Business travel can be maddeningly inefficient. Traveling a few hours to attend a one-hour meeting and then having to retrace your steps home at the end of the meeting can be tiring. Videoconferencing gives you the benefits of in-person meetings while slashing travel time.

Videoconferencing adds a visual element that provides more depth to meetings. In addition to being able to see the people you are meeting, you can give actual product demonstrations, make a presentation from a common set of documents, and conduct real-time collaborations like a brainstorming session.

There are many different ways you can get started with videoconferencing. This can range from owning equipment, from a desktop video system to a full-fledged full-sized video camera operation. Renting is also possible. You can rent time at an office, a.k.a. a "public room," that has a videoconferencing setup already in place. Another option is to rent equipment for set up at your company's offices.

Which path should you pursue? If it's your first time videoconferencing, and it will be conducted with a customer, my firm vote is for renting public rooms from a full service provider. All you need to do is contact a videoconferencing service provider and discuss your meeting room requirements including the meeting date and time, the number of expected participants, the locations that will need to be connected and any special needs you may have. The provider will then arrange the conference from booking suitable rooms, notifying participants of where to go, and ensuring the technical aspects of the conference runs well on the appointed day.

By using a service, you can easily assess whether videoconferencing can be an effective tool for your company without having to get caught up in the technical details of implementation. Concerns about what the customer experience will be like can also be minimized, allowing you to focus on the substance of the meeting itself.

And the cost? For a 2-hour videoconference that involves two locations, expect to pay about a thousand dollars at a rate of $225-$250 per location per hour. At first, it sounds like a lot of money. And it is if you contrast it to a phone call that costs $10-$15 or a teleconference, which can set you back $80-$120 by comparison.

But stack up a videoconference versus business travel and the savings becomes apparent. Travel costs for one person can easily hit $500 when you account for airfare, hotel, meals, and car rental. Send another person to this meeting and the difference in cost between a videoconference and travel are wiped out. Even without another person, a videoconference can still be more cost-effective if you factor in the cost of lost productivity due to travel time, or the additional costs of international travel.

Admittedly, some aspects of face-to-face meetings like the ritual shuffling of business cards and the traditional exchange of handshakes just can't happen via video. But for the time savings I gain, it's a tradeoff I'm willing to take.