Web and phone conferencing increasing; gas prices partly responsible

I received a press release from Genesys Conferencing this morning saying that use of its multimedia conferencing services has increased in volume 40 percent in the last few months.

Why is this important? Well, the really interesting statistic in the release is that nearly a quarter of respondents (24 percent) say that reduced driving due to gas prices was the reason for the increase.

If rising gas prices is contributing to an increase in e-meetings, it may also cause an increase in e-learning. Will companies implement more e-learning as they try to save money on reimbursing employees for gas used to travel to training?

It will be interesting to see. The lead item for my November Intelligence column, which I'm working on now, will examine some of these issues caused by skyrocketing gas prices, including the growing use of telecommuting.  Look for it in a couple of months.

For those interested, here are the rest of the statistics from the Genesys survey:

• "The leading reason by far for increased usage, as reported by 73% of respondents, is that web and phone conferencing saves time and is more convenient than having to attend meetings in person. 
• Nearly half - or 46% - of respondents said that the business environment has developed a higher acceptance of web conferencing as a viable alternative to physical meetings, and another 32% noted that the telecommuting trend continues to increase.
• Nearly one quarter - or 24% - of respondents said that reduced driving due to increasing gas prices was responsible for the increase, while another 25% cited air travel replacement as a key factor."

Comments

[Jim Ware]

Eva, this is interesting information that squares completely with our research and thought processes. Thanks for highlighting it. I'm personally convinced that the current spike in gas prices, along with our increased awareness of business risk and continuity issues is going to lead to an explosion in distributed work and telecommuting.

[Eva]

Thanks, Jim. Your research was very helpful in writing this piece. While there were multiple sources I quoted, you and Charlie seem to be the first (and best thought-out). For those who would like to check out the Future of Work/Work Design Collaborative article, "In Our Humble Opinion: What Will a World of $5 Gas Be Like," go to www.thefutureofwork.net/assets/
In_Our_Humble_Opinion_April_05.pdf