Teleconferencing can replace travel to meetings

By Linda Redeffer

Business Today

Getting people together at the same time for a business meeting is becoming easier and less costly for businesses. With the march of technology, teleconferencing has evolved into web-based video conferencing, reducing travel time dedicated to internal meetings and freeing personnel to spend travel budgets on landing customers.

Teleconferencing itself has become big business. According to howstuffworks.com, the American audio conferencing industry reported $2.25 billion in revenue in 2004.

“Our customer base and demand for service is really skyrocketing,†said Kevin Cantwell, president of Big River Telephone Company in Cape Girardeau. “It’s making people more productive; saving a lot of time. It’s a tremendous money saver for a business.â€

In early October, AT&T announced that it has agreed, through one of its subsidiaries, to acquire pivately-held Interwise, a leading global provider of voice, web and video conferencing services to businesses. AT&T will pay approximaely $121 million in cash for the company, according to a company news release.

The company will operate as a business unit within AT&T Global Business Services. With the acquisition of Interwise, AT&T says it expects to help businesses lower the costs involved in communicating over the globe.

The acquisition is an indication that teleconferencing and videoconferencing are growing in use.

All a business needs is a telephone system. With a dedicated dial-in number, an access code and someone to coordinate the calls, teleconferencing makes meetings possible around the clock and around the world, says Chelsey Ilten, a spokesperson for AT&T in St. Louis.

“That’s how we do our own conference calls here,†she said.

Teleconferencing is effective for sales meetings, meetings among branches of a business in different locations, training sessions, and it can link employees who work from home to the main office. Teleconferencing allows companies to stay in touch with staff more frequently than they could with a weekly or monthly face-fo-face meeting.

“It’s a tool to augment what you are already doing,†Cantwell said. “It improves productivity and allows people to get more control in life. It allows people to communicate more productively.â€

Taking teleconferencing a step further is videoconferencing, which hooks the telephone line to a company’s computer network and allows the moderator to do everything he could in a face-to-face meeting except shake hands.

“It’s a more personal form of communication when you can’t actually be there in person,†Ilten said. “ Its a great way to tell how engaged a person is in conversation. You can actually see faces. If you’re talking about new plans coming up you can see the excitement it brings to a whole other level.â€

AT&T Chief Executive Randall L. Stephenson told the Dallas Morning News in a Sept. 12 article that videoconferencing is valuable because “70 percent of communication comes not from words but from nonverbal signals†such as tone, posture, facial expression.

Cantwell said Big River has a client who uses videoconferencing to conduct job interviews. The client records the interview and loads it into Outlook so others in the company can see how the candidate answered the questions and give an opinion.

Costs are minimal. Setup costs are negligible, and the company pays only for the calls it makes. A teleconference or a videoconference would save travel costs â€" gas, wear and tear on the car, meals, airline costs for longer trips â€" as well as time, incidental costs such as meals and child care, and the cost of lost work time.

“We talk about going green,†Cantwell of Big River said. “With teleconferencing we won’t drive all over the place. There’s no telling how many emissions are going out in the air. There’s no need to take notes any more. We record the meeting, put it in the e-mail and send it out to everybody. Many trees are being saved.â€

Teleconferencing and videoconferencing have not totally eliminated business travel, but have allowed businesses to use their savings from canceled trips to finance other trips. According to AT&T’s Stephenson, the National Business Travel Association has reported that its members have been steadily increasing travel budgets and the trend is likely to continue, allowing companies to send employes on the road because teleconferencing makes it easier for traveling employees to get work done.

Cantwell says he can see no downside to teleconferencing. The only downside Ilten said she has become aware of comes from people who work from home. With video conferencing available now, they “have to get out of their PJs.â€

Start up costs for teleconferencing minimal

Teleconferencing and videoconferencing save money; startup costs are also minimal. All businesses have telephones. That’s basically all the equipment required.

For videoconferencing, according to AT&T, only a standard browser and a Web connection are needed.

“It’s very cost-effective,†said Kevin Cantwell, president of Big River Telephone Company in Cape Girardeau. “You pay for it when you use it. If you don’t use it there are no costs.â€

Each communication company charges its own rates per minute for use. Videoconferencing rates are slightly higher per connection than teleconferencing.

Teleconferencing is available around the clock. Businesses who buy the service receive one dial-in number and an access code that allows the calls to remain secure.

The cost of extra equipment, if needed, is minimal for basic services. Larger businesses who want top-end systems for videoconferencing with dedicated rooms, super-fast Internet connections and high-definition monitors can expect to pay more.

Many apparently find those to be good business investments. Wainhouse Research estimates that vendors sold 164,000 whole-room video systems in 2006, up 21 percent from 2005.

Most videoconferencing equipment for basic use, however, is within reach of most companies, and involves a personal computer, a main computer control system, one or more dedicated telephone lines or a satellite hookup, a television or computer monitor for each participant or group of participants, and a video camera for each participant or group of participants.

Some elaborate videoconference rooms can be rented for businesses who have only an occasional need.