VoIP and Co2

Can a VoIP solution really help the environment?

The debate continues and there are many reasons for and against so to follow we have summerised the more common points /and quotes to help you decide-

For

(1) A VoIP solution enables staff to work from home on the telephone as if in the office, reducing travel emissions and office based Co2 emissions.

(2) A VoIP video conferencing solution would allow staff to reduce there travel emissions by cutting down on face to face meetings (both in the car and by air travel).

Against

(2) If an employee was to work at home all year he or she would pump out around 2.37 tons of carbon dioxide. In comparison a typical office worker produces only 1.67 tons of carbon per year

Recent quotes

"The CO2 savings from just one transatlantic trip avoided are around 1.5 tonnes of CO2; even a medium-sized corporation that reduces its international trips by 20 per month is able to save 360 tonnes per year."

"Even boiling a kettle for one person instead of for a few people can increase inefficiency. Encouraging home working is seen as a quick win for companies trying to reduce their carbon emissions, but it is not that simple."

"UK residents made more than eight million business trips abroad in 2007. If more companies to adopt VoIP, they could significantly help the country achieve its target of lowering CO2 emissions from industry by 13 per cent by 2011"

"Research has found working at home during the summer months only may help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, since few properties have air conditioning and the heating would be turned off"

"The UK has nearly one million contact centre professionals who generate around 1.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year through commuting"

“An enterprise deployment of 1,000 IP extensions includes a large hidden cost of LAN switches, routers, cabling and power supplies required to support the IP voice traffic. Of the staggering £700K total cost of the IP telephony deployment, 80% is related to the desk phones and corresponding LAN upgrades. Employees could today manage their office communications equally well or better with just their mobiles, dramatically reducing the cost of the IP telephony implementation"

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