The Videoconference: Friend to the Travel-Weary

$100 per month plus equipment

While the cost of travel has soared with oil prices, the Web conferencing industry is growing by 30% a year, notes Dan Richmond, CEO of MegaMeeting.com.

MegaMeeting's browser-based video conferencing software requires no downloading because it's flash-player based. "All you need is an Internet browser, a broadband Internet connection and a Web or digital video camera," says the Web site. For around $100 per month, the software allows for up to five concurrent connections, as well as presentation and application sharing. Any Windows, Mac or Linux-based machine may participate in a Web conference.

"Travel is what kills small businesses," says Richmond, who highly recommends this solution to any business looking to cut back travel costs.

$129 plus cost of Web camera

Polycom's Desktop Video Conferencing Software, PVX, runs on a PC and works with any USB Web camera. While this technology runs from a personal computer, it can connect to a conference room with seamless interoperability and delivers high-quality, TV-like video and content sharing capabilities.

This technology is perfect for a small business that needs to get its foot in the door of a larger company or share product information, says Knauf.

"Companies like Wal-Mart(WMT Quote) use video to talk to suppliers," explains Knauf. "So if the small business has some sort of video communication device, it can gain interest from Wal-Mart in setting a face-to-face meeting. The worst thing would be spending thousands of dollars to travel to a company and find out they aren't the least bit interested."

$2,000 to $7,000

Polycom's VSX product line (in the $5,000 price range) can be a great asset for companies having to share designs or documents with overseas offices or for a talent pool not located at a central headquarters. A trend in the textile industry, for example, involves designers showing the designs in real time to a manufacturing plant sometimes halfway across the globe.