Corporations are encouraging the use of UC, helping them to curtail business travel. This, they believe, results in lowering carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere.
UC can also make the adoption of virtual office concept easier than before. A virtual office enables people to work from anywhere. Organisations are beginning to realise the benefits of virtual workplaces and are investing in UC. In mature markets like the US, remote working is a fairly accepted practice.
Applied Materials, a global leader in nanomanufacturing technology, has launched GreenIS, a programme designed to reduce its carbon footprint by 10,000 tonnes by 2012. The company encourages work-from-home policy under the programme to reduce the cost and energy utilised during travel.
Nagaraj Bhat, director, Global Information Services, India, Applied Materials, says: "We are adopting telecommuting methods to achieve significant reductions in total office occupancy, transport costs and subsequent decrease in carbon emissions. Employees can work from any location as long as appropriate skills are available at the optimum mix of cost and other factors."
Bhat says that he has noticed considerable improvement in employee retention as employees who need to take a career break or have to travel long distances can continue to work from virtual offices.
The company claims to have saved $1.8 million globally on travel on account of