By CHAIM YUDKOWSKY

Dick Tracy is a prudent investigator and a technology maverick. He uses bleeding-edge technology in his righteous pursuit of the bad guy, and that technology usually works!

In truth, the strip’s creator, Chester Gould, and the subsequent authors of the strips were Jules Verne-like visionaries. They introduced all sorts of unlikely technology to the strip’s readers. One of those contraptions was the two-way wristwatch, a communicator that allowed officers in the field not only to radio each other and headquarters, but also to see each other.

I was reminded of this during a recent conversation with Scott Allen, director of videoconferencing services with Baltimore-based Maryland Telephone. This Dick Tracy-esque technology is here today, and has matured enough to be of interest, and to be affordable, to the mass business marketplace.

Called “videoconferencing” or “video-teleconferencing,” it combines hardware, software, and the phone lines (even wireless connections) to allow people to talk and exchange ideas almost as if they were in the same room.

Who will benefit? Early commercializers of this technology saw the large residential consumer marketplace as the target. People thought Grandma would want to see little Joey speaking his first word, or showing off his missing tooth. So far, though, the speed, risk, and payoff of videoconferencing for the residential consumer has not made sense.

Who wants the horror of being seen all dressed for the golf course while calling in sick to the boss, or getting a video call from one’s mother-in-law after just waking up!

Still, as this technology has matured, business has gotten an excellent opportunity.

How can videoconferencing help? The spoken word only conveys a small percentage of information being exchanged in a meeting, training session or discussion. Facial expression and body language, combined with graphics and other external stimuli, help convey a more complete message to participants in a discussion.

By introducing and using a business tool that adds all these communications elements, better and faster decisions are made and relationships are established or improved, even between people not geographically likely to meet face-to-face often. This type of video-linked conference is more real than the telephone conference call in which, without visual stimulation, some of the parties may be doing something else like surfing the ‘Net while participating and not devoting their entire attention to the discussion.

Many of us know people who have traveled from L.A. to Tokyo to participate in a one-hour meeting. Videoconferencing offers some distinct advantages while improving communication internally and with customers. It offers cost savings relative to travel and accommodation, increases the frequency and likelihood of face-to-face communication, and makes employees more productive. Employee travel time and travel fatigue are reduced.

In addition to reducing direct customer-oriented costs, this technology allows for the reduction of per-person training costs. As training takes place across the country, even by your affiliates, trade association, or professional association, it would be possible for your employees to really participate and interact from your own conference room!

We have discussed the whys of videoconferencing, now let’s talk about how to introduce it into your business.

The first thing you need is a simple understanding of the components necessary to a working videoconferencing system. Each location involved will need a videoconferencing system consisting of video production equipment a camera, a microphone, a transmitter of outgoing and an interpreter of incoming audio and video signals, and a screen on which to project the incoming image. Finally, you will need a telecommunications link between the locations.

The variety of equipment choices facing the business consumer requires a clear definition of use objectives. The choices can range between less than $200 and nearly $50,000 per location!

For a very basic system, one might use a desktop computer and free software to transmit and receive. The visual input can be displayed on a computer monitor, and a small monitor-top camera can be used, with the Internet providing the telecommunications link.

For an enterprise solution that is designed to reduce travel or increase multi-location collaboration, one location might have a conference room with more maneuverable video equipment, a large-screen TV set or two, document scanners, object cameras, a sophisticated room microphone in the center of a conference-room table, and a powerful computer system and controller device. Communication in this scenario could take place using high-speed telecommunications links between the facilities.

In determining the best solution for your business, define how and why you will be using this technology. The following are some key issues that you must decide:

– What picture quality do you need? This will help determine not only your choice of system, but also your choice of telecommunications hookup.

– Will you need other inputs? Will there be a need for a graphic generation capability? What hookups to scanners for documents, computer software for collaboration, and other accessories like a drawing tablet are needed or wanted?

– What is the required number of simultaneously participating locations in a meeting? Will there be a need for some participants to be video-connected and others to be audio-only connected?

– What is the average frequency of the meetings? An answer of a meeting once a year may result in a decision to rent a videoconferencing facility, and not to buy a system at all.

Because these systems can be expensive to replace, you want to address whether a system is upgradable hardware, software, telecommunications medium. This will allow for the system to conform with future products by the same and other manufacturers as standards and features are improved.

Chaim Yudkowsky, CPA, is the director of management consulting services at Grabush, Newman & Co., P.A., a Baltimore-based regional certified public accounting and management consulting firm.