Video conferencing

Eugen Schneider is sitting with his attaché case in a train. His code number is 333 because he was born in March 1933. He is preparing for negotiations about hydraulic presses. Unfortunately other people that are indispensable at the time are necessary to decide on the contract - so he can only prepare the contract.

Rudolf Eder - called Red (Red Adair) - passes his luggage through a thorough check at Düsseldorf airport. The code of his executive case remains secret. On his schedule is a conference in New York and a meeting with the company's chief executives in Los Angeles. But at first he has to go to Hamburg.

Sabine Nüssel suffers heavily from the travelling stress. She also has an attaché case with the code 282 - she has two children and is married since 1982.

Prof. Richard Hobsson is an expert for information technology and he hates travelling. He is preparing a speech in Hamburg that Dr. Belitz invited him for.

12000 kilometres travelled, several hundred marks of expenses, 76 hours of travelling and waiting on top of several missed phone calls at home just for some negotiation results of minor importance. Like old stagecoaches these travelling habits will soon be history. Ordinary conferences and meetings become less and less. Attaché cases and locks are not needed any more and we have to say good-bye to several other status symbols. With the help of teleconferencing the distance of 12000 kilometres has shrunk to 3 metres - the distance to the monitor. With video conferencing the partners get to know each other, can negotiate, describe problems, ask others for help, etc. The cameras can be moved to show even a faulty resistor on a motherboard or a an architectural model and there is often a control monitor showing what the camera is just recording.

The problem is solved by Dr. Belitz attending a video conference in Hamburg with Prof. Hobsson from London who excuses his absence with the heavy fog.