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TANDBERG Offers Companies To Fly Free
Published Oct 20, 2009
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TANDBERG launched at Gitex 2009 its new Fly Free programme aimed at enabling commercial enterprises and other organisations to save thousands of dirhams in travel expenses by using video conferencing facilities for free.
The FlyFree programme by TANDBERG – the leading global provider of telepresence, high-definition video conferencing and mobile video solutions – is a marketing programme offering executives and business travellers the opportunity to replace a flight with a video conference using the TANDBERG Executive Briefing Centres (EBC) around the world.
The TANDBERG office – located in the newly built Office Park Building in Dubai Internet City – serves as the company’s Middle East head office, and its EBC is fully equipped with TANDBERG’s technology, enabling it to act as a powerful tool to demonstrate the business value that visual communication can offer to improve everyday business life. TANDBERG’s briefing centres in its offices around the globe create a consistent experience with the same look, feel and messaging where customers can connect with partners and appreciate the full potential that TANDBERG can help achieve when implemented through a multisite organisation.
“Our briefing centre is a fully integrated communication hub able to communicate in real time with our offices across the globe,” says TANDBERG General Manager Middle East & North Africa, Georges Lemire.
“FlyFree is an offer to any company with a need to conduct meetings, either with clients or colleagues, in other parts of the world to make free use of its video conferencing technology and solutions available at any of the TANDBERG EBCs.”
This free, limited invitation offers companies a means not only to reduce business travel, associated accommodation costs and carbon footprint, but also provides a reduction of downtime of staff who would normally be required to attend meetings abroad.
According to Munzer Aloush, TANDBERG Country Manager of UAE & Oman, the objective of the FlyFree campaign is multipronged.
“FlyFree offers interested companies or organisations the opportunity to save costs for a trial period, while also letting them truly experience video conferencing,” says Aloush. “The best way to promote video, I believe, is to get people to try it for themselves.”
Via the FlyFree programme – offered free of charge and without any obligation – a company in Dubai, for example, can connect with staff (or clients) all over the world where TANDBERG’s EBCs are located.
By logging on to the programme’s website, perspective ‘travellers’ can book their session in much the same way they would book international travel, simply selecting their ‘departure’ and ‘destination’ cities from a list of 35 possible locations. A TANDBERG ‘travel agent’ will reply with confirmation in the form of a ‘boarding pass’ for all parties involved and the ‘trip’ is booked.
An in-person meeting involving 50 participants across 10 countries may cost as much as US$50,000 in travel cost and over 1,000 hours of lost productivity. The cost incurred from just a couple of such meetings is sufficient to pay for the deployment of the best-in-class high-definition video conferencing systems across 10 sites. On average, TANDBERG’s customers save over 30% in travel cost within the first year and see a payback well within six months.
“As companies become more global and more virtual, executives are realising the value of visual communications. Only by seeing the colleagues that people are working with can employees truly collaborate as though they are in the same room, even if they're continents apart,” adds Aloush.
Companies interested to find out more about deploying video conferencing and accept the offer will receive a complimentary consultation package. The package includes:
•ROI calculator – to estimate the potential cost reduction and payback period
•Travel reduction programme – provides checklists/templates to help participants roll out a travel reduction programme internally
•Video champion programme – provides materials to help drive use and adoption of video within the organisation.
Importantly, TANDBERG video systems have the ability to share multimedia source materials such as video clips, websites, spreadsheets and other presentations – ultimately making video meetings more engaging and effective.
Aloush concludes that in recent months, interest and uptake of video conferencing and telepresence equipment have seen a heightened increase as the economic downturn drove companies to take a slew of cost cutting measures, particularly with respect to travel budgets. Other drivers contributing to the growth of the video conferencing industry include quick return-on-investments, increased productivity with less time spent at airports, a better work-life balance and its contribution in reducing carbon footprint.
TANDBERG’s Gitex stand is located in Zabeel Hall, GULFCOMMS at stand #Z - B30 (next to Etisalat).
For more information on TANDBERG FlyFree programme, go to: www.tandberg.com/flyfree, or contact middleeast@tandberg.com.
Posted by
VMD - [Virtual Marketing Department]
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