Choosing the Right Solution

Weighing the Costs

When you're in business or running an organization, you know that expenditures are necessary to achieve your goals. You probably have purchased computer equipment, a phone system, Web hosting services, and perhaps even vehicles for your business or organization. All of these expenses are the cost of doing business. They allow you to generate revenue or run your organization.

The same is true about videoconferencing. Some people look at the price tag and all they see is the expense. When evaluating the cost of a videoconferencing system, however, you also need to consider the potential benefits to your bottom line, including the following:

• Savings in travel costs: If personnel often have to travel long distances to meet with colleagues, clients, and associates, the savings on travel alone is usually sufficient to more than cover the cost of a high-quality videoconferencing system.
• Savings in travel time: With videoconferencing, the most travel you'll ever be required to do is to walk to the videoconferencing room. And if the system is installed in your office, you don't even have to travel that far. No more driving to and from airports, dealing with flight delays and long flights, and spending nights in hotel rooms.
• Improved efficiency and productivity: By being able to consult with key personnel and outside experts at a moment's notice, you can perform your daily tasks much more productively and even collaborate remotely with colleagues.

Do the math – a cost/benefits analysis to determine how much the videoconferencing system will actually cost or earn back for you. Total the monthly or annual travel costs and figure how much of that travel could be eliminated via videoconferencing. Also calculate in the loss of productivity while traveling and the additional time that personnel need to take off work because of stressful trips far from home.

Tip: The intangible benefits of videoconferencing may not figure into your cost/benefits analysis, but videoconferencing can improve the overall quality of life of the people in your organization. Traveling and being away from home, family, and office can take a heavy toll.

The largest corporations in the world can in most cases afford the highest end telepresence systems, but you don't need to buy the most expensive to reap the benefits. Even one of the smaller videoconferencing systems is adequate for most meetings for mid to senior management, and the costs savings are substantial.

Hopefully, we have put the cost of a quality videoconferencing system in perspective for you and set your mind at ease about purchasing or renting a system. In the next section, "Comparing Quality and Reliability," we highlight the key differences in various systems in terms of quality, ease of use, and reliability.