Forced to put off your business plans? Well, video conferencing is here to ensure you don't lose out on important business meetings.
As travel advisories and swine flu fears cause a substantial drop in international travel, the video conferencing industry is gearing up to tap the opportunity to generate more business.
"With continued global economic uncertainty, CEOs have realised the importance of Telepresence and Video Conferencing to control costs and manage travel cuts. Instances like swine flu force the organization towards faster adoption of video culture," says Anshul Dhingra, senior marketing manager, India & SAARC, Polycom.
As per the recent Frost and Sullivan report on Videoconferencing, the industry in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 23.1 per cent. Technological advances over last few years have enabled adoption of Telepresence and Video Conferencing.
"One of the key trends we foresee is that video culture in organizations will remain mainstream as a business continuity enabler and collaboration tool even without swine flu and poor economic conditions," Dhingra says.
Technologies like Telepresence enable seamless collaboration amongst distant team members and deliver real time face-to-face interactions between people and places in their work and personal lives.
Companies with global presence are expected to cut costs on travel in future due to the swine-flu pandemic. Video-conferencing reduces the dependence on travel and ensures quick return on investment, industry sources say.
Minhaj Zia, national sales manager, Cisco India and SAARC says, "According to a Zinnov Analysis, even a 10 percent reduction in travel could save $500,000 for a 1,000 employee organisation.
Telepresence combines rich audio, high-definition video, and interactivity to deliver a unique in-person experience.
"People look life-sized and with an easy setup and attendance, launching a meeting is as simple as making a phone call. It's so close to face-to-face that it really can remove the need to travel," says Zia.
But some people feel that fears to swine-flu will only take a toll on people who travel for leisure.
