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Web Conferencing Feature: Cost Containment is the Top Gating Factor for Video Collaboration

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TMCnews Featured Article


November 10, 2009

Web Conferencing Feature: Cost Containment is the Top Gating Factor for Video Collaboration

TMCnet News


As economic conditions continue to pressure companies to cut travel costs and improve productivity, the business appeal of remote conferencing and collaboration applications continues to rise.

 
For those companies that want to closely replicate the dynamics of actual face-to-face meetings, video conferencing technology or Web conferencing has emerged as a preferred means to bring voice, data and visuals together into a single real-time session. 
 
In a series of recent surveys conducted with research partner IntelliCom Analytics, TMCnet has been taking a close look at the use of video communications across a variety of different parameters -- business benefits, technology preferences, barriers to adoption and patterns of use by different job functions.

 
With more than 3,000 decision makers sharing their perspectives from all global regions, the findings revealed that affordability and ease of use remain the biggest two selection criteria for businesses when adopting video solutions, as depicted in the chart above. Although video conferencing and collaboration technology has advanced well beyond traditional fixed room systems to include software-enabled laptop and single-user desktop units, perceptions of high cost and difficulty-of-use appear to be well entrenched carryovers from the days of ISDN-based systems.
 
Similarly, budgetary concerns appear to have posed the biggest barriers to broad adoption of video conferencing and collaboration solutions among businesses. Nearly 40 percent of all participating companies cited budget issues as their No. 1 barrier, as pictured below. Interestingly, cultural issues surfaced as the second most significant barrier, with one out of five decision makers indicating that video conferencing and collaboration was currently not a good fit for the way they do business.

 
Yes, despite the challenges, the adoption of conferencing solutions is growing. A recent Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) report found that more than half of respondents think using conferencing tools - such as an audio conferencing, Web conferencing or video conferencing - is a good alternative to making in-person office visits.
 
And companies like The Conference Group, a provider of Web-based, on-demand audio, Web and video conferencing services, offer various solutions to help organizations fulfill their conferencing needs.
 
For example, the firm’s ReadyShow solution is a full-featured, on-demand, “reservationless” Web conferencing service that lets companies and individual users conduct conferences either on a scheduled basis or “on-the-fly.” Because it is a fully Web-based service, it is ideal for ad-hoc conferences where simplicity and flexibility are required.
 



Edited by Amy Tierney







Technology Marketing Corporation

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