Internal Meeting Software

Who said business meetings are a waste of time? That’s been the buzz in many industries for years, but everything has changed with the emergence of customizable internal meeting software. You’re no longer limited to disorganized in-person meetings that involve far too many printouts, handwritten notes, and random lists of talking points with no context.

Virtual internal meetings are now an everyday occurrence in millions of businesses. While you may look forward to sitting around a boardroom table with your team in person, it’s clear that remote meetings serve a valuable purpose. For one, they make it easy to organize and plan an agenda as you move through your daily work rather than throwing it all together off the top of your head at the last minute.

That alone can save many businesses and organizations a lot of time! You save time in preparation and then save even more time as meetings are controlled. They’re less likely to ramble on for an hour or more while saying little to nothing of value.  
Now that businesses in all industries have been forced to explore virtual meeting technology, the tech industry has responded with a wider variety of software options. As technology continues to improve, platforms are surfacing to recreate the in-person office in a virtual landscape.

It’s all about improving efficiency and encouraging collaboration and personal connections despite the distance between parties. With the right internal meeting software, you can have more effective internal meetings with less stress and far less prep work.
Unfortunately, searching for internal meeting software is often a bit like roaming down a dark hallway and opening random doors in search of daylight. The problem is considering your options from a functional and financial standpoint and then determining the right software for the unique needs of your organization or company.

Which door—software—holds the key to daylight? How do you find out without wasting weeks or months in frustrating trial periods with some of the best free online meeting platforms like Microsoft Teams and WebEx Meeting app?

Unfortunately, the result of those free trial runs is often disorganization, technical difficulties, and time-wasting glitches.

Free virtual meeting platforms have limitations. For instance, they may limit the length of meetings or how many total hours of meeting time you can schedule. Caps on meeting size make large internal team meetings impossible.

Free programs also offer a few customization options—if they have any at all!

If you don’t have time for trial and error or don’t want to force generalized features to serve your needs, paid internal meeting software is the best option. Let’s discuss more what premium software platforms like Fi can do and why they’re in growing demand throughout the business world.

The Benefits of Customizable Meeting Management Software 

Customization is the key to making agenda management software work for your unique needs. You can load and launch the software with basic features to get up and running quickly or work with the platform to create a unique setup right from the start. 

The big picture goal is to create an efficient, organized virtual workspace that connects every member of your team in less time and with less stress. 

There are some clear benefits to working with a reputable meeting management software with at least some customization options: 

• You eliminate the messy, wasteful paper trail. Internal meetings often involve a lot of paper used for note taking plus printed documents passed around to share information. A meeting management app can eliminate the paper by keeping shared documents, note taking, and other information in digital form. 
• Meeting materials are organized and instantly shared to every member of the team. You can have multiple people create documents, slideshows, and other materials while bringing them all together in one centralized location. You have everything you need without wasting time passing around stacks of printed material or searching for files in various computer programs.  
• Collaboration takes place in real-time and may start before the meeting is held. The days of having a brilliant observation and writing it down on a sticky note in hopes you’ll remember to take it to the meeting next week are over. You can now allow members of your team to note those ideas the moment they’re born without interfering with workflow. 
• Meeting management tools like virtual chat boxes can eliminate confusing email or message board trails. It’s time-consuming to create group emails and then keep up as multiple people send in their responses. Quickly opening a real-time chat box is far faster and feels more like a natural conversation that encourages connection between team members. 
• Everyone can attend without travel. You may also save your company a lot in travel expenses. 
• It’s easier to fit internal meetings into everyone’s schedule when they can attend virtually. 
  

You will find many other benefits to using internal meeting management software once you customize a platform to fit your unique needs. For remote and distributed teams focused on growth and efficiency, customization is essential to any virtual team meeting software considered. 

Selecting the Best Meeting Software for Any Budget 

You now understand the benefits of working with internal or board meeting management software, and we’ve discussed the importance of customization. It’s time to talk about determining the best meeting software for your company or organization even if your budget is tight.  

Start with an analysis of the financial savings that will come naturally from more efficient internal team meetings or from replacing in-person team meetings with virtual meetings. 

You may save in a variety of ways, including: 

• Printer paper and other office supplies 
• Electronics used only for in-person meetings like projectors
• Space rental for large meetings 
• Travel for remote workers

You may even consider the money you may save on salaries and hourly wages. How is that possible? Just think about the amount of time you’re now paying for employees to prepare for internal meetings. Meeting management software will streamline and simplify that process, allowing those employees to do more productive and valuable duties with much of that time. 

They get more done. You get more for those payroll expenses. 

You may find that high-quality internal meeting software is more in budget than you realized due to those savings. The next step is to identify the best flow and setup for your internal meetings. You can then compare a variety of free and paid internal meeting software platforms to see which ones offer the features and customization you need to get the perfect setup. 

Go with well-respected, recognized options like WebEx Meeting, Filo, and Microsoft Teams Meeting.  Go through demos if possible or set up a trial meeting with each of the most promising options. Talk to company representatives about customization options, and then decide what will work best for your meetings. 

Getting the Most from Your Online Meeting Management Software

Selecting your online meeting management solution is the first step to saving time, money, and a few headaches. Whether you decided to run with online meeting platforms free of charge like the basic Microsoft Teams Meeting App or to customize with one of the paid software platforms like Filo, you may use the software in different ways than other companies. 

The following tips will help you maximize the benefits from your internal meeting software: 

• Appoint one person or a small team to fully understand all features available. They can create the unique setup for your company, utilizing the features in creative ways to maximize efficiency and ease. It’s easy to miss opportunities if you don’t take the time to explore the software in its entirety. 
• Give all team members access to the software along with instructions on how to use it before the first meeting. Open a chat thread to allow easy communication between coordinators and team members in case of technical difficulties. You don’t want those potential disruptions occurring during the first meeting. 
• Consider ways to utilize the software between meetings. The great thing about holding team meetings virtually is you can open lines of communication daily and allow that flow to create more productive meetings or perhaps just much shorter meetings. 
• Never consider your setup final or permanent. Stay open to feedback from team members because they may have great ideas for improving your meetings even more. Pay attention to new features and technological developments as well because explorations into team meeting software are just beginning. 
• Consider different setups for different types and sizes of internal meetings. The best virtual meeting platforms for large groups isn’t always the best for small groups or one-on-one meetings. Go for a flexible program that will meet all of your meeting needs. 
  

From Internal Meetings to Video Conference Software & Beyond ‍

Are you excited to explore new meeting software options? While you’re at it, consider investing in a meeting program that also serves your video conference software needs. You have a variety of conferencing and meeting needs, depending on the group, occasion, and objective. Instead of investing in multiple applications, you can invest in Filo. 

As one of the best video conferencing apps available today, Filo is proud to provide advanced features that meet the diverse needs of every company and organization. Put together your video conferencing software list to make sure you know what you need, and then sign up for a demo. We look forward to showing you what Filo can do for your meetings.