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January 2, 2009

Videoconferencing Cuts Costs of Doing Business

Reprinted with permission of the Saratoga Business Journal

By: Peter Miller

Saratoga Business Journal

With the recent credit crunch and the steep rise in fuel and travel costs, businesses everywhere are looking for ways to do business for less – a lot less. Meetings have become very expensive, especially when an organization is global in scope. Sales and management meetings, customer meetings and conferences can be a major portion of the overall cost of doing business. One way many firms are cutting expenses is by changing the way they conduct meetings, with online conferencing instead of face-to-face meetings.

Audio-Video Corporation of Albany guides companies into this realm of technology. In business for over 60 years, the firm has been helping clients navigate the world of communication and presentation technology for decades. Today, it’s easier than ever to use the technology, according to Scott Van Roy, director of business development.

“Businesses are faced with a kind of perfect storm,” said Van Roy. “The high cost of travel, with unpredictable airline flights, and the increasing need for speed have combined to make the old methods unacceptable. The reasons for using videoconferencing technology to communicate and collaborate have become undeniable. Picture quality is now comparable to what people are used to on their high-definition home TVs. The technology is easy to use. And there’s a huge cost saving.”

Van Roy noted that videoconferencing supports green initiatives that have become important to consumers and industry. “It makes good business sense, but it also shows social responsibility, by reducing a firm’s carbon footprint,” he said. Customers are placing value on social responsibility when evaluating suppliers.

“You can now make video calls from desk to desk, worldwide, and you can see the person you’re talking with. It fundamentally changes the nature of a phone call. And it makes data collaboration easy no matter where you are. You can share presentations and research. I recently interviewed a job candidate by VTC (video teleconferencing),” he added.

The changing workforce has hastened the acceptance of communication technology. “Young, Generation Y workers have grown up with video games and computers, and they adopt it easily in the workplace and shepherd it through the organization. We’ve found that the key to selling a system is to achieve buy-in at lower and middle management levels,” said Van Roy.

Van Roy pointed out that Audio-Video Corporation is an A-V integration company that provides a wrap-around communications infrastructure that extends from the boardroom throughout the organization. “We typically walk a customer through from A to Z, from concept and network analysis to systems recommendations. It all ties together – communication, digital signage, climate control -- particularly in new LEED-certified, energy-efficient buildings.”

Van Roy said Audio-Video Corporation has seen a tremendous increase in videoconferencing installations recently, due to the convergence of high travel costs and improved technology for web conferencing. To find out how to put a VTC system to work in your company, contact Scott Van Roy at 449-7213, or visit the website: www.audiovideocorp.com.