What’s a Traffic Jam Worth?

According to a recent study, the answer to this question is $100 billion. Yep, billion with a ‘b’. Crazy, right?

I’m sure we can all recall a time when we were stuck in a long line of traffic, due to weather, overturned semis or trains crossing a track, and thinking about all the other things we could be doing. (Actually, not to rub it in, but I have to think really hard since I’ve worked from home for the last three years. I know there were plenty of times in the past when I wanted to pull my hair out because no one was moving, but I think I've buried them.)

Based on a study of traffic and congestion, the time we spend waiting in traffic is getting worse and there’s no sign of improvement. By 2020, we’ll waste a whole work week trying to make sense of the vanity plate in front of us or wishing we had more coffee as we watch the cars go nowhere fast.

• 1982: 14 hours/year/person
• 1992: 28 hours/year/person
• Today: 34 hours/year/person
• 2015: predicted to be 37 hours/year/person
• 2020: predicted to be 41 hours/year/person

Anyone trying to go anywhere in the most congested cities listed below can already tell you what it’s like to lose that work week to traffic. The study rated the cities around the U.S with the worst traffic and it isn’t pretty.

Most congested cities:

• Metro DC: 74 hours/year/person
• Chicago: 71 hours/year/person
• LA: 64 hours/year/person
• Houston: 57 hours/year/person
• NY/NJ/CT: 54 hours/year/person
• Baltimore: 52 hours/year/person
• San Francisco: 50 hours/year/person
• Denver: 49 hours/year/person
• Boston: 47 hours/year/person
• Dallas/Minneapolis: 45 hours/year/person

The old theory was to avoid rush hour and drive later in the day or at night. It seems that a lot of people have caught on because it is estimated that 40% of delays occur in mid-day and over night. There goes that idea.

So what can you do? It may not be feasible for you to work full-time from home, but how about a couple of days a week. That would cut your wasted time each year in half. Or, if you have to endure the sea of brake lights, make the most of it and plan your meetings during your travel time. It’s easy to join an audio conference call on the road with your mobile phone (hands free, of course). You can even join online meetings with apps for your phone or tablet.

What’s your strategy? If moving to South Dakota isn't an option, have you tried staying home or rearranging your schedule to take meetings on the road?

Jill Huselton is a senior marketing manager at InterCall. She's been in the conferencing industry for nearly 15 years, working in operations, account management and marketing, mainly based in Colorado. Before leaving the Mile-High City, she hiked a 14er, one of her top accomplishments. Now she's traded the mountains for the beach and works from a home office in North Carolina.

What Does an Extra Hour Really Get You?

Last weekend my son graduated from pre-school. I’m not sure when this event became momentous enough to warrant a ceremony complete with cap and gown and the playing of a recorded version of Pomp and Circumstance over a horrible sound system, but now it seems to be the norm. My family and I sat in the audience cheering and trying to get pictures, while, as my husband says, we shed two tears: a sentimental one because our son is moving on to kindergarten and a jubilant one because we wrote our final daycare check.

As we were driving home, another thought struck me: I will save an hour each day by not driving back and forth to daycare. Sixty minutes. Get in a workout. Make a trip to the grocery store. Finish some emails. Read the paper. This is almost as exciting as the essential raise we are getting.

We talk a lot about the value of conferencing and how you can get more time in your day by having a web conference instead of driving across town for a meeting. Because I don’t travel very often for my job, the concept of getting some time back never really sunk in. Now, though, it is in a context that really hits home. Even just having an extra hour can reduce your stress level and make you more productive.

So, if the solution for getting more time back in your day isn’t the end of daycare drop-off and pick-up, could it be conferencing? Can you cut even one trip out of your schedule and earn an extra day (oh, imagine that!)? What about leaving work early to avoid rush hour and taking your end-of-the-day meeting in the car or at home? Have you found other ways to utilize conferencing to your advantage?

Jill Huselton is a senior marketing manager at InterCall. She's been in the conferencing industry for nearly 15 years, working in operations, account management and marketing, mainly based in Colorado. Before leaving the Mile-High City, she hiked a 14er, one of her top accomplishments. Now she's traded the mountains for the beach and works from a home office in North Carolina.

Life on the Road: Bad for Your Health?

Whenever I leave town for business or pleasure, I always pack at least one workout outfit and a pair of running shoes. I tell myself that I should find some time to exercise while away from home. What I’ve found (over and over and over again) is that it ends up doing nothing more than taking up suitcase space.

And, then there’s the eating out. While I go out to dinner with full intentions of selecting a healthy salad, it rarely happens. It seems that when I arrive at the restaurant all I want is french fries and beer. So, I order it. After all, I am on vacation.

