Ernie Newman: Telco tools that can help your business

The range of efficiencies businesses can extract from modern-day telecommunications is so rich, it's hard to know where to start. Quite simply, few occupations or professions do not have many ways to use these technologies to achieve higher levels of productivity. Three examples come to mind quickly.

First, there's the video conference. It has been around seemingly forever, in sophisticated forms that offer near-TV quality images and sound, through to rudimentary, low-price systems. Years ago we all thought video conferencing was going to change our lives and consign air travel to the leisure bin. Yet, put your head into the Koru Club any weekday morning and you will see that Kiwis' business travel has done anything but decline.

That doesn't mean video conferencing is a failure - far from it. Schools, universities and large organisations are prolific users. But for the smaller enterprise it remains far from top-of-mind, while most large corporations would acknowledge they have not managed to fully exploit it.

Given oil prices, environmental awareness and concerns about New Zealanders' work-life balance, this is an opportunity knocking.

Telecom is one example of a business that has made a concerted effort this year to replace air travel with cheaper video conferencing. It has had some success with a 20 per cent increase in the use of video company-wide.

What's needed for video conferencing to reach its potential? We need much better understanding of how to use it effectively. Conferences I have attended suffered from poor preparation, inadequate lighting and cameras positioned at too wide an angle. In a meeting scenario the whole point of having video is the ability to read body language - not only that of the speaker but of others in the room. If the audience at the far end is clustered in a corner of the screen, with no light on their faces, you might as well use an audio speaker phone.

If the basic rules are observed intelligently, video conferencing can pay off hugely. If you can't justify purchase and set up of units, try using a bureau. A two-hour conference with four people in Auckland and four in Wellington, using well-appointed studios easily hired in the central business districts, and with all facilities including document cameras, will cost about $600 for room hire and $40 for the line.

Contrast that with flying four people to Wellington and back - say $1500 for flights and $100 for taxis. Let's not forget, of course, the loss of about 20 working hours wasted while in flight or at airports.

A second example is a global positioning system (GPS) navigation device. These are still a bit expensive with little change out of $1000, but they can mean big time and stress savings when you're on unfamiliar ground.

My device, a Garmin iQue M4, allows a delivery driver, sales rep or tradesman to enter a list of street addresses. It calculates the most efficient sequence of call and then directs the driver all the way around the route, with both visual maps and audio cues at each intersection.

Such gadgets are seen by some as toys for the chaps. But they have a very serious and efficiency-enhancing value. Removing the need to constantly refer to maps, and having the confidence to rely on the GPS device, can free the mind for more important matters than navigation, and improve safety.

But the most significant outcome can be to increase the number of calls possible in a given time.

Third, but by no means least, is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony. Simply put, this is an integration of the company data network with the phone switchboard, so that voice and data traffic share the same circuits instead of operating as distinct and separate systems.

VoIP creates huge efficiencies in line use. I was in Canada recently and watched a demonstration of a hospital in China video conferencing with a research establishment in Ottawa for an underlying cost about that of sending an email.

VoIP systems allow users to access voice messages across the internet, use unified messaging systems, and derive huge cost savings in their voice calling. The thought strikes terror in the heart of traditional phone companies and joy in the hearts of their customers.

For large multi-site corporations, VoIP has become the standard. For small businesses it is fast moving in that direction. Any business planning to upgrade its standard telephony facility should certainly be considering VoIP options.

With the shortage of people applying for jobs in this country, and our poor record of working longer hours per capita while others move in the opposite direction, we cannot continue to solve our business challenges by employing more people or working more.

Technology holds many of the answers. All businesses should be redoubling their search for labour-saving technology solutions, many of which will be found in the telecommunications field.

* Ernie Newman is the chief executive of the Telecommunications Users Association of NZ.