After the 2001 attacks on the US, the curtailment of business travel by many corporations and law firms presented a much-needed opportunity to the then-languishing video conferencing (VC) industry. Large organisations saw a sudden spike in demand for the conferencing facilities that had lain largely idle since their installation.
Some people saw this VC epiphany as the beginning of an inevitable progression that would end with the provision of video communication on every senior corporate desktop. The hoped-for (by the industry) ubiquity of desktop VC has not yet materialised but nonetheless, its potential has long been recognised by leading law firms, particularly those whose business requires lawyers in different offices to work together as ‘virtual teams’. However, over the years many firms have decided that the benefits simply do not warrant the technical complexity and expense of putting VC on the desktop.
