Conferencing Becoming More Valuable to Global Workforce

August 23, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A new survey from Wainhouse Research and InterCall finds that conferencing is the key to boosting productivity and is more valuable than a cell phone when it comes to connecting teams.

According to a press release, the survey asked 750 professionals to rank their most valued company resources and conferencing came in second with 17.8% of votes, ahead of the cell phone with 16.8% of votes. The computer desktop ranked first at 23.7%.

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“With an increasingly globalized work force it’s anticipated that in the next two to three years more than 70% of all meetings will be online versus in person,” said Marc Beattie, manager and partner with Wainhouse Research, in the release.

Seventy-two percent of those surveyed are using conferencing services more frequently than a year ago, compared to only 9% that said they are conducting more meetings in-person. However, this does not imply workers are being cut off from human contact since the survey found more than 40% of virtual meetings take place in a conference room.

InterCall, a subsidiary of West Corporation, is a service provider specializing in conference communications.

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