Visual Contact

Dec 14, 2011 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Dialog Axiata mobile phone operator is offering a 'concierge-type' video conferencing service to corporate customers that it says will reduce business travel costs and raise sales management efficiency. Rithesh Bhargava, Cable & Wireless Worldwide's Head of Solutions India and South Asia, said the service using Web-based cloud computing systems can link desk-top computers, tablets and mobile phones in one integrated network.

Dialog will provide the system and manage it, he told a recent forum for big customers organised by the company, which is working with Cable & Wireless as a partner.

Video conferencing is yet to be widely adopted by businesses.

"People still travel for face-to-face business meetings," Bhargava said.

Human behaviour studies on sales management methods indicate the most effective engagement media was visual, involving face-to-face meetings or video conferencing, he said.

"The best thing to do is increase video collaboration," Bhargava said, adding that over 90 percent of enterprise video conferencing capacity is unused, according to studies by market research firm Gartner.

"Eighty-five percent of enterprises on average used vi