How to cut travel costs

SME IT/ COST CUTTING

Use web conferencing to meet 'virtually'.

Technology can cut time-consuming travel, and it's surprisingly affordable. Of course, face-to-face meetings are best at times. But there are also good ways to meet virtually and skip many unwarranted business trips. Alternatives to business travel "" such as web conferencing with solutions from Microsoft (Office Live Meeting), Webex or Google, to name a few "" which continue to improve with advances in Internet and related technologies, should work fine for most small and medium firms.

Consider this. Web conferencing helps improve business processes and saves $80 million annually. Besides, businesses save anywhere between 25-50 per cent on travel costs by holding virtual (read online) meetings. If this is the case, what should stop small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) from using this medium to reduce travel costs drastically and become more productive and efficient?

Assume a case where an SME is exporting goods. It's but natural that the SME proprietor will have a global customer or partner. Frequent travel will hit the pockets hard. Further, a phone call seldom is a good substitute for a face-to-face talk. It's here that video conferencing tools make a lot of sense. While high-end video conferencing systems (generally owned by larger corporations) can bring together large groups of people to interact, hear speeches and presentations in a broadcast-quality setting, they are highly-priced.

But video conferencing today also can be done on the cheap, with inexpensive webcams and free or low-cost software, such as Microsoft NetMeeting. Of course, for this you will need to go to a video conferencing centre, or purchase the audio and video equipment. NetMeeting, for instance, requires a PC sound card with a microphone and speakers, as well as a video capture card or camera for video support. This will set you back by a few thousands but is worth the money.

Else you can choose video conferencing providers who charge by the hour, but you may feel pressured to end on the hour and leave business undone.

Web conferencing, on the other hand, would be minus the use of the video "" i.e using the Web for interactive presentations, using PowerPoint, Excel or other documents. Audio can be transmitted by telephone and/or PC microphones. All you need is Internet access and a phone.

However, it does not compensate for meeting in person, and you miss out on people's facial expressions and body language, unlike video conferencing. But for straightforward business plan reviews, sales meetings, software demonstrations and customer presentations, it works "" and brings a lot of people from many places together for one meeting.

Teleconferencing is another possibility. Teleconferencing calls can be set up quickly and easily, at relatively low cost. All you need is a telephone. Accompanying documents can be faxed, emailed or shipped overnight to meeting participants in advance, if necessary.

However, teleconferences work well for simple information sharing and straightforward decision-making that require no visual presentation. But they are not a suitable way to discuss more complicated matters, which could be presented better via web conferencing.

And there are online collaboration tools too. While email remains a key business tool, this discussion will focus on extranets "" private websites that allow you to share files, documents and use message boards with selected customers or partners. But an extranet cannot take the place of a long-distance meeting using one of the alternatives above. You can communicate in real time using chat or instant messaging, but most communication is not interactive. I will explore these in some detail in my next column.

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The author is Editor (IT) at Business Standard