There’s no harm in letting your healthy practices slip every once in awhile. But what about those business travelers who are consistently on the road?  Not surprisingly, a recently published survey found that a life on the road can have negative consequences to your health. The study, which analyzed data gathered from roughly 13,000 workers, found that those who traveled more than 20 nights a month were 2.61 times more likely to report they were in poor or fair health than those on the road one to six days a month. And they were 1.92 times as likely to be obese. Not to mention the well-known stresses and airborne illnesses that come hand in hand with busy airports and hit-and-miss hotels.

So, how can you avoid the negative impacts travel has on your mental and physical health? For starters, you can skip the trip altogether and meet instead with InterCall's audio, web, and video conferencing. By meeting virtually, you can save money, improve productivity and, most importantly, stick to your regular daily routine. But, when the trip has to be made there are things you can do to curb the negative health effects. Here are a few things that work for me:

• Choose hotels that have gyms – When traveling, convenience is everything. By selecting a hotel with a well-equipped gym, I’m more likely to make time for a workout.
• Take a trip to the grocery store – Eating out meal after meal can be a recipe for disaster.  A quick trip to the grocery store for some healthy snacks can make a huge difference in your diet.
• Remember to take time to yourself – Just because you’re in another city doesn’t mean you have to be on-the-go 24/7. Take a night for yourself to rent a movie and go to bed early.

What do you do to balance your health while on the road?

Sara Steele is an associate marketing manager at InterCall responsible for various corporate communication initiatives; including social media and channel marketing efforts. Sara began working with InterCall after graduating from the University of Colorado in 2006. In her free time, she enjoys running, skiing, and spending time with family and friends.

All You Germaphobes - Listen Up!

One out of every five adults travel for business—averaging about three nights per trip, five times per year. After a long day at work, most travelers need a nice place to unwind and rest their eyes. But, what many don’t realize is that with all this coming and going, hotel rooms may not be as clean as you want to believe.

Sure, the sheets are washed regularly, but not the bedspread which is breeding ground for germs and bacteria. Unwanted guests have even been known to live in many hotel rooms–that’s right, bed bugs! The most used item in the room is the remote control and you know most people don’t wash their hands before turning on the TV.

So, what can you do to avoid these germs and keep them out of your life? Well, for starters you can skip the business trip altogether and meet virtually through InterCall’s audio, web, and video conferencing solutions. That way you can sleep in your own germ-free bedroom and use a computer and phone that have not been contaminated by a stranger’s dirty fingers.

But when the trip is necessary, there are several pre-cautions that germaphobes can take to avoid (some of) the germs that infest these hotel rooms. Here are a few tips, as provided in Management Report Center’s Business Travel Guide for Germaphobes:

1. Pay more, get more. Higher-priced hotels offer better services and amenities and hopefully have better trained housekeeping staff who take better care of guest rooms.
2. Remove bed spreads and blankets. Most hotels wash the sheets after every guest but usually not the bedspreads and blankets. Think about all the people who have slept under those blankets before you and what ‘substances’ they may have left behind.
3. Avoid using the coffee pot. If you really need a cup of coffee, make a trip to a local Starbucks. You never know how sanitary the coffee pot is or the last time it was washed.
4. Skip the ice bucket. It’s nice that hotels offer guests ice buckets, but germaphobes may want to think twice. Was the ice bucket ever used as a barf bucket or an ash tray?
5. Disinfect everything you touch. Antibacterial wipes are a germaphobe’s best-friend and are a must-have in hotel rooms. Wipe down every surface you come in contact with, such as door knobs, light switches, key cards and the remote control.

Is that enough to make you want to stay home? Got any hotel horror stories you want to share?

Sara Steele is an associate marketing manager at InterCall responsible for various corporate communication initiatives; including social media and channel marketing efforts. Sara began working with InterCall after graduating from the University of Colorado in 2006. In her free time, she enjoys running, skiing, and spending time with family and friends.

Webinar Software Saves You Money

When you decide to host an event, whether it's a press conference, corporate announcement, investor relations meeting or a full-scale trade show, you'll find a lot of costs associated with the event—some obvious and some you may not consider. 

Travel cost (airline tickets, rental cars and hotel) is a no-brainer, but here are a few other costs associated with in-person meetings, even if business associates travel to your location rather than the other way around. 

• Audiovisual Equipment: Unless you have a full-scale teleconferencing room set up, expect to pay for audiovisual equipment rentals—and the people to show you how to use it. If you do have a conference room, will it fit the number of people you're inviting? If not, add the costs of renting a conference room in a hotel in addition to the audiovisual equipment and staff to run the equipment.
• Printed Materials: Planning to hand out press kits? Supplementary material? You want to make a strong impression, which might mean professionally-produced, four color brochures and other marketing material. All of this costs money. But if you host a webinar, no one expects to take home “dead-tree material.” You can show attendees anything you want through InterCall's sophisticated but easy-to-use webinar software, and they can print what they want.
• Petty Cash Expenses: Whether it's treating your visitors to dinner and drinks at the best steakhouse in town after the conference or paying for traveling employees' three dollar bottled water at the airport, travel and meetings cost money.
• Lost Productivity: A WorldCom study discovered that employees suffer 15 to 20 hours of lost productivity during each business trip, which averages out to a cost of $700 to $1000 per person.

