Calculator: Videoconferencing Solutions

Our example company sends 10 executives from one coast to the other for a quarterly two-day meeting. The yearly cost—$92,000—is nearly three times as much as the videoconferencing solution with the highest first-year investment (an in-house, two-point ISDN system). Operating costs for that in-house system are the lowest of the three video solutions (below); it pays off versus managed services soon after the first year, and versus the hosted public-room choice in the second (right). Please see the ASSUMPTIONS SHEET for the business, technology and labor bases for these estimates.

INSTRUCTIONS Enter estimates for your own organization in the pale-yellow cells. Totals for the first year operating costs appear at the bottom of each box. See the PAYOFF sheet for the break-even points among the choices.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Baseline.