Everyone is quite familiar with the progress the traditional "conference call" has made in the last decade. With the advent of streaming HD video, collaboration software, webinars, broadband and digital phone, the possibilities are almost endless. All these advances have paved the way for a new technology known as telepresence.
To briefly define telepresence, it is the collective technology required to bring a completely immersive face-to-face experience that provides the functionality of actually being with the other party in the same room. This includes life size video presentation, often times telerobotics, virtual sensing ability, touch screen, and other automated features to enhance the meeting experience. In short, telepresence has taken us one step closer to virtual reality.
The advantages of this technology should be quite conspicuous, but the bottom line is where most businesses will see the real impact. Telepresence allows employees greater productivity and reduction of travel expenses. In 2007, it was estimated that traditional teleconferenceing cut employee travel related expenses by about 30%. Taking into account airfares, lodging, rental cars, per Diem costs and miscellaneous expenses, it is clear to see why any business would want to save money up front on these costs. But other factors such as employee away time, miscellaneous unforeseen problems, missed meetings, facility rentals, etc all tack on expenses to the back end. The expense of sending a single employee on a two day business trip for a four hour meeting is just not a good use of employee time and company resources. Businesses readily see how much more productive a business meeting could become if the participants didn't have to travel to get to the meeting location.
From a productivity standpoint, businesses have seen over the years how computers replace typewriters, and Dictaphones and tape recorders replace shorthand and secretaries "taking letters". The logical progression for businesses to evolve and adapt better and cheaper technology to replace older and costlier ones is only good business sense. Since most business meetings involve the exchange of information as opposed to physical goods, the progression to a virtual meeting makes more sense. With the security of VPN, point-to-point networking and overnight courier service, the advantages of meeting in person quickly disappear. Throw in the ability for a presenter to enhance his presentation with electronic tools, whiteboards, video presentation, graphs, 3D models, interactive modeling and other features that all participants have available at their disposal and it really seems to make meeting in the same room an actual disadvantage.
Since technology has finally caught up with the jet age, the question of how long will traditional business meetings stay intact rapidly comes to the surface. With so many people and businesses becoming ecologically conscious, and not wanting to waste resources, time and money to accomplish tasks that could be accomplished more cheaply, and with less waste all around, it really looks as if it is only a matter of time until the weekend business trip just becomes an entry in Wikipedia.
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