As communications technology matures, is the business traveller on the way to becoming an endangered species?

Only 30 years ago, business communications were pretty primitive — phone systems had barely changed since the 1940s and the fax machine was a cumbersome novelty. To close a deal of any importance usually meant travelling somewhere for a meeting.

Today a host of new technologies, from e-mail to video conferencing, allow businesspeople to chat online, collaborate on documents, and conduct face-to-face negotiations while they're physically thousands of kilometres apart.

The technology should be a boon to harried executives who want to avoid the airport check-in hassles, hours lost in stratospheric transit, crummy airline food and the inevitable jet lag.

But in spite of all the new tech toys available to workers, a Carlson Wagonlit Travel Survey at the beginning of the year reported that companies in every part of the world planned to increase their business travel in 2006.

This statistic is even more surprising when considered against a backdrop of steadily rising travel costs and the evolution of "no bottles, no bags, no laptops" security procedures at airports.

Early video conferencing problems still deter

Part of the reason people aren't ditching business travel in droves may be related to lingering image problems connected to communications technologies of the past.

Mansell Nelson, vice-president of business development for Rogers Business Solutions, observes that until very recently the technologies intended to substitute for live meetings were often clumsy and inconvenient.

"Video conferencing has historically been in a special room, which had to be reserved and organized internally and with the external participants. It wasn't that easy to use."

For those willing to go to the trouble of setting the meeting up, technical glitches like a grainy picture and out of sync audio and video feeds were common in the early days of conferencing technology.

VoIP, online document sharing make virtual meetings easy

Today the tools for long-distance meetings are more sophisticated and reliable. Nelson points out that unlike the older video conferencing mechanisms, new desktop video using VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) is simple for users to manage from their personal computer, for example.

This technology, along with online document collaboration, more closely replicates the feel of a personal meeting, because people can chat, see each other's expressions and body language on-screen, and share files and update documents online during a session.

"Areas like the legal and financial industries, where people have typically travelled to collaborate on complex documents, will get the most value from these kinds of tools," he said, adding that he believes we're only at the beginning of the growth curve for this technology.

Seasoned business traveller sees slow change

Sean Riley, a senior manager for consulting firm Accenture who spends more than 80 per cent of his working life on the road, agrees.

He said that historically, consulting companies have sent their people out to where the clients are, but that's beginning to change.

"There's not much reason to spend a lot of money flying people all over the world to program code when they can do it from home."

He points out that in his own career, he's been in situations where he's been sent out from home to a client site, just to spend all of his time on the phone with colleagues in a third location.

"That's not a good use of travel time."

Riley said technologies like Microsoft SharePoint, which facilitates the sharing of documents and teams working together remotely, are definitely reducing the need for business travel in many situations.

However, he also thinks that many companies continue to put their people on the road in part because that's the way it's always been done, and traditions are slow to change.

Can keep in touch through mobile networks

There is another factor that could keep business travel on the corporate budget sheet for a long time to come, though: mobile networks.

Nelson notes that while some technical advances are reducing the need for trips, there's an offsetting trend where mobile tools like smartphones, BlackBerrys, and other wireless e-mail devices encourage travel by allowing executives to stay plugged in regardless of location.

A quad-band GSM phone will work in more than 150 countries around the world, so travellers can start working the minute they get off the plane.

"People can now be out of their office and still manage the business," Nelson said.

"It used to be that if you were out for a couple of days, you'd come back to the office and find 150 e-mails to manage. Nowadays with a BlackBerry you can handle all that from the road."

Riley said sardonically that although his Blackberry is "an addiction" which has "ruined [his] life," being in touch by e-mail means an issue won't fester just because he's not at home to deal with it. So the technology is letting him travel more freely than he could before.

Smaller, multi-use tools ease travel

And it's not just the new functionality that makes travel easier than ever, it's the diminishing size of the tools. Just a couple of years ago a business traveller needed a laptop for e-mail, a GSM phone for calls, and maybe a music player to deflect unwanted conversational sallies from garrulous seatmates. Now a single handheld device can do it all.

The next generation of tech tools will make it even easier to leave the office without missing a beat. Mark Guibert, vice-president of corporate marketing at BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM), said the next "killer apps" will probably be those that seamlessly integrate both voice and data networks into the mobile environment.

"Wireless technology will integrate the office phone and mobile phone in the same way that it does with e-mail," he said.

Ultimately it will also allow easy, secure access to home networks and databases from any location.

Face-to-face meetings still sometimes essential

Business travel also remains a constant due to the human element, the intangible psychological factors that distinguish a virtual meeting from an old-fashioned face-to-face.

"Sometimes you have to get out there and see the customers, especially if you're kicking off a new relationship," Rogers' Nelson said.

"There's an innate desire to meet people, and see who they are — are they operating out of a trailer, or do they have a whole building?"

Riley observes that, "When you're dealing with a client issue, it's easier get the point across if you're actually there. They can tell that you're being sincere and that you want to help."

And an overlooked factor in the continuing popularity of business travel in a wired world is that some people just like to travel, especially if it's on the company dime. While the seasoned road warrior may shake his or her head at the idea of enjoying a business trip, for occasional travellers it can be a perk.

A recent study by Deloitte and Touche revealed that 55 per cent of business travellers had taken at least one combined business-pleasure trip in the previous year.

Guibert doesn't think that technology is a complete replacement for face-to-face dialogue, but said the two go hand in hand.

In other words, technology isn't turning the business traveller into an endangered species, but it is making business communications more flexible, giving people more choices and changing the reasons why they travel.

"The travel that is happening today versus 20 years ago is more focused and more productive," Guibert said. "People aren't swamped with the need to travel for the sole purpose of exchanging information."

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