Video Conferencing Offers Companies Alternative to Business Travel
Friday, August 28th, 2009
In light of a waning economy and more businesses on tighter budgets, cutting out business travel expenses for the year has become a popular trend amongst companies of all sizes. Many companies are turning to video conferencing in an effort to save on the cost of travel and keep up with priority operations through the end of the year.
According to a recent article on the topic by the Chicago Tribune, Cisco Systems, Incorporated has managed to reduce its travel budget from $750 million to $240 million in one year simply by adapting to sophisticated video conferencing for important meetings and group events. Other companies that have joined this emerging trend include Nokia Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Advanced Micro Devices, Incorporated.
Today's innovative video conferencing systems allow companies to enjoy the company of business associates halfway across the world without having to pay for meeting room rental costs and other costs associated with hosting a meeting. Most importantly, these types of arrangements allow the employee to work from their job site, eliminating the need for flight and hotel arrangements that often cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars depending on the location of the meeting.
Video conferencing technologies also make it easy for attendees to collaborate on projects in real time, record notes, and capture all aspects of the meeting in an easily-accessible video or audio format for later review. While some video conferencing systems can cost several thousands of dollars in monthly service fees and equipment, the upfront investment may still be significantly lower than the millions of dollars that is spent on travel expenses by large corporations such as Cisco and Hewlett Packard.
Small and mid-sized companies may be able to follow suit by investing in simple video conferencing devices and technology, or even by taking advantage of free services such as Skype and online chatting systems.