50 video conferencing statistics (remote work, webinars and more)

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed quite a few aspects of all our lives. Most of us have completely switched from company meetings to video conferencing, from working 9 to 5 in purpose built offices to home ones, and from attending seminars to watching webinars.

While most of those changes were already becoming increasingly popular with each year, the pandemic turned them from “optional” to a “must” overnight. Video conferencing in particular seems to be an ideal solution for times of working from home.

With face-to-face meetings and conferences generally cancelled for an unknown amount of time, video conferencing tools have quickly become an everyday necessity. How else would it be possible to attend an event or seminar while maintaining social distancing? How else could you hold regular meetings with your team during a lockdown?

What’s more, video conferencing has already proved to be a very effective and convenient method of organizing meetings for any time, at any place, and which can be joined by all team members who have stable internet access. As a result, video conferencing and video conferencing tools are booming. Here’s a list of 39 most interesting video conferencing statistics, as chosen by us.

Remote work in 2020

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit remote work was seen as a “nice option to have”, but not many companies offered this choice. However, the current coronavirus outbreak and resulting global lockdowns forced both big and small businesses to move to remote forms of work. Plenty of companies also quickly noticed the benefits of remote work, such as higher employee productivity and increased job satisfaction. Just take a look at these stats:

• 55% of companies allow remote working, with 16% being fully-remote (Source: OwlLabs)
• There was a 159% increase in remote work between 2005 and 2017 (Source: FlexJobs)
• From 2019-2022, remote work is expected to increase by 77% (Source: GetVoip)
• 57% of remote workers were already doing so full-time before the pandemic (Source: LP Buffer)
• 62% of employees between 22 and 65 say they work remotely occasionally (Source: OwlLabs)
• From 2010-2020, there has been a 400% increase in the number of employees who work remotely at least once a week (Source: GetApp)
• 77% of remote workers say they are more productive when working from home, while 52% say they are less likely to take time off (Source: CoSo Cloud)
• 23% of remote workers are willing to work longer hours from home than in the office (Source: CoSo Cloud)
• 74% of employees say they are less likely to leave a company if it offers remote work (Source: OwlLabs)
• 83% of employees say that being able to work from home would increase their job satisfaction (Source: Velocity Global=)

The use of video conferencing tools

With the increased need for remote contact options, there was naturally a boom in the popularity of video conferencing tools. These tools allow users to quickly and easily set up meetings and allow other team members to join, all from the comfort of their own homes.

The number of tools available on the market is quickly increasing. An interesting thing is that 45% of teams use video calling tools daily or weekly Source: LiveWebinar). Some of the most commonly used ones by companies for video conferencing are Zoom and Google Meet, which are popular because they are free and easy to use. How many companies use video conferencing tools? Let’s look at the stats:

• 43% of remote and in-house teams use a video conferencing tool (Source: GetVoip)
• 78% of corporate companies use video calling software for team meetings (Source: HR Technologist)
• 83% of businesses with over 250 employees are likely to purchase video calling tools (Source: Commercial Integrator)
• 86% of companies conduct employee interviews over video calls (Source: Gartner)
• 62% of companies use three or more video calling platforms (Source: Forbes Insight)
• Zoom had over 300 million meeting participants per day in 2020 (Source: Business of apps)
• Google Meet had over 100 million daily meeting participants in 2020 (Source: TheVerge)
• Microsoft Teams had 75 million active daily users in 2020 (Source: Windows Central)

How much do companies save with video conferencing?

One of the most significant benefits of remote work and video conferencing is how much money a company and its employees can save. Firstly, employees no longer have to worry about commuting costs, since they can work from anywhere they want to. For example, employees who worked remotely ten days per month saved about $350 a year in commuting costs (Source: LiveWebinar).

Employees don't have to travel long distances either - they can schedule an online meeting with clients or business partners from other continents. How much exactly can companies save with internet conferences then?

• Companies save $11,000 annually per employee by using video conferencing software (Source: Wainhouse)
• If employees who could work remotely did so for half of their working hours, it would result in over $700 billion U.S. national savings (Source: Global workplace analytics)
• If U.S. workers worked remotely for just half of their time, the greenhouse reductions would have the same effect as taking the New York State workforce permanently off the road. (Source: Global workplace analytics)
• Dell cited savings of $12 million a year from reduced office space costs (Source: Dell)
• Employees save an average of $2,000-$7,000 by using web conferencing tools that allow them to telecommute (Source: Career Wiki)
• Video conferencing can reduce travel costs by up to 30% (Source: SkillScooter)
• Video conferencing has reduced the need for business travel by 47% (Source: GetVoip)
• Taking into account travel and commuting times, full-time remote working saves the equivalent of 2-3 weeks a year (Source: Global Workplace Analysts)
• Employees who worked remotely ten days per month saved about $350 a year in commuting costs (Source: Dell)

Typical uses of video conferences

With so many benefits of online conferences, no wonder that companies and employees are quickly getting used to this form of meeting. Not only is it a very convenient way to have a team or client meeting (employees can join from wherever they are, on whatever device they wish), but it’s also easier for attendees to make suggestions or share ideas. For example, there are stats that say the best time to host a webinar is the time after the lunch hour. What's more, Wednesday is the best day to run a webinar, with a response rate of 26%. While weekends only get a 1-2% response rate (Source: LiveWebinar). And how are companies using video conferencing?

