5 reasons why online consultations are replacing offline ones
We believe in the Mirror world.
The processes used in the real world can be effectively digitized and this also goes for value communication. In the last few decades, people tried to prove that knowledge transfer can be as effective online, as offline.
There have been quite a few positive results, but what we see among professionals is that they are still not convinced: psychologists and coaches worry about privacy, call quality and intimacy, and tutors need multiple tools integrated.
The typical critique against online communication channels points out that the screen limits non-verbal communication, follow-up is harder, privacy standards cannot be properly upheld, quality is fluctuating and the practice of online provider search can lead to poor quality providers. In this article, we address all these issues.
Reasons to go online
The theoretical reason
First off, if you want to respond to the naysayers, you have to think of the situation from a theoretical point of view. Improving on communication methods has always been a crucial motivation of human innovation. The Internet is no different: first came e-mail, then chat, then video communication, and now Facebook and Slack are moving the whole web into a chat app. Communication over the Internet is clearly working.
The privacy reason
Most people use Skype for online video consultations. All your calls run through Skype servers, and all of your data and your clients’ data is stored on Microsoft servers. But with the introduction of WebRTC in the last 5 years, developers have gained a perfect solution for creating a secure call environment. WebRTC uses a peer-to-peer connection, which means tools using the framework are only storing the metadata of all your consultations, preferably secured through https. This ensure better security and privacy.
The technology is there, you just have to use it.
The quality reason
One can argue (for example, here) that online practices doesn’t just make provider searches easier, but it gives opportunities to the provider to showcase their best work and to create a personal brand that reflects their best knowledge. Social media, Google and all the other tools online are making the world more open and connected. People can get in touch with others all over the globe and make better decisions on who to consult and on how.
The setup reason
Quality goes as far as your Internet connection. If you are running an online consultancy, you have to create the best online consulting experience possible. In offline consulting, it is a requirement to have some chairs and a table, and with online consultations, it work in the same way: ask your clients to have at least 500 kbps upload/download speed, and keep the same standards yourself.
The effectiveness reason
There are multiple studies confirming that in some cases, online therapy, tutoring and coaching do not just yield the same result as their offline counterparts, but can even go far beyond that.
The University of Zurich recently conducted a study that set out to investigate the effectiveness of online therapy for treating depression. The study found that online therapy (in this case, instant messages and emails) was more effective in the long run than traditional face-to-face meetings. This can be credited to the accessibility factor.
Other studies came up with the same results in different industries, proving that online consultations are as effective as traditional face-to-face ones. You can find more examples by clicking on the links below:
here, here, here, here, here, here and here
Quick list on why online consultations can be more effective
- Mirror world: Same effects can be achieved, only faster and more comfortably
- Accessibility: More experts can be approached, and the work of these experts can be examined more transparently
- Trust: When choosing an expert, knowledge seekers can rely on a close group of social contacts for recommendations and also on vast amounts of information, available and searchable on the Internet
- Ongoing support: As an expert you can be be approached more easily, allowing you to provide a well-rounded service, with monetized, on-going and prompt support.
The technology is ready and the results are clear. Now we just need more industries and experts to join the movement. Here’s how the American Psychological Association sees this:
“There are a lot of good data showing that you can form a good therapeutic alliance using telepsychology, and that these modalities can help people with all sorts of issues,” Barnett says. “Now we just need to develop the formal guidelines, and hopefully the laws and regulations, to make this a successful and safe area of practice.”
