Whether it's a group of inmates being arraigned from county jail, rural schoolchildren learning Spanish, or a big-city medical specialist asked to confirm a diagnosis before surgery in a small town, most of life's meetings can be convened without ever logging a single car or airline mile, said Vision Net's Rob Ferris.

Video conferencing started in the realm of education, according to Ferris, chief executive officer for the Montana company. "It was created by the owners of five statewide, mostly rural, telephone companies to meet the needs of education across rural parts of northern and eastern Montana," he said.

Today, although interactive video applications are a big part of higher education at institutions such as the University of Montana, Montana State University and several rural community colleges statewide, use of the technology goes well beyond the classroom, and applications can be found in numerous fields.

Ferris said city and state government agencies - such as fire and police departments, courts, and business and educational systems - benefit from video conferencing because it saves time and money.

"Video conferencing is cost-effective, and people want face-to-face applications for a variety of reasons," said Ferris.

By LORI GRANNIS

Full Story: mtinbusiness.com

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