Rising Gas Prices Fuel the Value of Remote Collaboration

Are higher gas prices making remote collaboration tools more attractive to consumers and small businesses? I certainly think so.

I read an article recently in The San Jose Mercury News that featured a Bay Area couple who spend $1200/month on fuel for their daily 385-mile (combined) commutes. While one can debate the merits–and the sanity–of this particular example, higher gas costs are looming larger in many household and small business budgets. Remote collaboration tools that make sense for large businesses are becoming money- and time-saving tools for small businesses and individuals, too. Now there’s a second “green” argument: this one’s about wallet contents rather than carbon footprints.

Imagine if the couple above worked from home just two days a month. Using a remote computer access solution like Cisco WebEx’s PCNow, they’d have secure remote desktop access to their work computers from their home computers, whether they were PCs or Macs, plus remote file and folder access from their mobile phones. Even better, a solution like this would let them easily share their local computer screens with remote colleagues for one-to-one collaboration, training, or support.

The couple would reduce their commute by over 750 miles a month, save more than $100 on gas, and reduce their stress and fatigue by avoiding over twelve hours spent listening to talk shows while avoiding other drivers who also should be collaborating remotely. All for about $25 a month for two PCNow subscriptions.

Of course, most workers don’t have the excessive commute of our lucky couple, but the price of gas isn’t likely to drop anytime soon, either. Plus, as they say in the credit card commercial, “Regaining productive time, saving money and remaining sane? Priceless.”

David Bockian, Cisco WebEx strategic marketing