Videoconferencing promises UK £2.7bn in savings

Advanced videoconferencing technologies that promise a life-like meeting using so-called telepresence systems could help cut UK carbon emissions by almost a million tones a year while delivering economy-wide savings of almost £2.7bn.

That is the conclusion of a major new report commissioned by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and sponsored by communications giant AT&T, which analysed how large businesses in the UK and US that have deployed telepresence systems are using the technology.

The research, which was carried out by independent analyst firm Verdantix, was based on in-depth interviews with executives from 15 Global 500 firms that have deployed telepresence systems, including Accenture, Aviva, EMC and Microsoft.

It concluded that blue-chip firms with revenues of over $1bn implementing four telepresence booths in offices around the world typically saved nearly 900 business trips during the first year of using the system and realised a return on their initial investment within 15 months.

The report added that firms deploying the technology could expect to cut carbon emissions by 2,271 metric tonnes over five years.

It also calculated that rolling out the technology across all billion-dollar-plus companies in the US and UK could cut nearly 5.5 million metric tonnes and achieve total economy-wide financial benefits of almost $19bn by 2020 through reduced travel costs and improved employee productivity.

Telepresence systems deploy high-definition screens in specially designed meeting rooms in order to provide a life-size image of the people involved in the meeting.

Advocates of the technology claim it closely replicates the experience of a face-to-face meeting, allowing participants to gauge colleagues' body language without having to travel to the meeting.

As companies face increased pressure to cut carbon emissions and reduce travel budgets the technology has emerged as a major growth sector for a number of IT firms with AT&T, Cisco, HP and others all battling it out to secure dominance of the emerging market.

"Companies that invest in carbon cutting technologies and re-engineer the way they do business will not only be better placed to succeed as we transition to a low-carbon economy but can experience considerable business benefits during this transition," said CDP chief executive Paul Dickinson. "Telepresence is a good example of a low-carbon solution that can bring financial savings and increase productivity while reducing emissions."