Real Meetings

For my CIS 600 Graduate Class in Information Systems Strategy, we have just finished our first round of interactive video webcam meetings. For most this was the first time they have used a webcam - and the first time they have done an interactive video meeting.

I personally think that this is a market that will continue to grow. With more multinational companies, with more offshore outsourcing, with more employees working from home, and even with higher fuel prices and travel budgets increasing, such collaborative activities will only increase.

For example:

• You have hired an outsourcing contractor in Belarus to write code for an application. With collaborative software, high-speed internet and a webcam, you can discuss the various nuances 'face-to-face'
• You need some training on a new product. You could travel to some other location to take the training (with costs of airfare, lodging, meals and more) - or you can take the training by 'webinar' (or a 'seminar by the web').
  
• You have commuted 45 miles every day for the past fifteen years to work in an office in a nearby city. With telecommuting, you can work from home - connecting as you need to by your high speed internet connection with webcam. You might even just call it to say 'hi' to co-workers periodically. You are saving commuting time, gas, parking fees - and even office space rental fees.
  

We used the Microsoft LiveMeeting / Office Communicator product. There are other good tools (it is partially that the campus has a Microsoft site license) - such as WebX and GoToMeeting. Cisco's Telepresence seems to be a fantastic high-end product in this market.