AIRLINES’ PAIN IS VIDEOCONFERENCING’S GAIN AS COMPANIES SCRAMBLE TO CUT TRAVEL COSTS

New York –July 17, 2008--- As companies slash travel budgets in the face of higher travel costs and a softer economy, they're increasingly adopting technology that enables employees to collaborate face-to-face without boarding a plane.

The businesses that make such technology, such as Polycom , SONY and Tandberg, are seeing profits from videoconferencing soar alongside the price of jet fuel and gasoline.

Only 1 company represents these 3 major manufacturers:

DIRECTVIEW VIDEO TECHNOLOGIES, INC.   888-704-8700

With oil prices hitting an all-time high of $146.91 per barrel in July, DirectView has been hearing customers talk more in recent weeks about using video conferencing to avoid travel.  They have serviced companies around the world since 1996.  They have serviced clients in all sectors including Trump, Burger King, Coca-Cola, AT&T, the US Navy and many more.

As part of an effort to cut travel costs by 10 percent, staffing services company Manpower Inc has ramped up use of its videoconference equipment in the last couple of months, said Allan McKisson, a vice president of human resources at Manpower.

"It used to be, when you can videoconference, do it. Now it's do videoconference first, or maybe don't have the meeting," said McKisson, who must approve his direct reports' travel requests.

In companywide e-mails, office furniture maker Herman Miller Inc has encouraged employees to use videoconferencing in addition to conference calls and car-pooling to cut operating costs, spokeswoman Susan Koole said.

"Herman Miller is really encouraging its employees to ask if their travel is truly necessary," Koole said.

HIGH ANXIETY

This anxiety over oil prices has translated into improved results for videoconference equipment makers.

Sales of Polycom's high-end technology, which aims to make international colleagues feel like they're in the same room, grew about 58 percent between the fourth quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008, Kourey said.

MONEY SAVED

Reducing travel for intracompany meetings can yield substantial savings.

One Polycom client, News Corp subsidiary EasyNet, found that videoconferencing had enabled it to cut travel spending by 35 percent after it compared the three months before and the three months after its introduction, said Mike Ayres, an EasyNet business development director.

Accounting firm Deloitte LLP, which has bought Polycom's high-end product, has found that the quality of the latest systems induces employees to actually use them, said Larry Quinlan, the firm's chief information officer.

"People say it's lifelike; it's almost like being there," he said. "The clarity of the high-definition image is like watching football at home." (Reporting by Helen Chernikoff, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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