Instead, by using this form of technology, persons across the world can be connected face-to-face. While it is true that we could meet via a group 'chat,' video conferencing allows the ease and subtleties of interpersonal dialogue. People are more easily able to establish warm and heartfelt connections with one another if they can see the person they are talking to, and they can also use body language, language inflections, and other ways to communicate their point. Of course, for people who are socially inhibited, video conferencing can be intimidating. But the advantage of being able to use visual aids such as PowerPoint and mimic the circumstances of a 'real world' meeting outweighs the disadvantages for most users.
In the future, the rise of mobile technology means that it is likely that groupware accessed via Apple and Android phones will make connecting via mobile technology a 24/7 part of the workforce. "Google, which recently introduced its Nexus One consumer smartphone has said the next version will be targeted at business customers" (Coursey 2010)....
At present, most people at my workplace use their smartphones to check email and to connect when necessary via the office Intranet, but expanded applications such as the "Lotus Notes Traveler Companion" which "allows iPhone users to see encrypted Domino e-mail as a link that, after the user enters their Traveler password, can be opened and responded to on the iPhone," are likely to mean that many of the functions normally served through email may now be shifted to user's phones (Coursey 2010). The workplace may become more and more disconnected from the PC terminal than ever before.
References
Coleman, D. (2005). Strategies for successful enterprise collaboration: Balancing people, process and technology. Akami. Retrieved from http://collaborate.com/sites/default/files/Akamaiwhite%20paper-Collaborationv3.7.pdf
Coursey, D. (2010, January 20). IBM intros Notes apps for BlackBerry, iPhone, Android. PC
World. Retrieved from http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/333002/ibm_intros_notes_apps_blackberry_iphone_android/
