As more and more people experience the quality and reliability of today’s business video technology, they quickly find themselves preferring it to audio for not only the meeting room, but day to day communication. This development was expected by all as video is a natural upgrade to the telephone. But video is going far beyond replacing audio, as businesses large and small find themselves using the power of video for applications beyond the typical communications scenario.
Large companies, like AT&T, have long used video to advertise to their customers, but only recently have they been using video to replace or enhance other client directed communications. Take a look at their video bill explanations. People need to understand certain information in their bill, but they don’t like reading their bill. What they do like is to watch short YouTube videos. So AT&T created a video version of a bill, with personalized information for each viewer (see above). This a great use of video, well outside the traditional advertising or business meeting roles.
The fact that their customers love this shouldn’t be completely surprising. People are, after all, visual learners. Whether people are learning how to change a car battery, or poach an egg, they find themselves going to YouTube, rather than to a car manual or a cookbook. Why not watch a video in place of reading your monthly AT&T bill as well?
This isn’t the only example of using video to replace text. In fact, many businesses, including Let’s Do Video, are replacing their internal guidebooks and policy documents with how-to videos. Whether its for training future employees, or to allow existing employees to better support each other with our regular tasks, these kinds of videos are incredibly useful, and far more effective than written instructions.
For decades we predicted that when video technology became affordable and flexible, people would start to use it and it would enjoy mass growth. In recent years, we finally are seeing that long awaited growth. The fact that we are finding uses for live and recording business video even beyond the expected telephone replacement is just icing on the cake.
Is your business using video for something different and interesting, beyond the meeting room video session? If so, let us know in the comments!
