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Business travel is a major expense, ranking third on corporate budgets behind personnel and IT. The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates U.S. business travel spending at $179 billion, followed by second-ranked Japan at $64 billion. Besides the increasing financial expense of air travel and its human wear-and-tear, businesses' concerns about its environmental costs are also driving faster and wider adoption of videoconferencing, according to executives at Eyenetwork, a UK-based pioneer in Europe's videoconferencing market.

Rising transportation costs and concerns about social and environmental responsibility are spurring corporate demand for videoconferencing, collaborative software and virtual telepresence technology. Wider access to broadband Internet is a key enabler. Changes in business and social attitudes toward air travel are also contributing to rising demand. One videoconferencing company, Eyenetwork, has seen its business grow about tenfold in less than five years.