BT saved over £238m last year in reduced travel costs and improved productivity as a result of its increased use of video conferencing technology, the company has revealed.
Francois Barrault, chief executive of BT Global Services, said the organisation had cut travel and other associated costs by £135m and saved £103m worth of productive time by using video conferencing last year, most notably through the 20 Cisco TelePresence suites that the BT operates around the world.
The company said that the technology has also eliminated more than 860,000 face-to-face meetings and cut BT’s carbon footprint by at least 97,000 tonnes of CO2.
Barrault added that increased use of video conferencing, combined with BT's commitment to encouraging home working, had contributed to a reduction in the number of days lost to sick leave, which fell by 21 per cent last year.
Speaking at a roundtable event in London – hosted using a video conferencing suite – Barrault said he was a personal advocate of the technology, which he argues allows managers to travel less, while still enjoying many of the benefits of meeting face-to-face. "I did close to 150 trips last year and spent over 200 days on the road," he said. "Last week I decided to not travel and did all my meetings using telepresence technologies. It was great, I was home – but it was still like I was meeting people."
BT is now aiming to increase use of the technology across its operations. " We have made this investment [in 20 telepresence suites globally] and people will have to justify why they need travel," said Barrault.
In addition to cost savings, the technology also resulted in a reduction in carbon emissions, which Barrault said the company was committed to communicating to users. "We recently hosted a meeting with 1,000 managers using conferencing technologies and one of the main advantages of the conference according to the feedback we got was that it saved 40 tonnes of CO2," he explained.
Telco pushes videoconferencing with demo suites in London, New York and Denver 09 Jun 2009
Re-evaluation of business case put on hold until Carbon Reduction Commitment consultation released in October 03 Jun 2009
But the corportation claims flying is unavoidable for a global broadcaster 04 Sep 2008
Building overhaul and green transport schemes have saved £200,000 a year 02 Mar 2009
Firms told to get on board with London's environmental schemes or risk appearing on a "non-green 300" list 07 Jan 2009
Survey of public sector IT managers reveals deep concern over ability to deliver on carbon-neutral targets 03 Jul 2009
Fresh funding will provide new wave energy research equipment and support research 03 Jul 2009
EPA hints it could soon raise efficiency bar for routers, modems and storage systems 03 Jul 2009
More news
From record-breaking solar panels to the International Renewable Energy Agency's new home, we round up the top stories from the past week 03 Jul 2009
Well, I hope they got a no win, no fee deal. I don't like being cynical (it's more of a congenital thing)... 03 Jul 2009
Recycling waste heat is nothing new, so why has the computer industry not kept up? 01 Jul 2009 More in-depth
Post your comment
Send an email to the Business Green editor at feedback@businessgreen.com
