CHICAGO – Video conferencing can help businesses reduce operating costs, improve their decision making capabilities and increase their customer contact. Yet, just half of businesses use video conferencing today.

In November and December 2010, distributor CDW surveyed IT and telecommunications managers to understand video conferencing adoption, examine key drivers and identify implementation challenges. The Video Conferencing Straw Poll Report found that half of companies use some form of video conferencing today and another quarter plan to implement the technology within the next two years.

According to the report, medium and large businesses most commonly deploy peer to peer conferencing and multi-site meeting rooms. This said, respondents indicate increasing interest in immersive telepresence systems.

The report also found that businesses need a better understanding of the costs and benefits associated with video conferencing, and, critically, they need a concrete plan to track these metrics. As it stands today, just slightly more than half of medium and large businesses who use video conferencing are tracking their ROI. However, many organizations have identified ways to track these savings and communicate the value that video conferencing offers.

“Companies see video conferencing as a great tool to collaborate remotely while cutting travel costs. Without video conferencing, you had to plan travel and pay all of the associated costs to get quality face-to-face time with a client. Now, at a moment’s notice, you can have the same benefits of that meeting, without any of the travel planning and at a reduced cost over time,” said Christine Holloway, CDW vice president of converged infrastructure solutions. “However, IT managers must still take a few key steps to prepare for a successful implementation.”

Businesses report that video conferencing provides significant value, especially as they seek to enhance customer and employee experiences: Most businesses say they use video conferencing to collaborate with remote employees and distant offices, reduce (or eliminate) travel time and costs and collaborate with external customers, partners and suppliers. Other applications include employee training and conducting job interviews.

Medium and large businesses rate the following videoconferencing benefits as “very important” to their organization: reducing operating costs 64 percent; improving decision making 59 percent; increasing contact with customers 54 percent; offering additional employee training 53 percent; gaining faster time to market 51 percent.

Businesses report that the top implementation barrier is the inability to justify the investment. Yet, CDW says that many (half) of medium and large businesses are not placing high value on demonstrating ROI, and lose the opportunity to justify the investment. Just 50 percent of respondents said demonstrating hard (dollar) ROI is very important and 51 percent said demonstrating soft (productivity) ROI is very important.

Demonstrating ROI is key to selling these solutions.

“The ROI disconnect prevents many companies from implementing video conferencing successfully,” said Christine Holloway, CDW vice president of converged infrastructure solutions. “Executive decision makers need to see the bottom line to determine whether implementing the technology is worth it, and in most cases the value of video conferencing is easily demonstrated.”

Just slightly more than half of medium and large businesses currently track ROI — 56 percent track hard (dollar) ROI and 58 percent track soft (productivity) ROI. Of the medium and large businesses that track hard ROI, the majority (62 percent) are looking at dollars saved from trips avoided. Others are looking to reduce meeting time (45 percent), save from reduced downtime (34 percent), save from faster time to market (30 percent) and save from reduced employee turnover (30 percent).

Companies that have implemented video conferencing say they took the following steps to ease their implementation: 69 percent completed a network assessment; 66 percent changed or upgraded their IT networks to handle video conferencing ; 54 percent purchased managed conferencing services; 44 percent built and manage their own conferencing infrastructures; 32 percent use free conferencing software .

“Companies see video conferencing as a great tool to collaborate remotely while cutting travel costs,” Holloway said. “Without video conferencing, you had to plan travel and pay all of the associated costs to get quality face-to-face time with a client. Now, at a moment’s notice, you can have the same benefits of that meeting, without any of the travel planning and at a reduced cost over time. However, IT managers must still take a few key steps to prepare for a successful implementation.”

This column was written by Mark Cox of ConnectIT, an IntegratedMar.Com

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