Office of the future: a TV at every desk.

At more than 50 years old, television is middle-aged when compared with the communication technologies of the information superhighway. But while TV has been in most of our homes for half a century, it's still in its infancy as a business communication tool. Companies using business television are realizing the effectiveness of live, interactive video as a management, marketing and sales tool.

Broadcast applications

General Electric and Hewlett-Packard have created application-driven systems that benefit from the immediacy of television to disseminate vital information for distance learning, or "just-in-time training" of sales and technical employees in the field. They communicate on a real-time basis with several locations from a central point with feedback via a telephone or fax to ensure everyone is up-to-date on products, competitive information, and sales and technical support issues.

Interactivity is moving companies into business television, and recent modifications that allow for the integration of videoconferencing facilities with satellite-delivered networks make it even more compelling. And with these modifications, a corporation can link a customer or potential customer's videoconference center into its satellite-delivered network for an encrypted, interactive, single-site feed.

Desktop video applications

In the past year, new digital satellite transmission technology has trimmed about one-fourth of the cost of transmitting a program, while equivalent cuts in the price of satellite dishes have also reduced the cost of receiving programming. But what has really propelled growth of business television is the development of hybrid networks, where existing terrestrial facilities are integrated into the satellite network. An example is desktop video, which incorporates video signals that are delivered via satellite and then distributed to desktop computers via a LAN network located at a client's multi-site locations.

One of the largest corporations in the world recently arranged to broadcast U.S. Congressional hearings relevant to its industry directly to executives' workstations so they could follow each day's proceedings without leaving their desks.

Seeing the potential of desktop PC/video receivers, many news organizations also now are using them to bring new information products to their customers. These systems allow full-motion video to appear in a window on a user's PC without interfering with work in progress. Dow Jones, Reuters and CNBC are among those delivering financial news conferences and breaking business news directly to Wall Street desktop PCs on a subscription basis. These services all require the same basic equipment - a video camera at the information source, a satellite uplink and transponder, and a dish at the receiving end from where the newscasts are distributed to PCs over local area networks.

Beyond the desktop

As the use of television for business expands, it also is heading out of the office and into retail locations and homes.

John Ryan Company (JRC), a Minneapolis-based provider of marketing tools for transforming banks into financial retailers, has converted a traditional VSAT data network into an innovative business television network. JRC created its own three-channel private bank network called Access Television Network. The network, which features videos on banking services, gives bank branches a low-cost strategic marketing product that has more impact than printed literature.

Access Television Network makes both "live" television and "store and forward" data affordable to local bank branches. JRC creates custom videos centrally for many different banks and their various branches, and uses satellite TV to reach retail customers. Using the same satellite network and down-link equipment, JRC is also transmitting live TV broadcasts about business conditions, marketing strategies, and financial news to branch personnel from their bank's headquarters.

One more distraction

But with all the distractions in the office, why add television?

No electronic or paper-based medium comes close to the immediacy and efficiency of television - all employees get the message simultaneously. If a picture is worth a thousand words, think how much a moving, talking picture is worth as a way to get a point across - especially to younger, television-oriented "MTV generation" workers and to the first of the Nintendo generation who are now entering the work place.

The trend to downsize at many corporations and the rising cost of business travel make direct "face-time" an increasingly unjustifiable option. Satellite delivery can link multiple locations world wide on a real-time basis.

The broad availability of Ku-band and VSAT systems for corporate use, as well as safe encryption systems that allow for the secure transmission of proprietary business information, expedited the development of this medium in the 1980s.

Finally, the addition of interactivity, led by the proliferation of toll-free 800 telephone numbers and the introduction of "One-Touch" adjunct equipment, allowed different corporate locations to communicate, making business television more effective.

Television is the best way to bring everyone into the loop simultaneously, no matter where they are. This is particularly critical for communicating important financial and business news, and product or technical information. Few companies can risk the negative effects of "water cooler gossip," and by now everyone realizes how often those supposedly "high-priority" messages sent via E-mail, fax or overnight mail pile up unopened, unread or unanswered. When the CEO or CFO is on-screen, people watch and listen. When the information they need is delivered to them "real-time" and with video and interactive components, the message is heard.

Future directions

Business broadcasts soon will appear not only on the desktop at work, but also in the home - either on the PC or television. People won't tune in only for entertainment, but to work at home and have access to the same information they have at the office.

With telecommuting mandated, many companies are exploring the use of television to help establish "virtual offices." Using a special cable channel and encryption software, workers at home or at regional telecommuting centers will be able to use their home computer screens or TVs to stay in contact with headquarters.

Of course, every technology has limitations, and you can argue that nothing takes the place of a one-on-one face-to-face conversation. But when being on-site just is not possible or necessary, television fills the gap well and ensures that everyone knows what he or she needs to know. And with the increased rigors of business travel and commuting, television may actually make it better than being there by significantly increasing productivity and efficiency.

Peter Concelmo is vice president of sales and marketing at Group W Network Services, Stamford, Conn.