The travel budget needs cutting, says the CFO. The corporate -social responsibility people say we have to take this green agenda seriously. HR reports that the latest polls have executives bleating about how much time they're spending on planes. Smaller local subsidiaries think they're not getting enough face time with company leaders. What are you going to do? For some CIOs, the answer lies in a relatively new concept called telepresence.

If you've even heard of telepresence you probably think of it as the latest incarnation of videoconferencing, and you'd be right -- up to a point. Telepresence combines the latest software, video, audio, screen and networking technologies to create a collaborative experience that its supporters say is as close to a face-to-face physical meeting as it gets.

OK, so you usually need a dedicated room to get the best out of it, but the big factor in favor of telepresence is that it cures a lot of pain points currently being felt by large organizations. Let's examine them one at a time.

Tangible savings

The first benefit is cost. Supporters say telepresence can drive savings right to the bottom line by reducing travel expenses. For a one-off capital expenditure of £15,000-£150,000 (US$27,516-$275,157) plus an ongoing maintenance fee, companies can take massive chunks out of their travel purses.

"The easy way in the front door [for telepresence sales] is to say: we can save your travel budget and give you payback in four to eight months, and that's no BS," says Marc Trachtenberg, CEO of Teliris, a leading provider of telepresence services.

"Other people say: 'Never mind the travel saving. When I speak to one of my pharmaceutical research and development bosses, he says I've taken three months out of the development cycle for a new drug'," Trachtenberg adds.

Paul Bradley, HP collaborative solutions business manager and the man responsible for the firm's Halo telepresence system, confirms that the cost-cutting power of telepresence is making it an attractive strategic investment.

"It lowers operating cost and at CXO level they see the value of doing things faster, whether that's acquiring companies or expanding, or examining how they do inter-company collaboration and the whole question of 'How do I connect to my supply chain?'."