Video Conferencing - CareforKids.com.au®

Video Conferencing
Would you use it in your service?

In a first for Australian child care centres, Universal Childcare is test running video conferencing facilities in eight of its services across the country. The video conferencing service was introduced to give working parents the opportunity to check in with their kids during the day. Universal has plans to offer video conferencing in a dozen more centres in coming months.

Centre staff at Gabriella's Cottage in Neutral Bay told The Daily Telegraph that the laptops allow parents to tune in via Skype to watch a presentation, keep an eye on play time or simply cheer up a little one who has had a fall.

"We know how much mums and dads miss their little ones throughout the day, and it gives them such a thrill to receive a face-to-face call at lunchtime to let them know everything is OK," Universal Childcare operations manager Jennifer Weston told The Daily Telegraph.

Child Care NSW president Vicky Skoulogenis told The Daily Telegraph that many parents were looking for child care providers that used new technology to do things such as email photos of children's artwork or provide online portfolios for families to access.

"They love the involvement, they feel engaged, and it reduces their level of stress," she said. "But centres need to make sure staff aren't taken away from their main objective to be looking after the children and developing them for their future.

"There's a place for it, but we just have to be careful that it's a happy medium," she said.

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