The concept of video calling has been around for a very long time (your parents were promised it) but the reality has been far short of expectations.  For firms with multiple locations and very good Internet connectivity there were dedicated systems like Polycom, Tandberg, Cisco Telepresence and a slew of others, but these tended to be cost-prohibitive with firms spending $5,000 or more per site and then having to utilize IT personnel to run them because they were too complex for mere mortals to connect. 

That is going to change and sooner than you think! In the last five years a lot has happened in video conferencing and most firms have redundant Internet connectivity with speeds of 1Mbps or more that can handle the service, but they are still hesitant to bring up the “V” word (video conferencing) because of previous bad experiences. For multi-office firms, video conferencing costs have come down significantly enough to set them up for training and partners meetings.  In addition to the vendors above there are providers such as LifeSize, WebEx, Oovoo and Skype providing different levels of services that will connect one person to another, one to many, or many to many.  Larger firms should re-evaluate the commercial products as they will save a significant amount of travel time and help keep your people better connected.

For smaller or single office firms, video conferencing, or the home version billed as “video calling” is happening today in the consumer market as many PCs are coming with integrated webcams and home users are firing them up to connect to friends and family members.  With the cost of a Logitech QuickCam or Microsoft LiveCam webcam under $100 and free software such as Skype and Oovoo it’s a “no-brainer” to try out at home.  But what about trying it in your firm? 

The reality is that your clients are using these home products and they are going to ask one of your people in the very near future if they can connect via a webcam.  How is your firm going to respond?  If your answer is “you have no idea what they are talking about,” what will your client think about your technical expertise?   The solution is to ask your IT person to setup a webcam in your conference room or another common area and install the most common applications starting with the free versions listed above.  If you have two offices, use it for your next committee meeting or training session so firm personnel are aware that video calling is available.  You’ll see that this can be an effective means of communications and once setup in your firm you will be able to ask your clients if “they” have the capability to connect via a webcam.  Try it, you’ll get hooked and you’ll get your friends and family members to use it as well!

Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA.CITP is an Advisory Board member for the Association for Accounting Administration and a consultant to the profession.  His primary focus is helping firms throughout North America identify and implement today's digital best practices to improve productivity in their tax, audit, client services, and administrative areas.  He recently released his book “Quantum of Paperless” on Amazon.com which outlines 32 key opportunities to improve your firm's productivity.