2024/05/20
Cut travel and costs with remote connectivity
Explore how remote access and support technology help businesses cut costs, meet sustainability goals, and reduce travel needs effectively.
Companies are having a hard time at the moment. While facing pressure to cut costs, they are also expected to meet sustainability goals. And this makes perfect sense: In 2023, the yearly average global air temperature exceeded the critical 1.5 ° C warming limit for the first time. In this context, all businesses should be doing their bit to prevent further warming and damage to the natural world.
One of the ways of doing this is by rethinking how we do business – how we communicate, come together, and meet. And, with remote technologies growing more advanced all the time, businesses are understandable wondering: Is business travel really necessary? Doesn’t travelling less not only mean less carbon, but also reduced costs?
Here, we’re going to look at an autonomous robot company in Japan and an Italian coffee-machine manufacturer to take a closer look at how remote access and support is helping businesses improve sustainability, boost productivity, and cut costs.
In this article:
Why are businesses traveling less?
In the past, the physical handshake was all-important. The true gold standard of collaboration and deal-making, it was how business was properly done. And even now, in an age of incredible remote tech, certain folks will always prefer to meet in-person rather than over a Teams call. And it’s true: Some things will always be better face-to-face.
Nonetheless, these days – and in the wake of the pandemic, in particular – routine business travel is becoming increasingly difficult to justify. Simply put, it's just too expensive and unsustainable. Rising travel costs, tighter budgets, and growing sustainability demands are leading companies worldwide to rethink how they operate. Let’s explore this context in a bit more detail.
The rising cost of travel
Probably the key factor in reduced business travel is increased travel costs. Back in 2022, we were told that the era of cheap air travel was over, because of the ongoing war in Ukraine and its effect on oil prices.
In 2023, this trend continued further. Driven by jet fuel price surges, air travel prices increased by 25% in the US, the largest jump since this information began being tracked. Understandably, this has caused many businesses to swap the in-person meeting for online call.
Tightening budgets
According to the UN Trade and Development Report (April 2024), in 2024, growth is projected to slow to 2.6% – just above the 2.5% threshold typically associated with a recession. This is the third consecutive year that growth has remained below pre-pandemic levels, which averaged 3.2% between 2015-2019.
In this economic context, companies are understandably trying to do more with less. Post-pandemic, many large companies are slashing their travel budgets in favour of more efficient and cost-effective means of communication.
Sustainability targets
Investors are increasingly pressing businesses to regularly report on non-financial ESG metrics and include these in compensation plans. And, once compensation is tied to sustainability goals, it follows that people are going to try to reduce their carbon footprint. And eliminating or reducing travel costs is an ideal first step in this.
What role does remote access and support play in reducing travel?
Today, remote access technology is a key tool for supporting remote work, providing crucial IT support, and simplifying maintenance across widespread IT infrastructure.
As organizations navigate the complexities of a dispersed workforce, the ability to efficiently manage, troubleshoot, and maintain systems remotely enhances productivity. However, it also brings huge security benefits, driving both operational resilience and customer satisfaction.
Supporting remote work
Remote access technology helps employees work remotely by allowing them to connect to and manage their work devices from anywhere. From accessing files and applications to remote printing, comprehensive remote access solutions make remote work easy. Advanced features, such as TeamViewer’s web client allow team members in different locations to connect, collaborate, and securely share data.
When it comes to remote work security is a major concern, as remote workers and devices can be vulnerable to cyberattacks. Because not all remote access solutions are created equal, it’s important to choose a solution backed by robust security.
Providing remote IT support
Remote access solutions like TeamViewer Remote allow IT teams to easily connect and troubleshoot devices from anywhere, diagnosing and resolving issues in real time. Whether it's a quick reconfiguration or a complex escalation, everything can be handled without the need for travel.
Embracing remote support lets IT teams supercharge their turnaround time, increasing the number of cases handled and maximizing the use of internal resources. At a time when customers are increasingly expecting immediate responses and resolutions, offering remote support can be critical to maintaining customer satisfaction.
Delivering effective maintenance
Remote access technology like those offered by TeamViewer can also be used for maintaining and servicing dispersed IT fleets. This more sustainable approach allows IT professionals to maintain and optimize IT infrastructure from anywhere, saving on travel costs and improving efficiency.
Case study: remote access and support in action
Let’s consider remote support in action. NEC Networks and System Integration Corporation (NEC Networks) is an autonomous robot manufacturer in Japan. When maintaining and servicing robots in rural areas, its customer support team was finding it difficult to identify problems with telephone interviews and videos.
This led them to start using TeamViewer. Using our solution helped the company to accurately record problems remotely. This not only made it possible to precisely identify the factors contributing to system failures, but also cut man-hours by around 80% within only six months. The number of urgent callouts has also been reduced, greatly reducing travel costs as well as improving the support quality and efficiency.
Case study: augmented reality in action
Cimbali Group is an Italian coffee-machine manufacturer with a network of 700 distributors across 100 countries. Previously, if there was a problem with one of its machines, a technician would have to travel to fix it. Because its customers are all over the world, this could often lead to long wait times and downtime for the customer. Not to mention significant travel costs!
By introducing TeamViewer Tensor, Cimbali Group was able to cut travel costs by 15%, while also reducing costly machine downtime. Currently, the company is also testing our augmented reality (AR) solution, which will allow on-site technicians to share knowledge with Cimbali Group experts elsewhere. Using features like 3D markers, the expert will get a clear visual of the machine and can guide the technician to resolve the issue in no time.
Summary
Adopting remote access and support technologies is proving to be a gamechanger for businesses aiming to reduce costs, enhance sustainability, and maintain productivity. By minimizing travel, companies not only save on expenses but also significantly cut their carbon footprints.
As shown by the success of NEC Networks and Cimbali Group, tools like TeamViewer can play a huge role in streamlining operations, improving customer support, and driving efficient maintenance processes. The message is clear: now’s the time to embrace remote technology, future-proof your business, and contribute to a more sustainable world.