The case for videoconferencing

As someone who has recycled diligently for the past 15 years and rides public transportation to work even during Chicago's brutal winters — and this has been one of those — I was feeling a little smug when I logged onto a Web site promising to determine my carbon footprint.

Then came the questions about air travel, its frequency and distance, and suddenly I was looking a lot less green than I had imagined. My personal responsibility for carbon dioxide emissions is 2.8 tons, and that's just for the flights to Las Vegas I'll take in the first six months of this year to cover industry trade shows.

Then there's the reality of flying today. Planes are always packed and never on time. I recently found myself virtually stranded in Nashville when my flight was cancelled and the carrier's next available seat was on a flight that wouldn't get me home until 36 hours later than planned. Every frequent flier has a story, and most are far worse than mine.

So against this backdrop, why aren't businesses hustling to implement videoconferencing, both for economic reasons — save on travel expenses and lost productivity — and environmental ones?

The reasons for resistance have remained constant over the past decade-plus: business people like to travel; it's impossible to replace face-to-face contact; trade shows and conferences are an irreplaceable opportunity for networking; and so forth. But the real reason is a fundamental resistance to change.

That's why it is easy to be skeptical about this latest effort to enable businesses to eliminate costly, polluting air travel with videoconferencing in its new guise: telepresence. Certainly companies such as BT and Cisco Systems are making a major commitment to the technology, its deployment and use. And with the need to reduce carbon emissions considered part of corporate responsibility, there are new incentives for those at the top to force change through the ranks.

The telecom industry should be at the forefront of this effort for one obvious reason: A massive switch to videoconferencing would open up major new managed service and revenue opportunities globally. Doing the right thing environmentally also would be very good for business.

But walking the walk requires looking at how the telecom industry itself handles events, conferences, sales calls and other meetings as well. Do we have the gumption to do that?

After you read this issue's telepresence cover story, let me know what you think at carol.wilson@penton.com.