Videoconferencing Gains Momentum

With business travel being scaled back in an effort to control costs, many companies are using videoconferencing as an alternative, according to a survey conducted at PictureTel Corp.’s (www.picturetel.com) Users Group Conference last month. More than 92 percent of those surveyed said that they increased their usage of videoconferencing services within the last year.

“We see a number of key trends emerging," Lew Jaffe, PictureTel’s president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. "While we have always known that videoconferencing offers a cost-effective alternative to business travel, today's economic environment is demanding that organizations not only reduce airline and accommodation expenses, but also increase productivity while in the office. From that perspective we have found that organizations are increasingly turning to videoconferencing to do much more than simple internal communication - for example, to enhance stakeholder communication with vendors, business partners, or customers. Whether conducting design collaboration, research and development, or strategic planning, videoconferencing delivers practical benefits such as the significantly improved response times that result in reduced repair and maintenance down time, shorter product development cycles, and the ability to deliver more extensive training more cost-effectively."

A total of 92 percent of respondents said they use the technology to communicate with outside groups, such as customers, suppliers or partners.

The survey showed that 37 percent of those responding used videoconferencing for project management and review sessions, while 28 percent said it was used to execute joint design and development efforts. About 7 percent said they use video calls for customer service, and another 7 percent said they use videoconferencing for sales calls.

As for return on investment, 75 percent of respondents said that their videoconferencing systems paid for themselves and resulted in real savings in 12 months or less.

PictureTel also reports that while many users are still relying on ISDN for connectivity, nearly half of this year’s respondents said they had some systems connected to IP networks for videoconferencing.

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines