How video conferences meet the needs of the crunch
Dec 2 2008 By Harriet Alexander
retailers and food businesses using our services, where as previously it was considered essential to travel to meetings, taste the food and touch the products.
“Obviously we are not saying that video conferencing will completely replace face-to-face meetings: meeting in person with that ‘man from Delmonte’ moment is still important. But we have noticed a realisation that this is not essential for every single meeting.”
And Emma Jennings, director of The Studio, based on Cannon Street, said rising unemployment was causing an increase in interviews for international positions.
“We’ve been in Birmingham for seven years now, and always had a wide range of clients across the board. But increasingly we are seeing companies seeking to interview people from Australia or New Zealand, at strange hours in the middle of the night. There are certainly more requests for equipment now.”
But Steve Wall, who operates a video conferencing studio in Birmingham in partnership with Eyenetwork, sounded a note of caution.
“We have actually seen our business drop here in the last few months. I think that the long-term future of videoconferencing is secure, but in the short term the effects of credit crunch can’t be ignored by any business.”
Mr Wall pointed out that as the number of businesses dwindles and demand for international trade drops, then the video conferencing business will be hit as hard as every other industry.
“Since we began our business in January 2005 we have been doing well and growing, but in the last few months things have got more difficult. The cost of actually operating as a business has risen, and you can’t operate in a bubble. We are finding things tough too.”
* Virtual conferences no substitute for face-to-face meetings
The man from Del Monte was thrown a lifeline from an unexpected source. For while a director of one of Birmingham’s leading video conferencing companies may have been expected to forecast the end of long-distance
