Volcanic Eruption in Europe Boosts Video Calling

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videoconferencing

Both AFP and Reuters are reporting a spike in video calling as air travel is halted in Europe due to volcanic eruption. According to Cisco, there has been a huge surge in demand for its telepresence facilities in Europe. Skype, too, is seeing an increase in video-calling during the past few days. Some executives who have been prevented from getting back to Europe are running their companies via Skype, according to reports. A couple about to wed in Great Britain but stuck in Dubai went ahead and got married in Dubai — the couple included guests via Skype video.

I believe the reported spike in video calling is showing both increasing accessibility of video conferencing and how comfortable people are becoming with it. We are going to see a further boost in video conferencing as front-facing cameras become a common feature in smartphones. Even the future iPhone, whose pictures leaked out during the weekend, is expected to have a front-facing camera to facilitate video calls.

Do you have an interesting story about how you or someone else used technology to overcome the problem of not being able to fly into Europe?  We would love to hear that.

Article written by

Surinder Kahai is an Associate Professor of MIS and Fellow of the Center for Leadership Studies at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton. He has a B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. Surinder has an active research program on leadership in virtual teams, computer-mediated communication and learning, collaboration in virtual worlds, CIO leadership, and IT alignment. His research has been published in several journals including Data Base for Advances in Information Systems, Decision Sciences, Group & Organization Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management Information Systems, Leadership Quarterly, and Personnel Psychology. He is currently serving on the editorial boards of Group and Organization Management, IEEE-TEM, and the International Journal of e-Collaboration. He co-edited a Special Issue of Organizational Dynamics on e-leadership and a Special Issue of International Journal of e-Collaboration on Virtual Team Leadership. Surinder has won numerous awards for his teaching, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Surinder has spoken on and consulted with several organizations in the U.S. and abroad on the topics of virtual team leadership, e-business, and IS-business alignment, and IS strategy and planning

One Response

  1. SMU Cox
    SMU Cox at |

    I’ve long used it to stay in touch my friends. We scattered to the four corners of the earth – literally. I don’t think that there is a time zone that I don’t virtually visit at least once a month. I can’t afford the air fare to visit everyone nor do I really want to subject myself to the jet lag.

Please comment with your real name using good manners.

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