Financial crisis boosts sales of teleconferencing service

17 November 2008 — Interest in teleconferencing is growing rapidly as the financial crisis prompts companies to cut travel budgets. Use of teleconferencing service was growing at an average of around 12 percent year on year until September this year, when growth jumped to 30 percent year on year as the severity of the financial crisis became more apparent. It's not just about the money. Greater environmental awareness is another contributing factor to the growth. In one year, the proportion of companies using it has risen from 9 percent to 22 percent.

Videoconferencing is also catching on: 20 percent of companies now say they use it, compared to 7 percent last year. Systems have become more easy to use, which is good for companies that simply can't be bothered with cumbersome setup procedures. The push of one button is all it should take to be up and running. Image and audio quality are becoming more important for making video conferences a viable alternative to physical meetings. Several vendors are today offering high-definition video conferencing systems.