Videoconferencing: Boosted by Falling Prices, Travel Woes
 Mishawaka,
IN. Long airport lines. Cancelled flights. Two-hour
advance check-ins. Business travel has been under pressure for
years, but the post-September 11 changes have made what used
to be a simple trip a lengthy and frustrating ordeal. Business
productivity and business travel seem to be moving in opposite
directions, as managers weight the benefits of face-to-face
interaction against the costs and perceived risks of air travel.
One technology that is rising to the challenge is videoconferencing.
The idea of conducting meetings by video was already rising,
due mostly to the improving quality and declining cost of videoconferencing.
According to Drew Johnson, Director of Marketing at Direct Line
Communications, Inc., a very workable videoconferencing solution
can be installed for well under $5,000 per node. "When
the cost of management and staff time is added to the actual
costs of travel, a videoconferencing system in a multi-office
company can pay for itself in less than a year."
At the moment, videoconferencing resembles the early days of
the fax machine - it is employed primarily for use within multi-office
companies, or within groups of firms that work closely together.
There simply aren't enough firms with videoconferencing is too
limited to, say, make sales calls via video.
The fall in prices, though, may change that. Bob Metcalfe,
inventor of Ethernet technology and long-time computer industry
guru, created a maxim dubbed "Metcalfe's Law." Simply
put, it states that the value of a network grows as the square
of the number of users. Thus, when a few companies had fax machines,
they were useful primarily for internal communication. When
many companies had fax machines, they became a more common tool
for communicating between firms. And finally, when fax machines
became ubiquitous, they also became almost indispensable.
Originally employed in costly corporate boardrooms using complex
equipment that required skilled operators, videoconferencing
tools are now popping up in the offices and conference rooms
of even small businesses. "Any business with facilities
in multiple cities is a candidate for video-conferencing. We
estimate that up to 80% of interoffice trips can be replaced
with video meetings."
Newer videoconferencing units are compact enough to use on
roll-around carts, and have features that make sharing documents
like charts and engineering drawings easy. Some even allow sharing
of PC data like spreadsheets and graphs. Bandwidth requirements
have decreased as well, meaning that companies can use less
costly lines such as ISDN lines or a fractional part of a T1
line. These
E-mail and instant messaging tools have already created new
ways to facilitate communication. The frequency of communications
between remote facilities has increased dramatically with these
innovations, and distant managers are closer than ever. Nevertheless,
Johnson notes, "Building trust and rapport is far easier
and quicker with face-to-face communication. Companies need
that kind of contact to avoid 'us vs. them' attitudes and to
minimize internal conflicts." Videoconferencing may be
just the ticket for firms trying to boost productivity and minimize
travel.
Videoconferencing Information. For videoconferencing
information and a free site analysis,
e-mail us or complete the form below.
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CompStar Technologies is a leading Indiana-based provider of networking, technology, and communications services. With offices in Mishawaka (serving South Bend, Elkhart, Warsaw, Michigan City, Fort Wayne, Niles, St. Joseph, and Benton Harbor, Michigan) and Indianapolis, CompStar provides network design / support, network security, wireless networking, business telephone systems, VoIP (voice over IP), and cctv / video surveillance systems. CompStar is the Technology Division of Direct Line Communications, headquartered in Mishawaka, Indiana.
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