Videoconferencing eyes growth spurt

0 Comments | USA TODAY, June, 2009 | by Roger Yu

Ben Weinberger, chief information officer of a law firm, typically travels about 25 times a year visiting colleagues around the country to make sure their information technology systems are working properly.

His employer, Lathrop & Gage, has 11 offices and 300 attorneys. But Weinberger estimates he will travel only once this year to each office, relying instead on videoconferencing from the main office in Kansas City.

The firm has six dedicated videoconference rooms there, with high-definition cameras, 47-inch or larger monitors, and software provided by California-based Polycom, a large videoconferencing equipment supplier.

"You don't have a meal with your colleagues videoconferencing," Weinberger says. "But I can save tens of thousands of dollars. If I...