WebEx solution a Positive Outcome for environment

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) advisory firm, Positive Outcomes, realises the importance of presenting the right image to industry peers as well as the greater community. Its core business is based on providing advice to organisations on matters relating to environmental and social impact of business practices.

Positive Outcomes sought a solution that would assist the company in reducing travel-related carbon emissions while providing enhanced communication with prospective and existing clients both at home and abroad.

To address its environmental concerns and improve the efficiency of its operations, Positive Outcomes implemented the WebEx Meeting Center solution. It allows the company to conduct sales presentations, manage customer relationships and provide IT support. The most notable outcome of the initiative has been a substantial reduction in the organisation’s carbon footprint.

Positive Outcomes assists clients in the private and public sectors to enact socially responsible policies that don’t compromise business objectives. According to Anthony Lupi, executive director, Positive Outcomes, in order to be a credible voice on matters of social responsibility, the company needed to enact its own eco-friendly practices.

“Naturally, it’s important for us to commit to the same responsible environmental practices that we urge for our clients. So reducing our carbon footprint will always be a key objective here at Positive Outcomes,” he said.

Sales representatives for the company regularly travel throughout Australia and New Zealand for internal and external meetings. The company required a solution that would help reduce travel-related carbon emissions, while providing enhanced communication for clients and prospects here and overseas.

Founded in 2000, with offices in Sydney and Melbourne, the CSR firm immediately recognised the potential benefits in efficiency that WebEx Meeting Center could offer. Positive Outcomes has been using the application to conduct sales presentations, manage customer relationships and provide IT support to its employees.
“In a short period of time, WebEx Meeting Center has really become a major part of how we do business both internally and externally,” said Lupi. “It’s serving multiple needs across the organisation. And for a small business such as ours, the ability to gain so many practical uses from a single solution is just priceless.”

In practice, once a Positive Outcomes sales representative has identified a prospective client, WebEx Meeting Center can then be used to assist that client in understanding the CSR solution they are about to adopt. According to Lupi, the speed and ease with which information can be brought to the client has not only improved the way Positive Outcomes does business, it has also reduced the amount of travelling required by team members, which has environmental implications.

“Our sales presentations used to require at least one trip to the client site, usually more,” noted Lupi. “Now we can reach prospects as interactively as before while demonstrating that we’re truly committed to Green principles.”

The application also allows Positive Outcomes to remain connected to its current customers. Sales representatives can use WebEx Meeting Center to offer ongoing relationship management and consulting services through regular meetings and custom-made presentations.

The application also gives team members the ability to collaborate by sharing applications and exchanging ideas between the Sydney and Melbourne offices.
“Not only are we able to co-ordinate our efforts more effectively, but we’re also fostering a real sense of camaraderie. And of course everyone feels good that we’re embracing our company’s core principles by avoiding travel between our two offices,” he said.

Positive Outcomes utilises WebEx Meeting Center to conduct in-depth collaborative sessions with internal and external stakeholders of the client to ensure the solution effectively addresses their CSR targets.

“We know that including stakeholders’ multiple viewpoints is an important part of implementing programs for greater corporate social responsibility. WebEx Meeting Center helps us refine our approach to each client’s unique needs by giving us the bandwidth to meet with all the necessary stakeholders in less time and for less money,” he said.

An additional feature of the application is remote IT support for team members who experience technical difficulties. Lupi claimed Positive Outcomes is using the solution for almost all the tasks that travelling once accomplished.

According to the CSR firm, perhaps the strongest testament to the effectiveness of the solution is that it took only a few months to repay the investment made in acquiring WebEx Meeting Center.

“Within the first 30 days of using WebEx Meeting Center, we eliminated four round-trip flights,” said Lupi. “Obviously, that represents huge cost savings.”

When considering environmental impact, the company has made a sizeable reduction to its carbon footprint. In the 12 months prior to implementing WebEx Meeting Center, Positive Outcomes flew 137,072 kilometres, which generated 31.8 metric tonnes of carbon emissions. In 2008, the organisation estimates the figure will decrease by 50 percent.

The benefits also extend to clients utilising the remote access facilities of the solution and noticing improved efficiency in communication and file transfer with Positive Outcomes.

“Our customers appreciate the immediacy of WebEx Meeting Center. They often remark how useful it is to share documents and desktops. Even more than that, they appreciate the benefit of not having to travel away from their offices.”

According to Lupi, client feedback has been positive regarding the capabilities of WebEx Meeting Center in reducing response time by the CSR firm. Positive Outcomes has consequently raised the service levels its team can provide, while maintaining a work-life balance. Lupi added that the reliability and ease-of-use of the WebEx Meeting Center has further contributed to team member and customer satisfaction.

“With WebEx Meeting Center, nobody worries about connectivity issues or about a client’s ability to navigate the user interface. We can be confident that it works well, and that it works for everybody.”

Looking ahead, Positive Outcomes is pursuing other initiatives to reduce the company’s carbon footprint including reducing power consumption of its internal operations and encouraging employees to commute by public transport. It will also continue to explore the capabilities of WebEx Meeting Center in maximising efficiency while reducing environmental impact.

“WebEx has given us yet another way to practice what we preach without sacrificing productivity,” said Lupi. “That’s better for our company, and it’s better for the planet.”