Support services company Amey is using videoconferencing technology to cut its carbon emissions and to save an estimated £200,000 per year in travel expenses.

Amey employs more than 8,000 staff at 150 locations across the UK. By using video contact to communicate between sites, the company hopes to cut the amount of business travel by 400,000 miles in its first year.

The firm hopes that this reduction will lead to a 145,000kg drop in CO2 emissions, as well as reduced spending on fuel, travel and accommodation.

Amey has spread awareness of the new technology by creating 'VMeetings' – a branded, centralised scheduling system that arranges conferences across the company. The use of video is already strengthening internal communications, according to IT director Peter Garratt.

"Our chief executive, Mel Ewell, used to conduct his corporate 'state of the nation' speech every six weeks in a room with 60 people, but it is now delivered live via video to several Amey sites around the UK," said Garratt.

"Our goal is to get the VMeetings culture 'embedded' with our employees, and focus on the benefits realisation and quantification against our original targets. We anticipate seeing a return on our investment in videoconferencing in just over one year."

Amey's videoconferencing system was implemented by communications provider Tandberg.