Forrester

Why Read This Report

Telepresence, the life-size, "you are there" meeting experience, is a hefty upfront technology investment — but over five years globally dispersed organizations reap a return on investment (ROI) of 47% or more. Travel reduction provides for the major hard cost savings. However, telepresence users also cite increased collaboration for faster decision-making, improved work/life balance, increased productivity, and contribution to greening of the environment as other major benefits. This TEI analysis and the accompanying data spreadsheets go into detail on the benefits, costs, and risks of telepresence. Organizations we interviewed use telepresence for internal operations among offices in different geographies, for building relationships with customers, and for working with partners in many parts of the world. The biggest risks to realizing the ROI of telepresence are that employees continue to travel extensively and fail to use telepresence to change their way of doing business.