This question has been asked seriously for at least the last five years, however, technology and cheap flights have turned back the tide. Until now. Today it seems there is a palpable buzz for video conferencing. New programs that compare the costs of video vs. travel, tighter travel budgets, international flu epidemics, environmental pressures and better, cheaper video technology are moving us closer to a tipping point.
Scientific American, earlier this year, focused a story on the realities and improvements to video conferencing. They provided example after example of folk using video techonology and eschewing travel.
Several companies, including Cisco Systems, LifeSize, Polycom and Siemens, among others, have been working on such technology for years—and the cost-cutting reality of the present economic crisis is helping to speed its adoption. It is unlikely that videoconferencing can replace all travel, but organizations are turning to it more and more as the technology’s downside—shaky connections, dropped calls and disorienting lags—largely has been eliminated.
The story went on to discuss changing economics and the affordability of video conferencing as well as the lower-tech versions of the technology such as that found with skype or google video chat. These high- and low-tech video solutions are already starting to change many procedures in medical care and law enforcement.
The Harvard Business Review discussed specifically the impact of video conferencing on business travel and diminished use of business class travel. Both Cisco and Hewlett-Packard have seen 30 percent growth in their video conferencing sectors over the past year.
The business of telework is interesting to me on two levels. First, from the customer’s side, even though the upfront investment is not small, it clearly saves a lot of money. Telework also represents a great way to show your most harried and valued employees that you care both about their life balance AND about greening your business.
But second, from the perspective of the suppliers of these technologies, the story has some interesting strategic angles. With their pitch of reducing travel, who are Cisco, HP, and the others truly competing against? The phone? No, they’re going after the airlines — and targeting their best, most frequent, business-class customers. Do you think the airlines ever thought they’d be competing with IT companies?
A New York Times article adds a more personal voice to the adoption of video conferencing. The artcle notes that video technology is getting so good that even skeptics forget they are interacting thousands of miles apart from each other.
This advancement of video conferencing has been continuing under the radar screen as the technology slowly but surely improved.
The emerging trend, analysts say, goes well beyond a reaction to rising travel costs and a weakening economy. “These technology tools are going to change the way corporations think about travel and work in the long run,” an analyst at Forrester Research, Claire Schooley, said.
Past predictions that technology could replace travel have been frequent and premature. The main difference today, analysts say, is that the technology is finally catching up to its promise. No single breakthrough explains the progress, but rather a series of step-by-step advances — and steady investment — in telecommunications networks, software and computer processing.
More and more, business travel does not only need to be justified in terms of the bottom line but also in terms of the environment. Furthermore, recent health factors such as H1N1 (swine flu) has made video conferencing an even more compelling alternative to face-to-face meetings.
Much of the routine travel is predicted to be shifted to video conferencing systems — either with dedicated high-tech telepresence videoconferencing operations or simpler solutions.
From the major corporate travel agent market, American Express is developing a service that will calculate costs of myriad corporate options and requirements. The new American Express system will advise during the trip booking process when teleconferencing can be more economical than boarding an aircraft.
This competition between the airlines and videoconferencing technology will continue to intensify in the coming years. It is a battle that the airlines can’t win.
Airlines will have to develop a new revenue model that does not depend so heavily on business-class and first-class travelers for their profit margins. Someday, we will look back on the airline ads for luxurious sleeper seats and airborne suites with the same nostalgia that we view ads from pre-airline-deregulation days.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
