In a trend that could transform the way companies do business, Cisco Systems has slashed its annual travel budget by two-thirds -- from $750 million to $240 million -- by using similar conferencing technology to replace air travel and hotel bills for its vast workforce.
Likewise, Hewlett-Packard says it sliced 30 percent of its travel expenses from 2007 to 2008 -- and expects even better results for 2009 -- in large part because of its video conference technology.