MORE THAN HALF the time spent on business trips is wasted, a new survey suggests, but even where video-conferencing alternatives exist, they are rarely used - costing corporates huge sums of money.
More than 500 middle and senior managers polled by IT services company Dimension Data reckon that 58 per cent of travellers' trip time is unproductive. The managers, from large and mid-sized corporations, spend an average 8.6 hours a month, or roughly 13 days a year, simply travelling to and from meetings. The most-travelled top third of the poll sample waste 23 working days - more than a month - each year.
They also concede that two out of five meetings could be conducted equally effectively using video-conferencing technology, saving an average of more than £2,000 a year in trip expenses. Rob Stanley, Dimension Data's director of Microsoft solutions, insists: "Face-to-face meetings will always play a vital role in business, but they should not be the default option, because of the costs involved."
Nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) of the respondents who do conduct virtual meetings say they are at least as effective as face-to-face meetings. More than half (52 per cent), who don't have access to the requisite technology, say they would welcome it, with 11 per cent undecided and 37 per cent opposed.