Tom Erik Julsrud

Videoconferencing as a Mode of Communication A Comparative Study of the Use of Videoconferencing and Face-to-Face Meetings

Based on a quantitative survey of Norwegian business travelers, this study compares their use of face-to-face (FTF) meetings and videoconferences (VCs). The study finds that access and use of VCs are determined mainly by industry and the geographical structure of the enterprise. It also finds that VCs and FTF meetings differ along several dimensions, suggesting that these two modes of communication fulfill slightly different needs. Based on the survey results, the authors propose a framework to understand the emerging role of VCs. This framework would address both relational and task-based dimensions.

Business Networking, Travel Tiredness, and the Emergent Use of Video Conferences

ABSTRACT This article explores business travelers attitudes to videoconferencing and how these affect on the use of this technology. Based on an analysis of 1411 Norwegian business travelers’ attitudes, we find four dominant set of attitudes toward the use of videoconferences and travels: benefit oriented, network development, travel tiredness, and mobile collaborating. Attitudes related to network development and travel tiredness had the strongest impact on actual use of VC, suggesting that this is the most important attitude based barriers and drivers for future use of this technology.

Smartphones, travel time-use, and attitudes to public transport services. Insights from an explorative study of urban dwellers in two Norwegian cities

ABSTRACT The uptake of mobile media with internet connection has increased rapidly in almost every part of the world, and this has significantly changed how public transport passengers use their travel time. Studies have documented that use of mobile information and communication technologies (ICT) while traveling has the potential to enrich use of travel time and in some cases, strengthen positive attitudes towards public transport. The alternative hypothesis—that mobile communication technologies make travelers more critical and demanding, e.g., due to the risk of interference—has so far hardly been explored through empirical studies. Based on a web-based survey of travelers in two of the largest cities in Norway (Oslo and Trondheim), this paper investigates how use of smart devices are related to general attitudes toward public transportation services. A segmentation of travelers in three clusters based on their mobile use habits, shows that the most active group of mobile media users—a group of younger and middle-aged urban dwellers—were those who bore the most critical attitudes to the public transport services. In contrast, the groups that used their mobile phones rarely, or less actively, on their public transport trips were more satisfied. The findings suggests that a new generation of “equipped travelers” has developed expectations regarding their public transport journeys that service providers might have problems to fulfill in current times. Thus, there is a risk of the most active smartphone users developing negative attitudes to public transport if (or when) their experiences are not improved.