Save Money with Webinar Software
Even top-of-the-line webinar software with all the features you need to organize and host meetings costs less than business travel. How much less? Why not use the InterCall travel cost calculator to find out?

Dan Uhlmeyer is a Sr. Product Manager and the "Web Conferencing" blogger.  He has nearly ten years of product experience in Web Conferencing and has managed several services at InterCall. When not punching on the keyboard, you can find Dan enjoying time with his wife and two children or running a marathon.

Less Travel…More Time This Holiday Season!

The holiday season is fast approaching and if you are like me, you are already feeling the stress of the mile long to-do list to make this season better than the last—turkey, pumpkin pie, decorating the house, shopping, mailing greeting cards, wrapping gifts, family visits, parties…the list goes on and on. This doesn’t leave a lot of time for those special extras you would like to include, like adding more lights to your outside display, going to a holiday play or baking your own cookies to serve instead of store-bought ones.

Unfortunately, work can get in the way of your dreams for the perfect holiday season, especially if it requires travel to another state or country. This holiday season, why not cancel your business travel plans and hold virtual meetings instead. With InterCall’s conferencing services you can accomplish many of your business objectives right from your desk!

Give it a try! What would you do with your extra time if no business travel was needed from now until 2011? A drive with the family to look at holiday lights? A play date with your kids and their new toys? Maybe just some sleep?

Christina Todisco is a marketing manager at InterCall and has been in the conferencing industry since 2002. Christina currently provides product marketing support for InterCall’s audio services, reporting and invoice solutions and InterCall Online. When not working, Christina enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, family and friends.

Under Pressure?

By now, you’ve probably heard about the infamous rage of the flight attendant on the JetBlue airplane.

Whether you hold him as a hero for finally saying enough is enough or think he needs to simmer down a bit, there’s no debating the surge of stress that comes from flying these days. I for one can feel my blood pressure rise as I wait in the security line while people fumble through their bags trying to find everything that needs to be placed on the tray. And I really roll my eyes watching people attempt to stuff their bags into crowded overhead bins, only to lose the fight when a flight attendant takes the bag to the front of the plane for a gate check. (The look of defeat on the passenger’s face almost makes you feel sorry for him, but then you remind yourself that he should have known not to bring on a bag the size your desk).

That’s the beauty of conferencing. Why deal with all that when you can stay at home or the office and accomplish just as much? Instead of dealing with lines and obeying airline rules, you can sit comfortably at your desk to have that meeting with your customer or partner. Using audio conferencing solutions and web conferencing services, you’re still going to be able to give your demo, cover project timelines, conduct training sessions or review strategies. The best part though, is you can stay calm, do things your way and know you can get up any time you want to go to the bathroom and no one is going to call you out on it.

Have you seen the light and started conferencing more than traveling? What don’t you miss?

Jill Huselton is a Senior Marketing Manager at InterCall

A Mile is a Mile, Except when It’s Green

Did you know that a 3000-mile cross-country car trip has the same carbon footprint as the equivalent flight from New York to Los Angeles? If you’re a green business, the best way to travel is “not at all.” And many members of the green business community are doing just that, relying on audio conference calls, video conferencing and web meetings to manage projects, “meet” with clients, and do business remotely.

In fact, a survey conducted by InterCall ranked “using conferencing tools to cut back on travel” as the number one step green businesses are taking to reduce their carbon footprint. Additionally, 71 percent of all respondents say their companies encourage telecommuting for at least part of the work week.

InterCall’s Own Green Efforts

In addition to providing conferencing tools that make it easy for members of the green business community to decrease their own carbon footprint, InterCall implements measures to use green business practices whenever possible, too.

For instance, the company celebrated last year’s Earth Week by inviting employees to work from home during one day that week, using web or video conferencing when collaboration was necessary. When employees didn’t work from home, they worked on carpooling or taking mass transit. (Although a mile truly is a mile when it comes to a carbon footprint, by increasing the number of people in a given vehicle, you reduce each person’s carbon footprint and also eliminate the carbon footprint of additional cars on the road).

InterCall employees also participated in clean-up efforts within their communities and took small steps to reduce their carbon footprint throughout the year, such as switching to reusable coffee mugs. Each participant in Earth Day activities also received a reusable canvas shopping bag to eliminate the use of paper or plastic bags while shopping.

What Are Your Green Business Plans?

It’s not too early to start planning this year’s Earth Week activities for your company. Will telecommuting and web or video conferencing be a part of how you celebrate? What green business activities do you have planned to raise awareness about our environment?

Jill Huselton is a Senior Marketing Manager at InterCall