These days, companies more than ever are searching for ways to save money, especially when it comes to business travel. And while the global economy is showing signs of a rebound, businesses still aren’t taking any changes and are increasingly embracing  communication technology to help achieve their goals faster and more efficiently.

 

And one area that is slated for heavy growth is videoconferencing. With the technology’s ability to help organizations save money on the high cost of travel, offer users instant face-to-face interaction and help businesses’ recoup precious time lost flying back and forth to meeting locations, there will be no shortage of adoption, experts said during a panel discussion today on conferencing at TMC’s (News - Alert) ITEXPO East 2010.

 

During the session “The Future of Web Conferencing and Collaboration,” Greg Plum (News - Alert), director of channel development for The Conference Group, said such factors as lower costs and the greater availability of bandwidth are helping fuel the technology’s adoption.

 

“It’s not as expensive as it used it be,” Plum said.

 

Early on, while users were suffered through time delays and fuzzy resolution, greater advancements with the technology are now pushing the tool to the forefront, he said.

 

“Video is part of the psyche,” Plum said, noting the popularity of Skype (News - Alert) and communication solutions. “Video has become part of people’s daily experiences.”

 

During the session, Plum, who was joined by Jan Linden, vice president of engineering, Global IP Solutions, Larry Dorie, CEO, RHUB (News - Alert) Communications and Alec Saunders,
CEO of Iotum, experts said network security still posed concerns. With more and more companies accessing the network, there’s a greater awareness about the need for security, officials said.

 

While money is still being made in audio conferencing, the future is all about Web conferencing and video conferencing, panel experts said.

 

One of the keys to widespread adoption, Plum, said, is for service providers to ensure that the videoconferencing service can communicate with legacy services. The Conference Group (News - Alert), a provider of Web, audio and video conferencing tools plans to launch its own HD compatible service this quarter, Plum told TMCnet.