Collaboration technologies let employees conduct virtual meetings without having to travel to one physical location, saving the fuel necessary for transportation while maintaining a high level of interaction and participation. The Carbon to Collaboration initiative seeks to reduce our employees’ overall carbon footprint by replacing air travel with virtual collaboration over the network.
Cisco TelePresence is a new collaborative technology that combines rich audio, high-definition video, and interactive elements to deliver a unique in-person experience—over the network and with one-touch convenience. As of July 2007 we have installed approximately 110 TelePresence units in Cisco offices in more than 20 countries and almost 60 cities worldwide. Frequent users receive one-screen (individual) TelePresence units to give them immediate access.
Cisco TelePresence capabilities have been expanded to allow more than two sites to participate in a single meeting. Worldwide utilization of all TelePresence units has quickly increased to almost 50 percent of the time they are available, based on a 10-hour work day. Of the 75 larger, three-screen TelePresence units that were in service in Cisco conference rooms during the last week of July 2007, 12 units hosted more than 40 hours of meetings during that one-week period.
In August 2007 Cisco held the first virtual company meeting using TelePresence. Employees in seven locations used Cisco TelePresence and Cisco TV to view presenters in San Jose, California, and Bangalore, India. Attendees were able to participate in the meeting directly, just as if they were physically present in the room in San Jose.
Cisco completed a $3 billion acquisition of WebEx Communications in late 2007. The WebEx product suite provides businesses and individuals with network-based conferencing and collaboration capabilities, allowing them to share presentations, applications, and other data worldwide. These services improve productivity and decrease the need for air travel for our employees, customers, partners, and others outside the company who attend meetings hosted or sponsored by Cisco.
Cisco is employing internal communications to raise the visibility of Cisco collaboration technologies as an effective and efficient replacement for travel. These activities include articles on Cisco’s internal Website home page, e-mail alerts, and a video blog from John Chambers, Cisco’s chairman and CEO. Cisco also has launched the Communication Center of Excellence, an online forum where all employees can learn how to use collaborative technologies to reduce air travel, and can share experiences and best practices across job functions. In addition, our internal Scale the Power Website continues to focus on the use of collaborative technologies in the sales process. Scale the Power is an initiative that facilitates virtual interactions between our customers, partners, and employees by using collaboration tools in the everyday work environment.
To better monitor and manage the carbon footprint from Cisco’s business travel, we are conducting a pilot program with our travel partner American Express to create an automated greenhouse gas emissions calculation tool. Cisco employees will be able to use this tool to make “green” travel decisions, or to replace travel altogether with a virtual meeting. Employees will also have access to their own individual greenhouse gas emissions reports. This pilot is scheduled to begin in September 2008.
