Will congestion charging change the way we work?

NEWS There are signs that London's impending congestion charge could alter the way we do business, with some high-tech companies - who admittedly have a vested interest - claiming demand for teleworking technology and audio and videoconferencing services is already on the up. Genesys Conferencing, for example, reckons demand for its services nearly doubled in Q3 2002 compared to the same period last year and attributes that in part to the ever-increasing pain and expense of commuting into London. Nigel Dunn, the company's VP North Europe, said: "In the last couple of years, business in the South East has had to contend with the strikes on the London Underground, the firemen's dispute and ongoing rail difficulties. "Apart from the added costs for individual car drivers, no one really knows how the congestion charge will affect traffic levels in London. Transport for London only has broad projections of the number of people who will abandon their cars for public transport." But he claims the growth in demand for conferencing and declining peak time traffic in London already points to changes in commuting and work patterns. According to Transport for London data, an average of 122,000 cars came into London at peak times in 2001, an 11 per cent fall on 2000's average of 137,000. Dunn said: "The global audio and web conferencing market grew annually at 20 to 25 per cent through the 1990s but current growth rates for automated audio conferencing indicate that something deeper, such as the replacement of business travel, is taking place." He added: "Aside of increasing operating costs, the congestion charge is adding to the daily travel difficulties which London and the South East are facing. It will be a further spur to UK companies which are considering different ways of travelling to work or, perhaps more fundamentally, re-assessing their daily working arrangements." Is this just a bit of opportunistic PR or does Genesys really have a valid argument? Is your company changing the way it does things in response to such developments? Let us know at editorial@silicon.com