Before the pandemic, online video conferencing was a niche concern. But with global lockdowns came a huge spike in usage – from 10 million Zoom users in December 2019 to more than 300 million in April 2020.

Now, it's fast becoming the default for many companies. In the age of hybrid working and so-called "perimeterless" networks, teams are scattered all over the shop – but with virtual meetings, that doesn't have to affect attendance.

Yes, business travel is down and video calls are up. In fact, technological research firm Gartner predicted that by 2025, half of all enterprise events will be held on a video meeting platform.

But are they any good? During the pandemic, they were a necessity – now that necessity has passed, don't people want the human contact that real-life meetings allow?

Now, nobody is suggesting that all of human life should become virtual – well, maybe one or two devotees. But we maintain that there are definite benefits to virtual meetings – ones that will only grow as the technology develops.

In this article, we break down some of the perks of virtual meetings and then peer into the crystal ball to see what might come next...

1. Virtual meetings save money

This might sound a little Scroogey. Surely humankind can bear to spend a bit of money to be in the same room together?

The issue is that more and more teams are transnational – because expertise isn't always concentrated in your neighbourhood. If your team leader is based in Dublin and your finance officer is up a tree in the Amazon, they can still check in and share ideas.

Secondly, cutting costs doesn't have to be miserly. It can be a way of reallocating funds so that you're focusing on the really important stuff – things like research and development, recruitment, training and resources, rather than flights, accommodation and towering trays of sandwiches.

2. New opportunities for collaboration

Even in the not-so-old days when you got everyone together for a meeting, you were constrained by the size of the room and your team's clashing calendars. With virtual meetings, you can get the world and its wife around the table.

That's because the preparation needed is so slim. All you need is a half-decent internet connection.

What's more, there are useful tools for collaboration on many video call platforms – things like screen sharing, chat, polling and live transcription.

So while virtual meetings rocketed in popularity out of necessity, they have things to offer that a bricks-and-mortar get-together can't.

3. Greater accessibility

While there's no substitute for making reasonable adjustments for staff with disabilities, virtual meetings have the advantage of being accessible to everyone.

And if someone is stuck at home with a burst boiler or a poorly dog, they can still take part too – as can your colleague whose train is delayed.

4. Sustainability

Sustainability is the order of the day. Ask anyone from Google HQ to Bertie's Sweet Shop. A big contributor is travel – so virtual meetings can form part of your sustainability targets and help you to reduce your carbon footprint.

5. Flexible scheduling

Ask HR – scheduling conflicts often arise from the difficulty of getting everyone in one place at one time. And even when the meeting room's booked, you can't be sure that your frail boat won't be capsized by a traffic jam or the like.

Virtual meetings are easier to schedule – and easier to reschedule, too.

6. Virtual meetings can change group dynamics for the better

Remember in the before times when there was that one guy who always spoke over you? He'll probably find it harder to do on Zoom.

Yes, people will be people, but discussions can be easier to manage online than in person.

What is the future of virtual meetings?

Virtual meetings are going nowhere – but they're also going places. As extended reality technologies expand, so online meetings will begin to incorporate more virtual reality (VR) elements.

In 2021, Bill Gates predicted that "Within the next two or three years […] most virtual meetings will move from 2D camera image grids – which I call the Hollywood Squares model, although I know that probably dates me – to the metaverse, a 3D space with digital avatars".

Both Facebook and Microsoft have made public their plans. The vision is of a virtual meeting room where you're represented by an avatar and can move around as though you were there.

To achieve this, you'd need some cutting-edge kit – at the very least, some kind of VR goggles and motion-capture gloves. As you moved and spoke, these garments would project a lifelike you into the meeting room – a simulacrum that would represent your body language, facial expressions and voice.

Developers are also working on the audio side of things. If you have a team meeting now, all the sound is coming from one place – your speaker. Spatial audio would make the meeting sound like a room, with voices and other sounds coming from different points of the audio field.

For now, the main stumbling block is that these tools are hard to come by. After all, the light-speed adoption of Zoom and its counterparts was only possible because many people already had access to a personal laptop or phone.

It will be a while, then, before these 3D meetings become anywhere near as common as plain video conferencing – but in the coming years, we're highly likely to see them rolled out by enterprises.

Lots of people are working on this stuff – not just the big tech companies. These holographic meetings would have all the advantages of video calls but take them to a new level of accessibility and verisimilitude.

We'll let you know how it all unfolds...

Expand Reality is a UK-based XR technology specialist. Explore our online store for the latest and greatest XR devices from trusted names like Microsoft, Vuzix and RealWear.