By conducting its meeting of a customer Regional Advisory Council (RAC) by Telepresence rather than face-to-face, AT&T calculates that it reduced emissions by an equivalent to more than 62 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2e) and saved participants more than US$100,000.
Twice each year, AT&T Asia Pacific Group meets with approximately 20 of its regional and global customers who make up the advisory council to discuss a wide range of issues from service quality and support to new products and investment plans for emerging markets.
Previous RAC meetings have been held in Beijing, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Delhi and Singapore with customers generally devoting 3-4 full days including travel time. AT&T takes responsibility for the meeting and hospitality costs while customers pay their own travel and accommodation expenses, with total costs for each meeting exceeding US$100,000 on average.
Using Cisco TelePresence suites, the meeting involved 21 customers from 15 companies including Air Products, Intel, Cargill, Tata Consultancy Services and DuPont along with 15 AT&T staff in ten locations — Dallas, Chicago and New Jersey in the US, London, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai and Bangalore.
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