The Videoconference: Friend to the Travel-Weary

The age of business trips is taking its last beleaguered breath! Leisure travelers will soon roam the in-flight domain once occupied by laptops and briefcases! Nobody will ever have to leave the comfort of their ergonomic office chair again, so kiss your travel budgets goodbye!

Well, not really, says Caleb Tiller of the National Business Travel Association in response to the hasty prophesying of technology companies since the first camera was clamped to a PC.

Yes, video, Web and phone conferencing wizards have made remarkable strides, but these technologies are only replacing certain kinds of travel. Picture the G8 Summit by Web cam -- frightening, isn't it?

A business that sends its sales force all over the country, for example, could never even dream of closing a multimillion dollar sale via a Web conference. A semiannual meeting, however, done by video, can save a company thousands in travel and lodging expenses.

Tiller sees a parallel upward trend in both Web and video conferencing and business travel because new technologies allow a company's travel budget to be used more strategically for trips that really count.

While only a handful of companies are making the serious investment of a quarter million dollars or more for the most sophisticated technology, less-pricey solutions abound, especially as broadband gets cheaper worldwide and allows for affordable, high-quality video in any location.

In addition, in the last 12 years the International Telecommunication Union put down standards for all major and minor video communication that let 98% of all systems share content, says Bob Knauf, video product and marketing manager of Polycom.

Cost of one roundtrip, cross-country flight: about $600. One-night hotel stay: $200. Food and transportation: $60 per day. Cost of not having to send a representative to the semi-annual business meeting: priceless, if you choose the appropriate service for your business.

As audio and video conferencing software becomes a must have, here is a guide to what your money will get you and how your business will be best served:

$50 per month plus equipment

A cheap Web cam from Best Buy (BBY Quote) (around $40) and a subscription to Skype will get you video conferencing, but not the kind you necessarily want to make your business look polished. But couple that cheap camera with some decent Web conferencing software for as low as $50 a month and you have a sophisticated and efficient communication tool.

To view Alix Steel's video take of today's segment, click here.