Several years ago I was in a computer store and a salesman was trying to sell me something, in fact, he was trying to sell me anything that he could. I said that I had the latest computer and really didn’t need anything more. Then he showed me a web camera and I thought for a few seconds, but I really couldn’t figure out why I would need that gadget.

Now things have changed and that salesman could get the sale from me, because the time is right to start conducting online web and video conferences. Here are a few reasons why the age of web conferencing has truly arrived:

1. Transportation costs are rising and web conferencing is one way to conduct meetings without getting into a car or plane.

Imagine how much money you could save if you were able to hold a staff meeting with your distant branches without paying for fuel, hotels and all the other costs associated with outside meetings?

2. The cost of conducting a meeting outside a main office is much higher than you can calculate by only adding up the material costs.

When you leave your office or home, you have to put everything aside and subject yourself to delays in traffic, airports, trains and taxis. Sure, you can take your laptop with you, but are you really as productive using a laptop in a busy airport as you are while you are in your own office? Web conferencing allows you to get back to your other work as soon as the online conference ends.

3. Web conferencing allows you to meet face-to-face with your colleagues no matter where they are.

Globalization is not just a slogan. Business, educational and social organizations are now working in increasingly wider networks which are spread throughout the world. If you have clients, employees, representatives or students in another country or in a distant location, think how convenient it would be to be able to turn on your computer and hold a meeting with them. Well, this is not a distant dream, it is possible right now using existing web and video conferencing technology

4. Online conferencing allows you to give support and help to clients without sending out a technician or a representative.

If you are selling a product or service that must be supported, then think of the improvement in customer relations and reduction in costs that you could achieve if you could effectively meet online with your client. Today’s conferencing technology even allows your staff to “take over” the computer of a client and demonstrate how an application works.

5. Video and web conferencing software is now extremely affordable, easy to use and very functional.

Gone are the days of proprietary systems and cameras. Today you can use standard PCs and inexpensive web cameras to conduct your meetings. The online meetings do not require equipment or software that is not already found in most offices. In addition, several companies now offer conferencing services at a price that even individuals and small organizations can afford.

If you need to hold meetings, or meet with staff and colleagues who work in far-flung locations then you should consider online conferencing. The spread of online meetings could change the way we all work, just as the widespread adoption of email did fifteen years ago.

• About Dan Richmond