One use of videoconferencing that I don’t write about too often is meetings! This week in three days we have 6 meetings totaling 30 hours of VC time here at the ISD. We are located 2 hours away from Lansing, where most meetings happen. Who wants to drive 2 hours to Lansing, sit in a 2 hour meeting, and drive 2 hours home??
Our superintendent has been strongly encouraging staff to participate in meetings via videoconferencing to save time and money.
It takes some time for people to get used to meeting over videoconferencing, so encouragement certainly helps. But after they’ve had a few successful meetings, they are hooked! Our staff are also getting to the point where they can run the camera and mute button themselves, so I just get them started and they are ready to go.
We have so many this week that I’ve been scrambling to get rooms set up for all the meetings. I’m starting to think it would be nice to have an office dedicated to one person meetings. Another item for my wish list!
As Janine’s Supervisor (and in charge of the budget) I can share comments about the savings of videoconferencing meetings. The biggest savings is no doubt staff time and the lost opportunity to get things done at the office/school. There is also a matter of staff safety (We’ve never had anyone injured using Video Conferencing). The other cost is travel. Of these six meetings, five would have been in Lansing and one in Detroit. Each would require a meal and considering the mileage (.44 per mile), we have saved $819.00. A few weeks like this and we have saved enough for a Polycom unit!
Thanks for adding those stats, Dennis!!