Telepresence – keeping your executives from getting stuck in the cold

6th January, 2012 - Posted by Josh Finke - No Comments

All professionals have that one nightmare business travel story.

You know, the one where you fly to DC for an 8AM meeting but the flight from NYC is delayed and you don’t land until 3AM. Following three hours of sleep and a lackluster meeting you find out that you’re trapped in DC because of a snow storm that would be lovingly referred to as a “dusting” in most of the Midwest.

We’ve all been in a situation like this at least once in our professional careers.

Unfortunately, these delays are often a lot less fun than they appear in episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s “The Layover.” In fact, they can cost a company money and productivity.

Whenever executives or decision makers from small to medium-sized companies are trapped in a city, it keeps them from accomplishing their job. The distance between the executives and their coworkers can hinder collaboration and communication and can otherwise grind companies to a halt.

Even worse, companies sometimes find themselves making expensive, last minute plans to either get that executive home via other means of transportation or put them up comfortably until they can return. With today’s slashed travel budgets and tough economy, these little expenses, such as last minute train tickets or hotel rooms, can add up quickly.

But what if companies could completely eliminate the need for executives to travel altogether?

As we discussed in a previous post, unified communications (UC) technologies, such as video teleconferencing (VTC) solutions, can help companies eliminate the need for executives to travel for meetings, classes and other events by enabling face-to-face communication between individuals regardless of the distance separating them.

Despite VTC solutions drastically reducing the need for executives to travel, some in-person meetings will still need to occur. However, should executives get stuck due to inclement weather or other circumstances, VTC can ensure that they’re never out of the loop.

With new, software-based VTC solutions, any laptop or computer can be turned into a VTC endpoint. This ensures that executives can continue to communicate, collaborate and interact with the company, even if stuck in another state or country.

By embracing VTC solutions within the enterprise, companies can help to eliminate business travel. However, should an executive at a company need to travel to any corner of the globe, VTC solutions can ensure that no business trip becomes too much of a nightmare.