You cannot search for the benefits of video conferencing without seeing several points on how it will save on travel. This is something several businesses find to be attractive about video conferencing. Businesses are always looking for ways to save money in their larger budgets, including travel costs. It seems that every day we see new updates about the rising cost of gas prices and air travel, which makes several businesses cringe when they consider going on-site for clients or paying for clients to travel to them. The reason video conferencing is attractive is apparent, but now businesses are wondering if video conferencing tools will really help reduce business travel.
Will it Reduce Travel?
Video conferencing tools from companies such as Blue Jeans say that they can help reduce travel, and you might be wondering if this is true. If you do use a video conferencing tool, you will realize that it does, in fact, reduce travel. You will need to implement various strategies and rules regarding video conferencing, but you will notice that the more you use it, the more likely you are to save on travel costs for your business. There are several elements that video conferencing will save for you including per diem pay and air travel. You can also save money when it comes to renting a vehicle and paying for gas, paying for hotel rooms, and any other travel expenses.
Pros of Reducing Travel
Now that you know it will reduce travel, you might want to know just how it will reduce it. Here are a few great ways video conferencing can help reduce travel costs.
People Will Have Regular Meetings over Video Calls
There are several meetings that people need to have throughout the day and week when working on large projects. This includes both meetings between coworkers and clients. It will significantly reduce your need to be on-site if you utilize video conferencing for all of your clients’ meetings. You will be able to discuss change requests that come your way, as well as any problems your workers might encounter or that clients notice with their product. This will help you to be able to fix things quickly instead of waiting weeks to book a plane and hotel room to send an employee on-site.
Employees and Clients Will Be Able to Make Quicker Decisions
One of the benefits of reducing travel is that employees and clients can come to quicker decisions when necessary. If you are relying on traveling to clients’ businesses, you will not be able to make a decision as quickly as you will need to, which can hinder your client satisfaction. By reducing travel, you will also be able take on more clients, which will help bring in more revenue for your business.
Many Workers Would Rather Telecommute
Another way video conferencing can help reduce travel is for your employees. While many businesses are still unsure about allowing telecommuting, many workers would much rather telecommute. This means that if you allow your employees to travel less both to work and to clients’ locations, you will have more satisfied employees, and they are more likely to be more productive while telecommuting.
Reducing travel for your employees to the office and to client sites will also make sure that your company does not leave a hefty impact on the environment. Many people are making a goal to be more energy-efficient. However, according to Scientific American, air travel hinders that significantly. You can reduce this by traveling less, and this is where video conferencing comes in.
The Costs of Traveling Will Keep People from Working
There are great workers who might not apply to work for your company, which can be a detriment for you. There are many great workers out there, but many would rather be able to telecommute and stay home than to drive into the office every day with the possibility of traveling all over the world. Video conferencing will help you reduce their travel time on all sides, which will save you money, while also give you access to more competent employees.
It Is Easier to Have Larger Meetings
There are times where you will need to have large meetings that incorporate people from all over the globe. This could be for clients or simply for employees who live in various locations throughout the area. You can have larger meetings incorporating core members of the business in the meeting. A video conference could then be broadcasted to large numbers of people, giving them access to what you are saying or deciding.
In Closing
Overall, video conferencing will reduce travel and help impact your business positively. You will see many benefits outside of simply reducing travel and travel expenses. Look into video conferencing for your business to improve your budget, as well as your employee satisfaction rates.
Mangola Daruwala
Yes, video conferencing will definitely reduce business travel but will not completely kill it as there are still many things which cannot be simply accomplished using video conferencing. Tools like R-HUB, Polycom, Avaya, webex, etc. will definitely help businesses in reducing travel costs, but will not completely eliminate business travel.