No time for face time

Large companies with project teams spread over several countries and multiple time zones are increasingly turning to videoconferencing to connect geographically dispersed groups.

Companies are realizing that flying employees from one location to the next not only chalks up travel costs, but also decreases productivity and leads to team exhaustion. Of course, videoconferencing isn't a complete replacement for face-to-face meetings. Companies that are leading the way in videoconferencing report that periodic in-person visits are still necessary, and they caution that videoconferencing is most effective if team members already have an existing relationship.

But the trend toward IP-based videoconferencing equipment, rather than ISDN-based units, and the spread of IP networks is clearly making it easier than ever for companies to roll out videoconferencing.

Dow Chemical is leading the charge. Dow has hired Electronic Data Systems (EDS) to build a global network, dubbed DowNet, that will deliver video, voice and data over a single, largely IP-based network. The core infrastructure is primarily fiber-optic cable, carrying mostly IP traffic, although there will be some ATM. And end users can receive bandwidth on demand over VPN links. EDS is supporting the network from operations centers globally, and Cisco is providing the infrastructure.

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"It's an aggressive undertaking," says Christopher Duncan, who is leading the DowNet project. A key application that the network will support is videoconferencing. Dow is deploying 300 PC-based PictureTel group videoconferencing and collaboration systems, a move that will triple the number of units currently installed. The systems run at 384K bit/sec and let teams simultaneously collaborate on applications, data and whiteboards via Microsoft NetMeeting software.

By March, Dow will convert one-third of its conference rooms globally into what it calls iRooms, which house the videoconferencing systems. Dow is also deploying 200 Polycom ViaVideo personal videoconferencing systems at desktops globally, twice as many as the company planned to deploy before Sept. 11. Dow is putting some personal systems, which run at 128K bit/sec, in managers' homes so they can communicate in the evening with team members in other parts of the world.

"Roles are becoming more global. Our scope is becoming larger and larger," Duncan says. "There is no way you can go out of the office and see face-to-face everyone you are responsible to. That includes customers, direct reports and your boss."

Wireless video on the factory floor

The distance leadership tentacles at Dow also extend to the factory floor in its automotive plastic parts business. The company has blended videoconferencing systems with wireless technology at plants in suburban Detroit and Grand Rapids, Mich., so a manager 100 miles away or team members in Switzerland or the Netherlands can view prototype parts as they come off the line.

The system also lets Dow get immediate customer feedback. "We have avoided the cost of travel. We have also solved our customers' problems instantly, which allows our customers to solve their customers' problems," says Daniel Denardo, Dow's manager of global videoconferencing.

The increased efficiency of using a single global IP network and the flexibility of PC-based videoconferencing are letting Dow integrate streaming video with videoconferencing. This will let home users with limited bandwidth connections join videoconferences, even though the video will be one-way. "At least they can watch and participate through instant text messaging," Duncan says.

Where there is a business need, Dow will pay for broadband connections for home users. Rather than contracting with a service provider, Dow is letting each employee select the technology and provider. Dow is also integrating DowNet with its global satellite system, using videoconferencing as a downlink. When Dow CEO Michael Parker delivers his quarterly "State of the Company" speeches to Dow's 50,000 employees, many employees will watch the satellite address through videoconferencing systems.

While Dow's global IP network is perhaps the most state-of-the-art among global companies, many other corporations are chalking up impressive productivity gains by encouraging teams to communicate and collaborate as if they were in one location. Critical success factors in leading and participating in global teams include establishing a face-to-face relationship before holding video meetings and encouraging spontaneous, rather than scheduled, interactions.

Walking the virtual hallway

Parker Hannifin is using a "virtual hallway" concept in its Compumotor division to link a design and engineering group in Milford, Ohio, with a factory automation group in Rohnert Park, Calif.

If an employee walks into Conference Room 14 in the California office, it almost feels like the Ohio office. Parker Hannifin accomplishes a degree of telepresence, or the feeling of being at the other location, by leaving videoconferencing systems on regardless of whether a video meeting is scheduled. Both locations have PictureTel 680 systems and dedicated T-1 connections with 384K bit/sec allocated to the virtual hallway. "You can see the secretaries in Ohio crossing the hall," says Bud Parer, the division's California-based IS manager. "The accounting person in Ohio can see us and wave."

Parker Hannifin's Compumotor division supplies motors and controllers that do everything from filling ketchup bottles in factories to spraying water through the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. The division began using videoconferencing to manage a merger with a partner that is now its human-machine interface group in Ohio. Both teams have worked at a distance while integrating financial systems, tech support, repair process management and quality control. "In some cases, we were implementing network security while we were on videoconferencing. I'd say to my counterpart, I'll meet you in the [virtual hallway] in 3 minutes," says Parer, who at times has spent up to five hours a day in video meetings. The frenzy of merger management sparked the spontaneous interactions that are now commonplace at Parker Hannifin.

Caterpillar: Videoconferences on the fly

Caterpillar, a $20 billion per year manufacturer of industrial and farm equipment, encourages global teams to master communication and collaboration tools. The company has deployed more than 300 PictureTel 970 group systems and has deployed so many personal systems that it has lost track of the number. Caterpillar uses a gateway that lets teams using ISDN connections communicate and collaborate with others connected via IP.

While managers schedule 1,400 hours of video meetings per month, many more video interactions happen on the fly. "We knew we needed the ability to communicate ad hoc with anybody anywhere," says Gus Otto, Caterpillar's new technology design engineer. "We make decisions quickly by involving team members. Six minds are better than one. While other companies are making plans, we're interacting."

Donald Western, a Caterpillar vice president, runs the company's large engine and fuel systems division. He manages teams around the globe from his office at Caterpillar headquarters in Peoria, Ill. On his office wall hangs a 60-inch plasma screen that displays teams at six global sites. "I can call a [general manager] at the spur of the moment if we have a current issue that we have to talk about now. It's just like picking up the phone," Western says. "We are a global company, yet we are a very close company."

Those who practice distance management insist that it is essential to press the flesh with team members before establishing a video relationship, and that periodic face-to-face meetings are critical. "You've got to have a personal relationship with senior managers in each location," Western says. "The only way you get that is through the investment of time and energy. You have to do that on the ground. You can't let videoconferencing do that for you."

Rosen speaks on distance leadership and broadband topics. He is chief strategist of Impact Video Communication in San Francisco and can be reached at erosen@impactvid.com.

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