Effective communication between the board members is the central tenet of better corporate functioning and great leadership.
Communication is not only important for setting a tone for the rest of the workforce, but it is necessary for accurate decision-making, which ultimately leads to the achievement of organizational goals.
That being said, fast-paced businesses are now more attentive to strengthening communication between board officials. Digital technology, like virtual data rooms, has been at the forefront of modern-day business communication. Data room software keeps geographically dispersed board members on one page by:
- Ensuring fast communication
- Simplifying board data access
- Automating board meetings
Here is more about virtual data room software and how it is reshaping corporate communication.
What is online data room software?
Online or electronic data room software is a cloud-based document repository and virtual communication platform for:
- Storing, distributing, organizing, sharing, and managing corporate information
- Communicating, and
- Streamlining businesses meetings
In simplest words, digital data rooms are multi-facet business software that provides data management and meeting management solutions to businesses, government agencies, professionals, service providers, and corporate boards.
Board management is among the popular uses of data rooms. You can read more about board governance with the help of data rooms at: https://www.idealsvdr.com/board-communications/.
Data room software, due to its different types of features, is a regular component of modern-day dealmaking.
The corporate world regularly employs online data room software for mergers, corporate consolidations, acquisitions, licensing, initial public offerings, capital raising, joint ventures, and asset trading.
How virtual data rooms reshaped board communications?
Seamless board meetings
Data room vendors realized the importance of customized solutions for different industries. Corporate boards mostly communicate through digital channels, as regularly organizing physical board meetings is almost impossible.
What makes a virtual data room more suitable for boards? The biggest advantage of using VDRs for board communications is their universality.
Data rooms have every single tool needed for organizing board meetings. Here is how boards can simplify their meetings through data room software:
- You can create a meeting agenda from scratch and use it for the next meetings. Or, you can use customizable templates in your VDR.
- Board book preparation is simpler with VDRs. The board secretary (or concerned board member) can prepare digital board books and incorporate live links to different documents.
- The task manager in data rooms helps the organizers assign and track tasks before, during, and after meetings.
- Presenters in board meetings can use presenter mode in data rooms and navigate through PowerPoint slides.
- The best data room providers in the market have built-in audio/video conferencing tools for meetings. Some of the best virtual data room providers for board communications include iDeals, Ansarada, SecureDocs, and Digify.
- Meeting participants can cast votes virtually through voting tools in the VDR.
- The electronic signatures feature in data rooms allows users to sign documents online.
- The meeting minutes builder helps record, organize and distribute minutes to all participants.
Fast internal and external communication
Where VDR software assists board members in staying connected, it is a blessing for the investors to keep in touch with the leadership. Investors can communicate with other investors and board officials anytime.
The best thing about virtual data rooms is that management can arrange emergency meetings at the request of any board member and invite investors or stakeholders if it is necessary.
Also, data rooms are safer for external communication, especially when it involves data sharing. For example, inter-board communications can easily take place during joint ventures or temporary strategic partnerships. It is easier for boards to collaborate with advisors, consultants, and potential investors through online data rooms.
Remote data room access
Digital data rooms, as mentioned earlier, are cloud technologies. That means the VDR software users can access them from anywhere, anytime. Users can get immediate notifications related to platform activities.
They can immediately access updated documents and add their notes. Data rooms like iDeals automatically convert every document into a PDF, which gives a better document view.
Data room services nowadays come with dedicated apps for mobile and tablets. You can have every board document at your fingertips. Moreover, few VDRs even allow offline access to platform documents.
Platform safety
Where virtual data rooms streamline board meetings and documentation, they also ensure maximum protection. Data room vendors (especially the most prominent ones in the industry) have multiple cybersecurity certifications under their names. Common certifications include ISO, FINRA, FISMA, GDPR, SOC1, SOC Type II, SSAE, and HIPAA.
High-end data rooms also employ a 256-bit SSL data encryption feature. It encrypts the document and the data in it. Such strong data encryption is used in military communication and investment banking. Other notable platform security features include two-factor authorization, device purging, IP access restrictions, etc.
Final words
Virtual data room software has just reshaped board communication practices by:
- Providing communication tools for 24/7 collaboration
- Streamlining board meetings from start to end
- Simplifying board data management and sharing
- Safeguarding board meetings and data stored in board management software
Consider using a data room for your corporate needs if you have never used it before. For this, conduct your independent data room review and comparison and choose the best-fitting solution.
