The Benefits of Video Conferencing
What the Research Shows

Significant research has been conducted by Wainhouse Research on the benefits of video conferencing verses travel. Wainhouse is an independent market research firm focused on critical issues in rich media communications, video conferencing, audio and web conferencing, IP messaging, and streaming. The company conducts multi-client and custom research studies, advises vendors on product strategies and marketing positioning, consults with end users on key implementation issues, publishes white papers and magazine articles, and delivers public and private seminars. Members of the firm are respected industry analysts who also appear regularly as speakers at conferencing industry events. Details on Wainhouse Research, its partners, and the firm’s products and services are available at www.wainhouse.com.

The following are excerpts from key findings in their white paper entitled, “The Business Case for Videoconferencing” by Andrew W. Davis and Ira M. Weinstein (03/05) and are reprinted with permission.

Higher Impact and Focus
“Studies have shown that videoconferencing meetings tend to be shorter than in-person meetings, leading to less wasted time.”

Competitive Advantage
“Using videoconferencing can give a company a competitive advantage. For example, a firm that recruits by videoconference rather than flying recruiters or candidates around the country can interview more people, from more locations, in less time, and with less cost and disruption to executive schedules thereby making better hiring decisions.”

Enhanced Quality of Life/Decreased Stress
“Today’s business executive returns from a business trip to be greeted by mountains of e-mail, piles of faxes, and long queues of voice mail. A recent study revealed that more than 70% of business travelers were stressed by business travel. More than half of those people stated that business travel negatively impacts their life, their sleep, and their general welfare. As a viable alternative to business travel, videoconferencing can reduce employee stress and enhance their quality of life. Travel avoidance also allows the employee to steer clear of the security-related delays associated with air travel today.”

Hard Benefits
“The most obvious benefit from conferencing and collaboration solutions is travel reduction, eliminating costs associated with airfare, hotels, meals, taxis and car service, etc. Hence, realizing travel cost savings has been the traditional way to justify videoconferencing. This approach resonated with many CFOs and program managers because the mathematics allowed an organization to generate a hard savings figure and a very specific ROI for videoconferencing.

Beyond the obvious elimination of direct expenses, reducing travel eliminates many hours of downtime and days away from the office.

In the not-too-distant future, we expect videoconferencing to be the foundation for new ways of reaching customers, creating the ability to connect and sell anywhere, anytime.”

Recruiting
“Videoconferencing is particularly efficient for initial screening interviews. By converting these first –interviews into “virtual” interviews, companies can limit travel investments to those candidates worthy of serious consideration while gaining many important soft benefits.”