Telepresence Could Save Business $19 billion by 2020
Original Source: http://www.sustainablelifemedia.com
Author: Thomas Miner
Original Publication Date: June 21, 2010
June 21, 2010 – According to a new study of large companies using telepresence technology, U.S. and U.K. businesses that substitute some business travel with telepresence can cut CO2 emissions by nearly 5.5 million metric tons in total – the greenhouse gas equivalent of removing more than one million passenger vehicles from the road for one year – and achieve total economy-wide financial benefits of almost $19 billion, by 2020.
Telepresence is a rapidly growing and increasingly popular technology that enables groups of people to meet and collaborate in multiple locations worldwide while feeling as if they were all in the same room together.
The study, “The Telepresence Revolution,” was commissioned by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and sponsored by AT&T*.
Other conclusions of the study determined a business with $1 billion or more in annual revenue implementing four telepresence rooms could:
- Achieve a financial return on investment in as little as 15 months;
- Save nearly 900 business trips in the first year of using telepresence; and
- Reduce emissions by 2,271 metric tons over five years—the greenhouse gas equivalent of removing 434 passenger vehicles from the road for one year.
The study also revealed that telepresence technology can help speed decision-making, improve employee productivity, and provide workers with a better work-life balance.
The study was produced by Verdantix, an independent analyst research firm. Verdantix conducted in-depth interviews with executives of 15 Global 500 firms that are early adopters of telepresence – including Accenture, Aviva, EMC and Microsoft – and used the findings of those interviews to develop a new, detailed model to calculate the financial return on investment (ROI) and carbon reductions of telepresence. The model looks at projected telepresence adoption among companies with $1 billion or more in annual revenue and forecasts how the financial and carbon reduction benefits achieved by early adopters of telepresence would translate into economy-wide financial and environmental benefits in the U.S. and U.K. by 2020.
For more information, read the complete release by the Carbon Disclosure Project here.
