Small firms embrace web conferencing in the US

New York: Small businesses, that is, firms with less than 100 employees, in the United States are increasingly using web-conferencing solutions, like GoToMeeting, LiveMeeting and WebEx.

According to a recent report by sector researcher AMI-Partners, nearly half of US small businesses are using web-conferencing solutions today, with penetration expected to grow to 80 per cent by next year.

However, this trend has also raised new challenges for many web-conferencing providers. With increased use of these services, AMI is forecasting significant displacement to free web-conferencing offers.

"Over the last three years, US small businesses have seen additional benefits in using these solutions. Today, they no longer view web-conferencing as a cost-cutting measure, but rather as an effective, real-time collaboration tool," AMI said.

Alternative to travel

"The recent economic downturn heightened cost management among US small businesses, and they identified web-conferencing as a viable, affordable alternative to travel," said Brian Galgay, manager of Cloud Services for AMI's Marketing Strategy Consulting Group.

"Over the last three years, US small businesses have seen additional benefits in using these solutions. Today, they no longer view web-conferencing as a cost-cutting measure, but rather as an effective, real-time collaboration tool."

However, any optimism among web-conferencing vendors regarding potential revenue growth should be balanced. This growth could be limited by displacement of US small businesses' current budget allocation.