by Shane Henson — October 12, 2012—Videoconferencing not only allows employees to share information and work productively without being in the same space, it can also save businesses and taxpayers money. Telework Exchange, a public-private partnership focused on demonstrating the tangible value of telework, drives this point home while focusing on the federal government through its recently released Fly Me to Your Room: Government Video Conferencing Collaboration Report, which showcases opportunities for increased efficiencies and cooperation—as well as significant savings—by utilizing videoconferencing.
Underwritten by Blue Jeans Network, the report reveals that if half of all federal workers used videoconferencing, they could save three and a half hours a week in productivity savings, amounting to $8 billion annually. The report is based on a survey of 128 federal government employees who participated in an online poll between July and August of 2012. In addition to highlighting the savings associated with videoconferencing, the survey results show that federal government employees understand how they and their agencies would benefit by the increased use of the technology.
According to the survey, 84% of respondents expect videoconferencing use to increase within the next five years, and 92% of respondents agreed increased videoconferencing use would save tax dollars, while 73% agreed videoconferencing would help reign in project timelines.
In keeping with these conservative financial times, 78% of respondents noted the greatest benefit to videoconferencing is reduced business travel. Other benefits include: money saved (70%), improved collaboration (53%), a reduced carbon footprint (49%), and improved work-life balance (47%). Respondents also believe that greater use of videoconferencing could save their agencies more than 30% of their overall travel budgets, which equals nearly $5 billion of the federal travel budget.
Despite positive feedback on the use of videoconferencing, those surveyed did point to significant barriers. A majority—76%—agree that their respective agencies are not using videoconferencing to the fullest extent possible. So what are the great hurdles to more widespread adoption? The lack of available videoconferencing tools is the leading problem (53%). Additional issues include: network/bandwidth limitations (46%), lack of general use (41%), cultural barriers (40%), lack of awareness of video benefits (35%), cost concerns (34%), incompatible videoconferencing platforms (33%), and lack of managerial buy-in (33%).
