If you aren't videoconferencing, you will be soon

Despite being knee-deep in the online video world as editor of FierceOnlineVideo for the past couple of years, I've managed to do nearly all of my company briefings on the phone or in person, using WebEx or some other content sharing platform.

Videoconferencing? Somehow, I'd managed to avoid, or simply not be involved in, videoconferencing with clients.

Of course, I used Skype and the iPhone's Facetime, but that was to stay in touch with several athletes I coach on the side and to chat with my wife while I was travelling for business.

That all changed when I took over as editor of FierceEnterpriseCommunications, nee FierceVoIP a couple of weeks ago.

Suddenly, I began to get invitations from PR folks at firms looking to set up videoconferences. Companies, like Vidyo, wanted me to test their products, to see how simple and effective videoconferencing could be, even without dedicated telepresence rooms and high-end hardware.

There is, after all, a reason this space is predicted to grow beyond $3.8 billion by 2016, and it's not based on the $300,000-and-up telepresence rooms can run. Videoconferencing technology is changing rapidly, becoming cheaper and more ubiquitous.

Apps like Facetime and devices like the iPad, as well as Google's new Hangouts on Google+ and Facebook's new video chat link with Skype, are making video conversations as common as smartphones.

Businesses are adopting the technology quickly, and, they're doing it for many reasons.

While videoconferencing helps companies save money, it also allows distant workers to feel like they're more a part of the main body, rather than appendixes that send in orders and notes about sales meetings. It also makes it easier for multiple offices to keep in touch and on target, something that a phone call doesn't always manage to do.

If you haven't taken part in a videoconference, odds are you soon will. If you work on the road, you'll likely take part in one on a smartphone or tablet.

If you work from home, invest in a good headset and video camera.

Of course for those of you who do work from home, you know the first reaction to a videoconference invite isn't "Do I have the hardware to make this happen?" It's more likely "Crap, I really have to clean this place up."--Jim