• 45% of teams use video calling tools daily or weekly (Source: GetVoip)
• 80% of employees use video calling for 1:1 meetings (Source: Medium)
• Video conferencing was cited as being used most for 1:1 meetings (80%), team meetings/stand-ups (78%), large group meetings/company town halls (77%), and then customer/partner meetings (62%) (Source: TechRepublic)
• 89% of remote employees say they feel more connected and involved with teams and projects when using video conferencing (Source: Medium)
• 55% of businesses say video conferencing effectively increased employee engagement (Source: Simployee)
• Studies show that 77% of attendees join video meetings on laptops or desktop computers, 31% on mobile phones, and 13% on tablets (Source: MixNetworks)

Webinar popularity is on the rise

Webinars (online presentations about a particular topic) were already incredibly useful for both marketers and users, but the ongoing pandemic has shown just how powerful they are. Attendants can reap all the benefits of attending a seminar or conference in-person, but from the comfort of their own homes. Webinars are also massively useful for marketers, since they can not only show a company as an expert in their field, but also generate high-quality leads. You may don't know it, but 85% of marketers, who use webinars as a marketing tool, say that webinars are crucial for their marketing efforts. Also, in the past year, 67% of marketers were increasing their investment in webinars (Source: LiveWebinar). Here are the rest stats about the popularity of webinars:

• 57% of webinar registrations are made by email rather than other communication channels (Source: Go to Webinar)
• 73% of B2B marketers said that webinars are the best way to generate high-quality leads (Source: Zoominfo)
• 40-50% is the average webinar attendee rate out of total registrants (Source: BlogginX)
• 92% of webinar attendees want a live Q&A session at the end of a webinar (Source: Medium)
• 89% of hosts agreed that webinars are the best platform to showcase and grow their business (Source: On24)
• 95% of respondents agreed that webinars were the key to their lead generation and marketing efforts (Source: On24)
• 75% of respondents reported that they use webinars to build their brand, 76% to generate more leads, and 69% to scale their marketing efforts (Source: On24)

The future of remote work and video conferencing statistics

Even if Covid-19 stops being a major threat, our lives are unlikely to ever return to exactly the same as they were before the pandemic began. Companies have finally noticed the benefits (and savings) of remote work. The webinar market is projected to reach $800 million by 2023 (Source: LiveWebinar). Employees too are generally enjoying working in home-office mode and many aren’t as interested in returning to the office as they were at the beginning of the pandemic. What's interesting, 55% of companies allow remote working, with 16% being fully remote (Source: LiveWebinar). Let's have a look at some video conferencing predictions for the future:

• 48% of employees will probably work at least part time remotely after Covid-19, versus 30% who did before the pandemic (Source: Gartner)
• 57% would like to increase their level of remote work in the future (Source: Forbes)
• Of employees currently working remotely, 80% would like to continue to work away from the office at least occasionally, and 58% would like this to be their main way of working (Source: Forbes)
• Of those individuals who are now working remotely full-time, only 10% say they want to return to their workplace exclusively (Source: Forbes)
• 70% of company owners claim that they will let their employees continue to work remotely, even after they are allowed to open offices (Source: Entrepreneur)
• 66% of company owners are reconsidering investments in their offices (Source: Entrepreneur)
• 65% of company owners claimed that even if stay-at-home orders were lifted, they would not return their companies to the office (Source: Entrepreneur)
• Experts predict the video conferencing market to grow at over 19% CAGR between 2020 and 2026 (Source: Global Marketing Insight)
• The video conference market share is expected to grow to $50 billion by 2026 (Source: Global Marketing Insight)
• 75% of CEOs predict that video conferencing will replace regular conference calls (Source: SkillScooter)
• By 2022, experts predict that internet video traffic and worldwide IP video traffic will increase by 4 times the 2017 volumes (Source: Cisco)
• The Asia-Pacific region is expected to dominate the market of worldwide video conferencing from 2020 (Source: SkillScooter)

Looking at the above video conferencing statistics, it’s clear that video conferencing and remote work is here to stay. While remote work and online meetings might still feel a little different to a regular day in the office, their numerous benefits can’t be overlooked. So, while we are stuck at home, why not make the best out of the situation?