Video conferencing will be a huge trend in coming years as face-to-face meetings become a thing of the past.
This is according to research published in the Virgin Media Business Report, which found that 72 per cent of respondents thought travelling to meetings would be phased out.
The research took the opinions of 5,000 heads of businesses into account and found some interesting ideas about the future of the world of work.
Tony Grace, chief operating officer of Virgin Media Business, said: “The growth in video and social media across corporate networks is also supporting this migration away from the traditional office confines; the importance to underlying network infrastructure once more comes under the spotlight.”
Looking into the future the survey found that bosses believe that 60 per cent of the workforce who are currently operating out of offices will work remotely within the next ten years.
Advances in technology have made this possible and it is the development of video conferencing software which has become more sophisticated allowing meetings to happen outside of the office.
With people scattered across the country and clients potentially in other parts of the world, businesses are investing in video conferencing as a way to cut down on business travel.
Not only does this save the expense of train travel, petrol or even air tickets it helps firms cut costs through time which is not lost.
Increased productivity is good for business and video conferencing in order to secure business deals does not have the same drawbacks as a telephone conversation.
Being able to see the other person helps in understanding as body language makes up so much communication.
Mr Grace said: “Remote working isn’t anything new, but with technology providing the right tools for the job, the acceptance that it will soon be the norm is.”
The government has recommended the use of video conferencing for businesses based in London during the Olympic Games this summer in order to help ease the pressure on public transport.
