Budget constraints, travel time issues and most recently, safety concerns, are making virtual meetings look a lot more attractive.

Already underway before the terrorist attacks of September 11th, a cross-industry move towards virtual conferencing is now proceeding with an even greater momentum. Whether using telephones, the Internet, video, or a multi-media combination, virtual meetings are becoming more and more commonplace as its technology advances and compounding time, budget and safety factors begin to take greater precedence.

Vendors of virtual conferencing technology say that before September 11th their industry had a 30% growth rate. Since then, the virtual conferencing industry’s growth has reached 40% with vendors saying the attacks had the unintended consequence of bringing virtual meetings into the realm of standard business practice. Forced to try out virtual conferencing, its benefits became suddenly more apparent. Ray Britt, vice president and chief marketing officer for InterCall, a virtual communications company, says the attacks were the impetus for many to try the technology. “It (the attacks) gave people the permission to do business without meeting face to face. And guess what: Everyone appreciated that their time was being used wisely and that this technology could be used in the final handshake.”

There are many that share Britt’s opinion. Jay M. Williams, senior vice president CTO of Concours Group global consultants, believes that now that the cat is out of the bag, virtual meetings will become more frequent and those who remain doubtful will overcome their prejudices. “There’s always been a stigma attached with using technology instead of meeting in person,” Williams explains. “It was as if you didn’t care enough to show up. Now it’s seen as prudent. We’ve got something that makes it economically necessary, and we’ve got something that makes it culturally necessary. Even companies that say they can’t do business this way are going to have to face this.”

Virtual meetings make use of technologies that have already been developed and which most professionals are familiar with, namely the telephone and the Internet. Video will be used, but not as widely. According to its proponents, virtual conferencing is not simply about recreating the scenario of a face-to-face meeting in an electronic medium. Rather, it is about creating something new that brings out the benefits of the technologies being used.

Despite its lofty goals, however, there are limits to what virtual conferencing can currently accomplish. For one, it can’t replace the human touch. Many companies consider personal meetings and tech support as one of their core services. For them, sending a worker out to discuss a problem with a customer sets them apart from the competition. Virtual conferences are not likely to change these operations. For others, hands-on interaction with the customer is an important part of the working relationship. Still, there are many types of meetings that could be served just as well, or better, through the virtual medium. As Williams puts it, “Face-to-face meetings will always be the best level of interactivity we can achieve with out customers and suppliers, but they will be reduced by demand from both sides.”

One of the leading reasons for business travel – the trade show – may find itself under fire by the new medium. Since professionals have been getting increasingly selective about which trade shows they actually attend, leading to lesser overall attendance, now virtual meetings seem ready to replace many of the tradeshow functions. As Marshall Fox, director of corporate communications for Konica Business Technologies, explains, “We’ve beefed up our Web site for actual end users. We’re using animations for demonstrations of our products as well as using streaming video for testimonials.” Konica also currently uses virtual conferencing to communicate with analysts and field representatives.

Concerning the return on investments that users can expect from incorporating virtual conferencing, Gerard Moore, president and CEO of virtual conference company Spectel, says that larger companies can expect to see ROI in as short as six months. But, of course, it stands to reason that how much the technology is actually used by the company will dictate how much the company saves. Simply put, if the technology goes unused, it will be a waste of money.

Moore points out that when most people think of virtual conferencing, they typically think of video-conferencing. But this, he says, makes up only a small percentage of how companies are actually using the technology. The cost of video is prohibitory, but that’s not the only reason it isn’t the most popular choice. “The prices have come down, but until we get more people on cable access lines or T1 (lines), I’m not totally sold on it,” Moore says, adding, “The key point here is ease of use and ease of access. If we all have to go to a room and need to take 10 to 15 minutes of time to set up a videoconference, we wouldn’t do it.” Still another obstacle to videoconferencing is the discomfort many feel when they are put in front of a camera.

In choosing which technology is the best medium for a virtual conference, planners must consider both the purpose of the event and the number of people expected to be involved. For mid-sized groups and smaller where body language is an important factor, videoconferencing may be the best choice. For presentations that require simultaneous viewing of materials and a high level of interaction, web conferencing is a good bet. For short, informal meetings between team members, a reservationless teleconference may be the way to go. In these instances, companies reserve a single permanent line for conferencing. Members can dial the phone number and join a discussion at the drop of a hat. For more formal teleconferencing, such as a monthly hands-all department meeting or client collaboration, operator-assisted teleconference can be used. This utilizes an operator to greet participants and introduce them to the other members. Finally, there is what is known as “big event” teleconferencing. This is an option for companies that need to communicate simultaneously with a very large group of people. Operators and moderators can be used to facilitate the process.

Other areas of virtual conferencing ripe for development include application sharing such as collaborating with the use of spreadsheets and other application-specific documents. Of course, the adoption rate of these technologies depends on how well users make the cultural shift as well. Moore sums it up, “I don’t think technology is going to be the obstacle there. I think it will be cultural. There will be a couple of stages to go through before people will share their precious documents over the Internet or an IP network.” Of course, the same could once be said of the telephone.

InterCall, and other virtual conferencing service providers, can be found under the heading “Intercommunication Systems” by clicking on http://www.ThomasRegional.com/news?issue=nI37

Source: Meetings Makeover
Tonya Vinas
Industryweek, Feb. 2002
http://www.industryweek.com/CurrentArticles/asp/articles.asp?ArticleId=1191