GreenTech

A cheaper, greener meeting

Videoconferencing can help enterprises address rising travel costs and environmental concerns.

In today's global business environment, employees, customers and partners are geographically scattered, working in different offices, cities and time zones, which requires traveling to customer and corporate meetings, and visits to and from branch offices to collaborate with colleagues.

Business travel, however, is no longer as simple as it once was. Planes are packed, service frills have all but disappeared and lengthy flight delays have become the norm, while airfares and additional fees continue to rise.

As organizations seek to reduce expenses, the travel budget is often the first to be cut. More than a quarter of nearly 200 companies polled recently by the Business Travel Coalition (BTC) have made significant cuts to their travel budgets.

"This year, we saw a slowdown in the growth of business travel, and in 2009 we expect to see a continuation of that slowdown," says Kevin Maguire, CEO of the National Business Travel Association (NBTA). "You will see more companies go to videoconferencing, simply because you can do a videoconference for less than sending bodies to a meeting."

Three-quarters of the companies polled by the BTC said they were using videoconferencing to replace or augment some business travel, for financial reasons as well as environmental. Today, most businesses have corporate sustainability initiatives that call for cutting carbon footprints, and one of the most effective ways to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions is to reduce travel.

Videoconferencing offers enterprises the opportunity to meet and collaborate virtually anytime, anywhere, without the costs and carbon emissions associated with air travel. Eliminating one trip between New York City and Tokyo, for example, saves more than 40 hours of travel time, $3,200 in airfare and 3,600 pounds of CO₂ emissions.

There are various levels of videoconferencing to suit businesses of all sizes. Desktop videoconferencing can enable face-to-face meetings without the need for a dedicated room, and can allow teams to work in a collaborative environment without even leaving their desks. With a desktop application, such as ooVoo or SightSpeed, users can conduct an impromptu one-to-one video call or set up a videoconference with up to five other people. Desktop solutions range from less than $100 for a pair of Web cameras to $5,000 for high-definition desktop systems from companies like Radvision and Tandberg.

The lower end of the videoconferencing market - desktop-to-desktop applications - has been driving acceptance at the higher end, where most business travel is done, according to Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the BTC.

Sophisticated systems by companies such as Cisco, HP and Polycom feature high-definition picture and sound, and offer life-size, panoramic images of meeting participants. While not quite as futuristic as CNN's use of "holographic" images of remote reporters on election night, these room-sized, multiscreen systems allow meeting participants in Tokyo to feel as though they are at the same conference table as those in New York. These systems are designed to link other similar conference suites in different locations, and their prices range from $50,000 to $400,000 each.

Computer game maker Activision found the investment in videoconferencing beneficial to its budget and employee productivity. The company used to conduct monthly meetings in which numerous development teams from around the world would travel to California. Now, with 24 LifeSize systems in its offices in five countries, the teams hold weekly videoconference meetings - reducing travel expenses by more than 20 percent and enabling speedier product development.

Less travel means a reduced carbon footprint, lower expenses and increased productivity, which is good for the environment and for the balance sheet.

Communications News' GreenTech column focuses on a variety of issues concerning the green IT movement. You can contact Associate Editor Denise DiRamio at ddiramio@comnews.com .