Platforms you can use for online meetings

Doing business in different parts of the globe or having team members in various locations may require a lot of communication to ensure that things go well. In this age of modern technology, being physically apart is not a hindrance in doing business transactions or official meetings. Within EO and among EO members, online meetings are also common and widely used.

Several online platforms are currently available to make video calls and meetings more plausible. Nowadays, you can see each of the meeting participants on your screen, share files and record conversations, depending on the features of the application. Take a close look at 11 video conferencing platforms that you can consider for your remote meetings.

GoToMeeting

You can access GoToMeeting on your desktop or mobile devices, which makes it easy for participants who are on the go. It goes beyond screen sharing because it also has drawing tools which you can use to direct your participants’ attention and focus on a particular part of the screen. It can record and store your meetings on cloud storage. GoToMeeting offers a free 14-day trial with up to 50 attendees.

Skype

One of the many platforms that have been around for some time is Skype, which offers free calls and messaging globally. You can even connect to a mobile or landline number. It Is downloadable to computers and mobile devices. Skype is widely used and popular, which makes it easy to use for video calls and conferencing.

Join.Me

You can customise your meeting link and personalise your meeting background. There are one-click screen sharing and free conference calls. Join.me is also downloadable in any device, which makes it easier to have an online meeting. It offers simple integration solutions for Chrome, Outlook, Office 365, Trello, Slack, G Suite and other apps.

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts is one platform to consider because it is easily accessible through Gmail, Google Calendar and Chrome. Google users can open the application from various devices and use it for messaging and calls free of charge. Another advantage of Hangouts is that Gmail and Google are widespread globally because many Android phones already have the app built-in upon purchase or activation.

WebEx

Cisco’s WebEx has cloud calling that has the advantages of a traditional phone system, less the intricacy of securing and managing it. WebEx products have features for video conferencing, team collaboration, webinars, online training, video support, conference calling, conferencing devices, and cognitive collaboration. There are different plans available according to your meeting size and needs.

Zoom

Users and attendees can do video calls and online meetings through the Zoom site or its downloadable app. Companies and organisations also use Zoom for webinars, virtual conference rooms, phone system, business messaging and file sharing. Apart from its free basic features, Zoom also has other plans for your various business communication needs. Zoom caters to industries like education, finance, government and healthcare.

Zoho Meeting

Zoho Meeting provides an avenue for participants to connect online and integrate other apps like Zoho CRM, Zoho Projects and Zoho Calendar. Hosts can also have webinar polls and Q&A to facilitate discussions.

ezTalks Meeting

You and your team can hold virtual meetings with a real video conferencing experience where you can share your screen, use online whiteboard tools, record discussions, and chat as a group or privately. It also allows attendees to use the app on any device.

Highfive

Highfive is a cloud video conferencing software that is easy to use as there’s no need to download an application. You can join meetings by going to the Highfive URL in your browser, making it smooth for users and administrators to conduct online video calls. The URLs are also simple, which you can customise and make it easy to remember. Lengths of meetings are unlimited. Although it does not use PIN codes, meetings are still kept secure.

AnyMeeting

Another browser-based app is AnyMeeting, which is accessible on any device. The online meeting software allows hosts to customise their meeting rooms where they can include their business logo on the background. It has a built-in phone conferencing, video sharing, screen sharing, recording and meeting notes.

With all these platforms and many others that are available online, distance is no longer a problem to meet and discuss important points. You can even use the applications to further your business and exchange knowledge and information with others.

Let us know in the comments section below which ones you have tried and which ones you find suitable to your meeting needs.

Mark Calabro’s Double D: Determination and Discipline

Determined to take control of his destiny and to create something meaningful to the world, Mark Calabro went into business straight out of university, taught himself the ropes of running it, learned from the real world and helped establish one of the biggest Point of Sale providers in the food and beverage industry.

Ordermate Co-founder and Director of Sales Mark Calabro has the best job in the world. He gets to enjoy two of the things he loves: technology and food. As an engineer, he has a knack for technology and innovation. His affinity for food, on the other hand, can be traced way back from his childhood with his family. Surrounded by his grandpa and adults in the family, Mark loved watching them cook and share a meal as he was always very curious as a kid.

“I love how food brings back emotions. These are warm, loving and caring emotions from childhood. And I love to share experiences. I love to share things that I make. I love to share learnings with other people. As for me, food is about sharing, and sharing is a part of me,” he expresses warmly. On top of that, he loves to cook as he finds it very calming. As a matter of fact, cooking is a form of meditation for him.

Thus, Mark’s authentic zeal for food eventually extended to his business, Ordermate, which develops technology that helps improve the way restaurants, cafes and bars run their businesses and grow their profits. “We all have a genuine passion for the food and beverage industry. It translates to the quality of our product. It shows how we recognise and celebrate working with the very best in the industry: the best chefs, the best operators, and the best barmen,” the food-loving engineer articulates.

Ordermate’s early beginning was not as opulent as the industry it now caters. It simply started at a garage in 2002. “We were straight out of university, myself and my then business partners. We were at the university together taking up a double degree in engineering and multimedia. We started up our business as more of fun. It was just a project,” he describes.

Young and fresh out of university, they didn’t have much money to put into the business. “We lived on just water for the first few years,” Mark laughingly puts it as they weren’t taking any wage during the initial years of their business. It was all self-funded and its growth was purely organic. Since they had to take in a software developer and hire more people, their team had to expand. In effect, the ability to pay wages for their staff kept them up at night as cash flow was a real problem.

