In tough climates – of both economical and ecological varieties – “green” is the hottest buzzword for enterprises that strive to spend wisely and reduce their carbon footprint.

 

Just ask the hundreds of folks who attended Technology Marketing Corporation’s ITEXPO (News - Alert) West – an event that will be held in Miami during  ITEXPO East 2010 early next year - where a number of session panelists rhapsodized on the importance of energy efficiency, power supplies, smart grids and saving money.

 

One of the easiest ways to keep those green dollar bills in-house while saving the earth is swapping business trips for teleconferencing. Like cell phones or the Internet, the quality of teleconferencing technology, as well as mediums like video-conferencing, has come a long way over the last few years.

 

Still, many companies don’t realize the extent to which teleconferencing fits in with their environmental goals, and, in turn, saves thousands of dollars. In a detailed blog on the topic — “Will Videoconferencing Kill Business Class Travel,” — green-business advocate and “Green Recovery” author Andrew Winston made a note of the savings achieved by companies that made “a concerted effort to reduce business travel through a combination of high-end telepresence systems and everyday technologies” like WebEx.

 

“British Telecom calculated that it was saving $330 million per year on avoided travel costs and time saved, and Microsoft (News - Alert) pegged its savings at $90 million,” Winston said.