By Lalit Mangal, Airmeet CEO & Co-Founder
Lalit Mangal, Airmeet CEO & Co-Founder
For the first time ever, global societies are experiencing a widespread remote work revolution, opting to trade the confines of a cubicle for a more permanent work from home lifestyle.
This drastic move away from full-time, office-based and face-to-face routines is prompting a seismic shift to the use of virtual and hybrid solutions to conduct business. Video and event conferencing solutions quickly exploded back in 2020, experiencing a 535% rise in daily traffic. Today it’s evolving into something more – an immersive, multipurpose solution to conduct business, connect with co-workers and participate in events.
The virtual ecosystem has rapidly developed, offering next-gen event technologies and interactive ways to host meetings and experiences to bring people together. The market is demanding advanced features to augment the user experience and maintain prolonged engagement with “must haves,” like choice, convenience and customization. This also includes the ability to mimic real-life event spaces, proximity-based networking and functionalities, and access to robust data and analytics.
The market demand for all of the above is at an all-time high. Modern meetings are now a virtual playground ripe with opportunity to create more genuine interactions rather than the standard live streaming we experience on most video conferencing platforms.
The event market is expected to reach $1,552.9 billion by 2028. Businesses will continue to connect and communicate via a combination of remote and hybrid modalities. This means online engagement solutions will be a major area that everyone from enterprise to small-business must consider. Next-generation video conferencing platforms are well-positioned to enhance the virtual user experience and empower businesses and creators to move activities online with confidence.
Platforms specializing in engagement capabilities that can maximize the opportunity between virtual, IRL, and hybrid work styles are on the forefront of the future of work.
The next-generation of video and event conferencing software must combine both the physical and virtual ecosystems. Here are a few ways immersive engagement is making modern work more efficient and effective:
Virtual Employee Onboarding
Remote work is proving that we can conduct business entirely virtually from anywhere in the world. This realization is opening the door for newfound trust to be created between employers and employees and prioritizing output over time spent.
HR leaders are also embracing this new digital-first world by moving their onboarding processes online. Enterprise businesses are investing in technologies to give them a leg up on the competition and access to a suite of engagement tools that make a lasting impression with new employees.
Access to highly engaging virtual meetings can better support and empower employees in their daily work – no matter where they are. The modern employee is attracted and, more importantly, retained by businesses that invest in modern tech solutions.
Democratized Meetings
In the virtual meetings and events space, mimicking real-life spaces and implementing approachable user features complete with hyper-customization result in maintained audience engagement. For example, Airmeet is set up in a ball-room style format with a center stage, as well as meeting rooms, lounge-style spaces, and a cafe to allow for breakout sessions, keynote events, and speed networking to take place online as if it would in person.
For enterprise, this means stakeholders and shareholders can all interact on one platform and in the appropriate format required for that interaction. This could look like an annual general meeting (AGM) hosted on a virtual stage with downloadable annual reports accessible via the click of a button. Interactions could also take the form of casual team meetings in a lounge or cafe setting.
Immersive engagement also gives employees a new kind of autonomy to “take the stage” during meetings that isn’t common in in-person meetings. Democratizing meetings and encouraging employees to collaborate creates a more diverse and united workforce.
Improved CX
It also improves the client experience. Sales and marketing teams in particular are now armed with a host of video and event conferencing tools that are designed to better connect them with prospects.
Customer engagement platforms can help employees more meaningfully interact with their customers, prospects, and community, resulting in more effective lead generation, networking, and collaboration. The future of immersive engagement will enable businesses and organizations to break boundaries, build highly targeted relationships and unlock new revenue streams.
Other assets such as DIY customization, replicating real-life events, video on demand, and extensive in-depth analytics are features that continue to exponentially enhance the customer experience.
Hybrid events are here to stay. Their unique format brings together both the best qualities of in-person events and the best innovation in virtual event technology. Hybrid events have a wider reach and allow for fuller interactions between online and IRL participants as well as more complete analytics capabilities to gauge the success of the meetings.
If companies have a clear strategy in place and are discerning in choosing the right virtual platform with technological applications capable of accommodating the two groups, there is no limit to the potential of this format.
Wanda Rich has been the Editor-in-Chief of Global Banking & Finance Review since 2011, playing a pivotal role in shaping the publication’s content and direction. Under her leadership, the magazine has expanded its global reach and established itself as a trusted source of information and analysis across various financial sectors. She is known for conducting exclusive interviews with industry leaders and oversees the Global Banking & Finance Awards, which recognize innovation and leadership in finance. In addition to Global Banking & Finance Review, Wanda also serves as editor for numerous other platforms, including Asset Digest, Biz Dispatch, Blockchain Tribune, Business Express, Brands Journal, Companies Digest, Economy Standard, Entrepreneur Tribune, Finance Digest, Fintech Herald, Global Islamic Finance Magazine, International Releases, Online World News, Luxury Adviser, Palmbay Herald, Startup Observer, Technology Dispatch, Trading Herald, and Wealth Tribune.