Add to that was the fact that Mark and his partners had no idea about sales and marketing. That part was just self-taught. They learned on their own feet as they went about running the business. What they did, however, was link up with friends who had some background in marketing to help them go about it.

The challenging part, however, was that marketing was crucial to their business during the early stages as they had to convince those in the food and beverage industry why they need a software to run their operations. When Mark and his partners were starting out, the industry wasn't used to the modern way of doing business, such as paying for a subscription service.

“The perception of the industry was just to buy a cash register that comes out of a box, have someone unbox and program it, then pay them the money. For us, we went better in a different way as we took a consulting approach rather than a box product. Back then, 90% of the market would buy the box product. A cash register was cheaper than our software,” Mark shares his sentiments.

Mark and his partners spent the first 5 to 8 years presenting to businesses the value of their product and the wisdom why they had to spend 5 to 10 times more on this technology. “It was then very much about showing our value proposition whereas today, everyone knows you have to buy a Point of Sale system. It's now just a matter of which brand to trust and which one has great service or good after sales or great tools.”

As competition is growing, the challenge for Mark and his team is to set their business apart from the rest. Their approach is to provide genuine care, interest and passion for the industry that will contribute to the betterment of the industry. On the other hand, they try not to be everything to everyone. Instead, they carved their niche by focusing more on bigger, larger and more professional, aspirational hospitality venues. While they deal with anyone in the food and beverage industry, channelling and focusing their initiatives towards businesses that give value to everything they do was a more efficient method. With that, they cater more towards serious business establishments where there's a marketing function or stock inventory.

With the constant ordeal of maintaining a positive cash flow, acquiring new skills, getting new clients and facing competition, Mark realises that running a business entails a lot of hard work. He loves what he does, that’s for sure. But people regard owning a business as something like a walk in the park. In reality, nothing can prepare a business owner with the challenges ahead when it comes to growing and building a business until he becomes one. “You have to live being a business owner. I think you don't know it unless you've done it. Thousands of people may think it is glamorous and it is a nice thought. What they don’t see is that there is a lot of sacrifices, like in relationships and personal life,” he shares. “For me personally, I never switch off,” he remarks.

The biggest heartache in his entrepreneurial journey was a business relationship that turned sour. There were some people in the organisation that they had to let go. Mark acknowledges that his mistake has been knowing that they have a big problem but not facing it head-on. So, apart from honing the various job functions that he has to learn and then excelling at them, managing people and building better relationships were also key learnings that he found on his journey. He finds that relationship-building and people skills are necessary for sales, marketing, recruitment and leadership. Part of that learning includes getting the right people on the team.

“As they say, ‘you’re as good as your weakest link.’ I learned that we have to get the right people to keep going. When it comes to systems and processes, we’re good on that stuff because we're engineers. I didn't value marketing and HR before, but as the business was growing and evolving, those are probably two of the most important things in any business. So, it’s about people, which is HR, and marketing, which is creating value for the market segments that you want,” Mark answers thoughtfully.

Recognising the significance of the different aspects of the business that they have not given much attention before, Mark learned to surround himself with business coaches and mentors that cared about the business and guided him through his entrepreneurial journey, particularly in areas where he didn’t have previous skills.

Earlier this year, Mark also joined EO Melbourne, where he has picked additional knowledge that he has applied in his business. “I learned the importance of execution and strategy. I also understood that having the absolute clarity and unity at the top of the business can penetrate all the way down to the staff.”

Putting all those tools together and applying them in his entrepreneurial voyage, Mark has seen the fruits of their labours. Their biggest win is getting customers in the Middle East. “We are in the UAE since 2 years ago. It's nice to see people from various walks of life in other parts of the world smile and enjoy using what we developed way back in 2002 out of a garage. We're on that path of growth now, which is about getting the team right and consolidating our brand and our position in the Australian market. Next year is about extending that and also growing internationally. We have 3 countries earmarked in 2018,” Mark eagerly shares.

In fact, Mark is ready to take on the world. They plan to have offices in each of the major continents. The expansion, however, is not only geographic. It also extends to having more services and products in the pipeline. Mark takes their plans further as he sees more changes to occur in the market and, in effect, in their business within the next few years. “It is going to be totally different from what it is now. The market will be different. Technology is open to disruption, so we have to be the one that must disrupt so as not to be disrupted.”

Mark remains hopeful despite the constant changes happening around him. “As the business is growing and as we are getting more resources and people to do the operational stuff, I see myself spending more time on the innovation flow. I really enjoy that. I think there is a lot of exciting change that is already starting to happen. I think it excites more people to come on board and have a career with us as well,” he retorts.

As he looks at the 15 or more years of his entrepreneurial journey at a macro level, Mark cites the important ingredients for a successful business cuisine. “I think that perseverance, hard work and continuous learning are the key things that I attribute to what I have, where I am, and what I achieve. Also, it’s people and passion first before anything else. It's the passion you have for the right people.”

While he continues to cook up more ideas that will help develop the food and beverage industry and take it to a higher level, he imparts an important message to other aspiring entrepreneurs. “You need to be determined to get through every day. You must be determined to keep learning. Determination and discipline. These are the key behaviours that you need to keep you going to the next stage and the next stage and the next stage.”

These are the same qualities that enabled him to take control of his destiny and led him to create something meaningful to the world. And with determination and discipline, he is ready for the next stage of his journey.

More of Mark Calabro in his LinkedIn profile. Read about Ordermate at http://www.ordermate.com.au.