided by IT, that could impact the quality of the call, and Vyopta’s data will help identify it as the culprit. Organizations can see if the technology they’ve invested in is working, or if they need to train end-users more to fully utilize their tools.
This is useful for in-office and remote work alike, as Vyopta can monitor multiple UCaaS platforms, see what platforms are being used for video meetings the most, and determine how technology is being used in offices and by remote employees. Doing so helps guide training and decision-making, so companies can get the most out of their communications investments and ensure optimal efficiency.
Multivendor meetings can be challenging to properly navigate and optimize, but it can be done with the right data and the right technology. If you understand how your employees are using their meeting platforms and tech, you can ensure excellent, productive meetings all around.
