Sad as it is to say, but the continuing concern over terrorism, together with stricter airport security and rising oil prices, has a positive aspect. And that is the greater adoption of video conferencing as a means to cut business travel.
At least, that’s the conclusion of some American researchers in the wake of the recent London terrorist plot.
While it would be easy to dismiss the forecast as the work of jumpy Transatlantic business travellers, small to micro-sized businesses in the Highlands and Islands should not rule out video conferencing. Sure, the personal touch is important, but how much time do you waste travelling?
With video conferencing, you can literally be two places at once; something dreamt about by all small business-people. Instead of sitting in a car or train travelling to and from the meeting, you need only be at your desk for the duration of the meeting. Just think how much more productive you could be. And how less stressed and frustrated you’d be not having to sit in traffic.
Where air travel is concerned, extra security is going to make journey times longer. And hand luggage restrictions, too, are affecting people’s ability to work en route.
The question for the small to micro-sized business is not if they should be video conferencing, but how and when. Undoubtedly, we will continue to want to meet customers, particularly new ones, face to face. This, though, still leaves lots of scope for scheduling in video conferencing for routine meetings, such as those between staff located at geographically diverse sites.
Overall, there are many advantages. Among these are better productivity, reduced business travel costs and a significant contribution towards reducing greenhouse gases by staying put. Over to you, virtually.
Next time: How to do video conferencing on the cheap
