By considerably reducing travel, videoconferencing has been proven to save costs and reduce carbon emissions, two major benefits for companies today. Now barriers to its uptake by a wider range of users have been overcome by the launch of Easy Meeting, a video meeting service delivered via the public internet.

SMEs in particular have previously avoided videoconferencing because of the high cost investment in video hardware and infrastructure systems, complexity of use, and the high cost to make calls, all of which are eliminated by Easy Meeting.

Available as a rental package, it can cost as little as £20 per day for which meetings and presentations can be held with participants throughout the world. For financial directors looking to cut travel costs this equates to driving just 50 miles per day and is cheaper than most, if not all, air tickets.

For the monthly rental Easy Meeting users get a high quality, high definition videoconferencing system comprising a set-top camera and the choice of 24”, 32" or 40” screen ensuring that the service can cater for virtually any application or size of room. The cost also includes provision of a dedicated Easy Meeting IP public internet access line, which means calls between Easy Meeting sites are free.

Previous hosted video services have relied on the intervention of the service provider to set up the calls while those with their own systems have often needed a dedicated member of staff to undertake this task. With Easy Meeting all the user does is punch in a short number code in their system's remote control - very little difference from making a normal telephone call.

For those organisations concerned about their carbon footprint it is worth remembering that a single 200-mile car journey can result in emissions of over 80 kilograms of carbon. Meanwhile air travel accounted for 6.4 per cent of the UK's emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas causing climate change.

We are so confident that Easy Meeting will change the face of video meeting forever, "says Kevin O’Shea of Easy Meeting. "We are also offering existing video conferencing users with a standards based system the chance to experience it for free by giving them Easy Meeting registration and number plus access to our directory and search engine".