Video conferencing offers more than a face to talk to

One of the unfortunate truths of growing up is how hard it can be to hold on to traditions. Never is this more evident than around the holidays. As families grow, faces disappear around grandma's table at Thanksgiving or decisions have to be made as to whose house Christmas Eve is spent at. It's because of this that a new technology has become so popular – video conferencing.

The technology does not always get a fair shake, but it does have its champions. In a recent Mashable guest column, Ian Small responded to another Mashable column entitled "Why Does Video Chat Still Suck?" While he concedes that Rob Lammle raised a few valid points, he fires back by saying when handled properly, video conferencing could be the future of communication.

"There is a whole world in which video chat doesn’t suck – take the addict, for whom video chat is a lifeline, the sports fan who goes face-to-face with her favorite pitcher, the mother who asks a doctor to see her sick child without leaving the house, the student who learns a language or an instrument from home, and the busy executive who gets to spend more time with her family by avoiding an in-person meeting," writes Small.

He goes on to say that over the last two years, a number of platforms have helped increase the popularity of video chat. Also, with the improving state of the world's wireless internet, having a connection anywhere is not unheard of.

While many of us have experienced the frustration of trying to get a video chat going when we have a bad wireless signal or are on an unfamiliar machine, there is nothing quite like chatting with a family member on the other side of the world who couldn't make it home for the holidays.

Businesses can start to take advantage of this by partnering with an IT consulting firm like CTI Technology and can begin putting a face to the voice on the other end of the phone.

Never is this more evident than around the holidays. As families grow, faces disappear around grandma’s table at Thanksgiving or decisions have to be made as to whose house Christmas Eve is spent at. It’s because of this that a new technology has become so popular – video conferencing.