Australian headquartered global architectural and design firm, Woods Bagot, is deploying Tandberg video conferencing technology across all of its 15 offices worldwide.

Tandberg says the pilot program involved deployment of its high definition MXP 8000 twin screen video conferencing systems and a suite of personal telepresence systems in Sydney, Dubai and San Francisco, with the technology trialled in company board meetings, across design and project teams, and was also used for customer video conferences.  According to Tandberg, by the end of last year, Woods Bagot board of directors had abandoned its previous quarterly face-to-face meetings, replacing them with monthly video conferences.
 
Woods Bagot’s group IT operations manager, Nectarios Lazaris, says increasing collaboration was a major driver for the firm’s adoption of videoconferencing technology.
 
“When I joined the firm I soon realised that the board and the company’s designers were all visual people, and with studios frequently collaborating we needed a platform to bring the virtual teams together.

“The green impact of travel was another factor, especially given the firm's need to account for the environmental footprint of every design and every project, and what we've managed to do is cut travel but increase communications,” Lazaris adds.

According to Lazaris, phase one of videoconferencing proved so successful that the company was now scheduling video conferences that IT doesn't even know about.
 
“It's easier than making a phone call. With phase two we plan to build on that momentum but this time the focus will be on deeper communication with our clients.”