Courts have found the use of video conferencing technology beneficial in their proceedings. Now, another division of government is also seeing the potential benefits from this technology: the legislative branch.
One example is found in Nebraska where state Sen. Ken Schilz (R- Ogallala), who also runs a family owned-farm, is proposing using video conferencing so citizens who want to testify at hearings could do so without driving long distances. In his case, his district, which covers 11 counties, is a four-hour drive from the state capitol building in Lincoln, which works out to about 275 miles.
Already, two hearing rooms were improved to allow for video conferencing use at the capitol building. In the future, there could be as many as 16 remote sites for video conferencing in the legislative building. Earlier this year, the Judicial Resources Commission used the videoconferencing technology in one of the hearing rooms during a public hearing on filling vacancies in the judiciary. Remote sites were in Omaha, Hastings and North Platte, according to The Lincoln Journal Star newspaper.
Other legislatures and government offices would also find benefits with video conferencing and unified communications (UC) solutions, as would businesses, advises a BroadConnect blog post. The video conferencing solutions save constituents valuable travel time. All organizations can improve efficiency after employing a UC solution. UC lets them communicate through video conferencing and employ bring your own device to work (BYOD) methods. Employees can improve their productivity by taking care of business, too, even if they are thousands of miles away.
Less travel means there will be lower costs. Employees who use video conferencing, as well as the Find Me/Follow Me feature on UC (which lets a call sent to an employee’s office phone automatically be forwarded to the employee’s mobile device) will save their employer – a business, nonprofit or government – money when compared to alternatives.
And these UC solutions also mean more collaboration in the workplace, and improved teamwork. That leads to improved productivity. With Find Me/Follow Me, voicemail messages left on an employee’s office phone can be digitized and e-mailed to the employee’s smartphone, making it easier for him/her to hear message in a timely manner and get back in touch quicker.
The new technology, wherever it is used, will provide many benefits to employees and employers.
Edited by Alisen Downey