If you can speak English, Mandarin, and Spanish, you can converse directly with 2/3 of the world’s people. Within a decade, nearly every human being and every manufactured good on earth will be able to directly and richly communicate with one other.

Today, a CEO of a 400 person Israeli firm won’t speak to employees by telephone. He only uses a video phone. All employees have a video camera connected to their computer. The CEO wants to look into their eyes when communicating. This is everyone’s future. Change leaders pay heed.

100%, inexpensive, Interactive, Ubiquitous

Think about this, the camera phone is the fastest growing technological change in history. There are 1.5 billion mobile phones. Camera phones didn’t even exist 5 years ago, now they cost as little as $80 and are loved by young people worldwide.

Even a dinosaur like me can extract value from a camera phone. A few weeks ago, I received an under-the-windshield-wiper ticket for not having the correct registration stickers on my license plate. Took a picture of my plate, took the picture to the courthouse, and resolved the problem without paying the fine.

In the digital world, there’s no difference between still and motion cameras. It’s only about file formats. Imagine video cameras built into laptops, monitors, and all forms of handhelds. There are no technical barriers to this; gadget manufacturers are developing the future as you read this.

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is growing somewhere between 37% and 65% per year, depending on the source. Broadband for employees and high-speed wireless in cities is now ubiquitous. Everything created by mouths and faces and perceived by eyes and ears becomes digital low-cost, fast moving packets, zooming through time and space.

Communication service providers of webinars and conference calling are building virtual meeting software for the video camera age. Imagine having meetings of two to eight people using live video just as we use a conference call or IM (Instant Messaging) today. Since it will all be done with computers, just drag and drop yourself into and out of meetings.

Anyone can speak and be seen similarly to a face-to-face meeting at a table. Voice and facial expressions congruently displayed for everyone to hear and see. Seeing facial expressions and upper body language is the richness that’s missing in today’s emails, IM, and conference calls. Actually, we will be able to see everyone’s faces, speakers and listeners, at the same time. That increases communication! (Especially for those who know how to read emotions and facial expressions. See Paul Ekman.)  You will be able to see yourself as others see you.

Rich, virtual communication is a killer application that changes the business world forever.

This high-speed, always on, voice and video, rich communications is going to be disruptive. Think of the travel industry, consultancies, the sales function, employee commuting, managing teams, and office real estate.

Why would a salesperson go on an airplane to meet a client again? To shake hands? Nice to do, but worth $1000s and a minimum of a day’s time? No.

Do technology or management consultants need to travel 80% or 100%? In the virtual world, consultants and clients are more accessible to one another, than in the office-building world of today, where people are separated by cubicles, walls, or floors.

Won’t this change commuting and traffic patterns, highway expenditures, and fuel consumption? Won’t there be a need for less office space?

When rich, virtual communication explodes over the next 5 to 10 years, won’t that enable managers to keep in touch with workers and know the status of tasks? Won’t people from all over the world be virtual resources to each other? Doesn’t that greatly expand the market potential of every seller of expertise? Won’t this promote further dominance of a few common languages (English, Mandarin, Spanish)? Won’t rich, virtual communication lower the sense of isolation people sometimes feel when working from home?

Change leaders take note; bringing together the best people, just-in-time, from anyplace, will become commonplace. This isn’t an “if” it’s a “when”, and the when is already becoming a ”now”.

Keywords: Change leadership, business culture trends

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Michael Cushman, The Engaging Guru, wants you to master enrolling others in your truth, get the goodies of life, and change the world.  www.engagingchange.com