In business, time is one of the most valuable resources. It’s all too common to find yourself with more tasks than you have time. And although you can’t add any more hours to the day, you can use your time in better ways.

When it comes to using time efficiently, communication hurdles are one of the most pressing issues businesses currently face. As the landscape evolves, business technologies are developing solutions that work with how employees want and need to communicate. One solution making considerable waves is Cisco Spark.

What is Cisco Spark?

Cisco Spark is a complete business collaboration service from the Cisco cloud that enables you to message, meet or call anyone - anywhere, anytime. In the simplest terms, it's like having digital conference rooms for everyone to join and leave as needed - and the meeting content remains. Cisco Spark was recently featured in a webinar which you can view here.

This Cisco-hosted product is revolutionizing the way businesses conference and collaborate. Here are just four of the way it does so ...

1. Collaborate Globally

Team collaboration doesn’t just happen within the same office or the same city. When there are 30 people on a project located all over the world, scheduling a meeting time can seem impossible. With Cisco Spark, working in diverse areas doesn’t mean missing out. You can link into your Spark Room and discover everything that happened while you were gone.

Any files, shared documents and chats are all there in their natural, intuitive state. And it all stays there so you can reference it at any time. You can participate in a video conference, and invite additional people in to join as necessary. It works on pc/tablet/mobile so you can take it anywhere.

Cisco Spark allows for better communication than email threads, where information is easily lost, buried or skipped over. Instead, you get a detailed timeline showing clear trains of thought from all involved.  

2. Maintain Deadlines

Those in project-based careers know too well how scheduling conflicts can push a deadline further and further away. With Cisco Spark, you only need a one-time invitation in order to join and rejoin a room as your schedule allows.

Participants can easily post progress, ask questions and receive feedback to make changes. It’s a consistent space – as if you always have your own virtual conference room that maintains all conversations, documents and interactions.

3. Present without Interruptions

At an event or presentation, adding hundreds of people to a Spark Room gives them the opportunity to comment and ask questions within the same space. This allows for optimal participation without interrupting the speaker or the flow of the event.

Additionally, those with great ideas who are uncomfortable speaking out are more likely to participate. And since the data all stays within the room, it’s simple to revisit the comments or questions at later dates. You'll never miss a beat.

4. Reduce Personnel Costs

Cisco Spark is also a great resource for companies who are consistently adding individuals to their staff. Human resources can create a Spark Room, adding all the new hires so they can go through introductions and interact with each other.

Adding a few current employees to answer questions and act as mentors to the new hires can be a great way to educate new employees about the company and save time.

Cisco Spark for Business

As a collaboration service, Cisco Spark just makes sense. As the way people communicate changes, communication tools need to adapt to meet new needs and use their time more efficiently. After all, you can’t create more time, but you can use the time you have in better ways.