Videoconferencing Problems? Here's the System That One Company Swears By.

Think of videoconferencing like drinking free-trade, independently roasted coffee: Tons of people are doing it, but nobody's really doing it efficiently or cost-effectively. Legacy systems cost anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 and require significant hardware in each conference room. Then there's the issue of support—because of the systems' complexity, companies must set aside tech-support resources to troubleshoot when errors occur.

At Mimeo.com, a content distribution and printing company based in New York City but with employees all over the world, the challenge was particularly onerous. Last year, after Mimeo.com acquired another printing company in Germany and needed to assimilate disparate work forces, executives had to figure out an affordable way to incorporate efficient videoconferencing into their management routine. They tried to run video calls over Google+ Hangouts, but found the service unreliable.