Have Web, Don't Travel

Videoconferencing: If Face Time Counts

For some business dealings, there's no substitute for real-time, in-person collaboration. Salespeople, for example, rely heavily on face time. Though PC-mounted Webcams permit some visual contact, they deliver herky-jerky video. On the other hand, new plug-and-play videoconferencing systems with integrated collaboration tools appeal to businesses that have shunned videoconferencing in the past for being too expensive and difficult to use.

Products such as PictureTel's 600 series of appliances feature an integrated PC to support PowerPoint presentations and online collaboration. Such devices are ideal for conference rooms and work over LAN or ISDN connections. Starting at $6995, the PictureTel 600 is less expensive than previous comparable systems, but it obviously is not cheap.

No Inexpensive Option

More affordable, and still considerably more powerful than a basic Webcam, Polycom's $599 ViaVideo has a multimedia processor that the company says enhances videoconferencing over IP networks. (At press time, PictureTel had merged with Polycom. There was no news on how their respective product lines would be affected.)

The bottom line: Good quality, real-time videoconferencing still costs more than other methods of online collaboration. Aside from the cost of the camera systems (one for each participating person or group), you may have to invest heavily to upgrade your network to properly support the technology.

Still, the consulting firm Frost and Sullivan expects more companies to adopt videoconferencing systems and cut back on corporate travel. Says analyst Roopam Jain, "The economy has taken a beating, tragic events have affected air travel, and at the same time videoconferencing technology has gotten better."