The economic crisis has ushered in stormy days. Sales have collapsed, production lines are idled, and employees are being laid off. There is no doubt about it: companies must find ways to save money.
Business travel is one area where they are cutting back. The November 2008 issue of the German business travel magazine DMM reported on a survey conducted by the National Business Travel Association in the United States. Three-quarters of travel managers who participated in the survey agreed that video and Web conferences are increasingly replacing business travel because of its potential to save money.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................3
What are Web conferences and how does a virtual meeting work?.................3
The benefits of Web conferences ....................................................................5
Lower travel costs and save time .............................................................5
Higher productivity and more efficient work processes ................................6
How to save time and money with Web conferences.......................................6
Example 1: Rapid decision-making during project and planning meetings......7
Example 2: Higher quality in geographically dispersed teams.......................7
Example 3: Efficient collaboration with partners and service providers ..........7
Example 4: Optimized transfer of knowledge and information ......................8
Example 5: Budget and sales planning in a sales department ......................8
What do I have to know? ................................................................................8
Personal contact.....................................................................................8
Application ............................................................................................9
Security ................................................................................................9
Installation............................................................................................9
How will this investment pay for itself? ........................................................10
2 www.netviewer.com 2 2
Executive Summary
The economic crisis has ushered in stormy days. Sales have collapsed, production lines are idled, and employees are being laid off. There is no doubt about it: companies must find ways to save money. Business travel is one area where they are cutting back. The November 2008 issue of the German business travel magazine DMM reported on a survey conducted by the National Business Travel Association in the United States. Three-quarters of travel managers who participated in the survey agreed that video and Web conferences are increasingly replacing business travel because of its potential to save money. Of course, besides monetary costs, the amount of time that is saved is another good reason to use Web conferences. Providers of web collaboration services continue to stress these factors, but many companies appear to underestimate the potential. But are the savings really higher than the investment? To answer this question, we will look at the following factors: . The benefits of Web conferences and ways to put the software to good use. . What you should know before purchasing a Web conferencing solution. . How you can make the investment pay off quickly.
What are Web conferences and how does a virtual meeting work?
In many ways, an online meeting works just like a normal meeting. But instead of an overhead projector, you use the Internet. Instead of looking at a large pull-out screen, participants view another person's computer desktop directly. With a Webcam and voice-over-IP, the personal components of a meeting like facial expressions and gestures are preserved. Any application can be transferred and jointly edited, from a draft contract in Word to an Excel spreadsheet to design drawings in CAD. The only requirement is for the program to be installed on the computer whose screen is currently transferred. Functions like a Pointer or Whiteboard support collaboration. Users make comments and changes directly in the document, so everyone knows precisely what is being referred to.
3 www.netviewer.com 3 2
As a result, you can use Web conferences to dis... [download for more]
