Board management software is a technology that provides real-time business communication between several participants, regardless of their location. They can communicate, hear and see each other, exchange audio and video files, vote, record the meeting, etc. Most importantly, they get the opportunity to discuss and develop business ideas anytime, anywhere. They need a computer, laptop, tablet, a stable Internet connection, and special software to organize an efficient discussion. Let’s look at the functions of the board room software together and name the best providers! So, let’s go!
Board Portal: The Essence & Key Advantages
A virtual boardroom is a feature-rich meeting management software. It allows you to save effort and time on preparing for a meeting and simplifies the entire negotiation process. Moreover, it offers the following benefits:
- Full involvement of each participant. Board room software allows not only to hear but also to observe the interlocutor. It makes the dialogue more fruitful. Unlike a telephone conversation, subscribers are not distracted by extraneous matters and are entirely focused on communication.
- Ease of use. Participation in a board meeting does not require special knowledge and skills, as the systems have a clear and straightforward interface.
- Depending on the possibility of the board portal, the number of participants can be different: from 2 to several dozen.
- It saves time and money. The technology reduces expenses on employees’ business trips, hotel reservations, and the rental of meeting rooms. In addition, video communication helps save precious time: participants no longer need to spend it moving to another city or country.
- Growth of labor efficiency. Board members can communicate with each other regardless of the time of day and location. Even if colleagues are in the same building, they can get in touch without leaving their workplace. Thus, the coordination of projects and the discussion of problem situations are faster and more efficient. For remote workers, such technologies are a prerequisite for work.
- It is improving communication. Using the board document management is an excellent tool for collaborating with partners and colleagues. You can present business ideas in online mode, quickly inform managers about achieved goals, etc.
Board management software will be of interest to companies from various industries: medicine, law, education, etc., that ensure the effectiveness of board meetings. In addition, the system encrypts the documents used, which creates additional security for any business.
Board Room Software: The Leading Vendors & Set Of Tools
In order not to get lost among the variety of offers, you need to know the leaders! So, now let’s list the top board room software providers:
- Azeus Convene;
- iBabs;
- OnBoard;
- Wrike;
- Diligent Boards;
- Govenda;
These leaders are uniquely positioned to continuously improve the development of new solutions and improve the board offering, helping clients across industries and regions around the world improve the security and productivity of their boards. So, a reputable board portal vendor’s client base includes many private and public companies in various industries. The customers rely on normative technology solutions for collaboration and its full suite of enterprise security tools, including:
- Full data encryption;
- Recording of audits and changes made;
- Two-factor authentication for all meeting participants;
- Protection for managers and administrators;
- A user-friendly and easy-to-use interface.
Now let’s briefly talk about how the board portal works! At the initial stage, the system offers to create a schedule, attach documents to it, invite participants to the feed and send out invitations with notifications and reminders. You can schedule the meeting once or regularly. During the session, file navigation is available through the preview, the laser pointer element, and the launch of a remote meeting from the administrator’s computer. After the meeting, you can send out summaries of past meetings and summaries of those that took place and upload personalized and general abstracts. The meeting package can be compiled into PDF format. The board management software allows assigning access rights to discussions and chats to particular individuals or groups.
How to Choose the Best Virtual Boardroom?
Many business startups make mistakes when choosing and acquiring the first board portal they come across. To understand which solution is better to buy and what to look for, you should study the main criteria for choosing board document management software.
- The question of how much the virtual boardroom costs is one of the most important. Large businesses and multi-branch firms will require paid software. Keep in mind that many services offer only an annual subscription. The average price is relatively high. According to buyers, it is advisable to use a test version before purchasing to evaluate the capabilities and convenience of the software.
- There is a wide range of board portals on the market. You can order any software online on the developer’s website. To figure out which company’s product is better to buy, you should study the rating of reputable board portal vendors on the Internet, expert recommendations, and advice from experienced consumers. There you can also find a description of the set of services and compare tariffs.
- Web-version and mobile app available. The popularity of mobile models (phones, tablets) is due to their convenience and 24/7 accessibility. Therefore, a client for smartphones and a web version that allows you to work directly through a browser are an essential and integral part of the modern board portal.
- Modern board services offer a lot of valuable tools for conducting online meetings. For example, you can experiment with agenda templates, voting algorithms, distribution of document access rights, etc.
- The best vendors spend considerable time and money on information security. However, encryption and specialized codecs minimize the risk of data leakage.
Before making the final choice, analyze the needs and scale of the business project. So, large companies will need services that allow organizing large-scale meetings with the need to use additional services. Do not save on the board management software if you want your business to thrive!
