Virtual meetings save real money
May 27th 2009 On May 14th almost half a million businesses participated in Virtual Meeting Day and showed how the British economy could save billions of pounds.
The day, organised by Work Wise UK as a part of Work Wise Week, expected to have around 10% of businesses taking part. They replaced traditional face-to-face meetings with audio, video or web conferencing, avoided travel and subsistence costs, and the waste of employees' valuable time.
"In these straitened times, holding virtual meetings represents a great opportunity to cut costs and boost productivity," says Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK. "If every business aimed for just ten additional virtual meetings a year, they could save a staggering £14 billion collectively.
"There are also the economic benefits of reduced congestion, while cuts in emissions would amount to a massive saving of 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the 4.7 million small businesses in the UK alone."
Holding just one virtual meeting typically saves organisations at least £298, 247 miles of travel and three hours travel time, according to research from BT Business.
One of the day's supporters, BT Business is offering organisations an opportunity to take part with a free trial of its WebEx virtual meeting service, available at http://www.conferencing.bt.com/ product_services/webservices/webex.jsp
Work Wise UK, a not-for-profit organisation, promotes smarter working practices, such as flexible, remote and mobile working, and working from home. This is the fourth year that Work Wise UK has run Work Wise Week demonstrating the benefits of smarter working. Supporters of the initiative include BT, the TUC, TfL, CBI and the British Chambers of Commerce.
Further information about Work Wise UK can be found on the website click here
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