In the United States, the landscape of teleconferencing services has been changed since the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. Following the event, there has been a significant up-surge in demand for teleconferencing services. Most teleconferencing service providers, such as Worldcom, BT and Deutsche Telekom are seeing a substantial increase on video conferencing and a marked increase on audio worldwide. The former is also true for the smaller competitors in the telecom space. Teleconferencing service providers have indicated phenomenal growth occurring year over year as businesses users are increasingly turning to audio, web and video conferencing to complement and even replace in-person meetings.

Companies that try teleconferencing as a stopgap measure are now more open to using the services on a regular basis. Business people are increasingly open to using conferencing technology instead of taking trips. More business users are reluctant to travel by air due to security concerns and increase in travel time. Traveling by plane for face-to-face meetings used to be the standard. For example, sectors such as the chemical and pharmaceutical industries had issued a complete ban on travel after September 11th. The ban has since been lifted, but there has been major change in the behavior of business travel.

We are in a new era of communication and collaboration. With better teleconferencing and IP technology services, people are better able to communicate interactively, and conduct business globally. Travel is no longer the first choice, nor the only choice. Even if travel budgets were increased and business travel was to return, the positive impact of using teleconferencing services on the bottom line will continue to play a big role on expediting business decisions.

Conferencing is the power of choice for interactive communication among a small or large group and offers a positive alternative for people unable to be present in person, yet remain productive, maintain relationships and create a better balance between work and pleasure. Business professionals are no longer bound by the limitations of time, location, or the traditional office. The implications are profound, as the very nature of how we work is changing.

Teleconferencing service providers, such as Eagle Conferencing, are equipped and ready for the next generation of teleconferencing based on IP (Internet Protocol). The teleconferencing services provide audio, video and web teleconferencing capabilities on an individual basis as well as bundled services. Eagle Conferencing and other key service providers are leading the market with the pay per minute pricing scheme. In the near future, dialing an IP address instead of a phone number to start a video conferencing will be ubiquitous. Web conferencing use is exploding and audio conferencing is almost as commonly used as mobile phones. Doing business on the Web conferencing gives an individual, a small firm, or a large corporation the same worldwide presence.

Clearly, conferencing is beginning to assume its critical role in a smart worker's communication arena. Although there is no substitute to in person meetings, teleconferencing is the next best alternative mode of communication.

In the future, interactive conferences will blur the lines of using different various ports to access, audio, web, and video conferencing. User will only need one end point to access the IP-based rich media features offered by the teleconferencing services.