OVERVIEW

For years yours truly has been extolling the wonders of audio, data and video conferencing, mostly in the pages of Computer Telephony magazine (now called Communications Convergence). After all, why waste time and money by physically traveling anywhere or not traveling, depending on the vagaries of the weather or, as is the case now, a new fear of flying and delays in airport security spawned by your not-so-friendly local terrorist cell. Audio and video conferencing services and products, that can facilitate pow-wows for as few as three people or as many as 3,000, are now within the reach of any sized company.

Moreover, the teleconferencing paradigm itself has changed. Whereas the traditional view held that conferencing technology could simply replace travel for group-to-group meetings, the contemporary view looks upon this technology as providing a more dynamic, synergistic "visual collaboration" to accelerate information sharing and business decision making.

The electronic conferencing industry got some unexpected help in the early years of the new millennium: First a recession, then The Fear Factor following the horrifying events of September 11, 2001, and now The Hassle Factor, as airline travel becomes ever more difficult. All of these factors have spurred an increasing demand for alternatives to traditional in-person business meetings.

President Bush's vow to the American public on the evening of September 11, 2001 that America's economy would be open for business the next day, was almost immediately accompanied by press reports that many companies, including Intel and Sun Microsystems, were suspending...