Virtually identical to the real thing

May 14 2009 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

BUSINESSES leaders have been urged to look at the benefits of holding “virtual meetings”.

Flexible working campaigners are hoping companies across the UK will today be taking part in meetings over the internet or down telephone lines as part of national Work Wise week.

It is hoped traditional face-to-face meetings could be changed and done instead without leaving the home or office, saving time and money.

Staff at Work Wise North East say UK companies could save billions of pounds by introducing simple changes. Sarah Stewart, project director of Work Wise North East, said: “In these straitened times, holding virtual meetings represents a great opportunity to cut costs and boost productivity. If every business aimed for just 10 additional virtual meetings a year, they could save a staggering £14bn collectively. There are also the economic benefits of reduced congestion.”

Research from BT Business estimates each virtual meeting saves around £298.

Staff at the Onyx Group, an IT firm which has operations in Middlesbrough, Gateshead and Newcastle, say they put part of their financial success down to money-saving schemes such as virtual meetings.

Jill Ward, business development manager, has worked at Onyx Group for two years and has been involved in tele-conferencing from the outset. She said: “Each week we hold our managers’ meeting by tele-conferencing as it simply would not make sense to have 12 managers travelling to Middlesbrough from four sites for an hour-long meeting.

“We also use it for internal communications because we hold different skills in each location.”

She added: “At our Edinburgh office, we have created a 200-seat workplace recovery centre for companies which have suffered some form of disaster. Video conferencing plays a key role in getting companies back up and running quickly.”

The fourth annual Work Wise week seeks to take forward a campaign which has gone from strength to strength.

The Work Wise North East campaign was set up to urge employers to allow staff more say over where and when they work and is backed by The Journal and the North East Chamber of Commerce.

BT Business is offering organisations an opportunity to take part with a free trial of its WebEx virtual meeting service, available at http://www.conferencing.bt.com/product_services/webservices/webex.jsp