0 sites. The system reduced the typical time for processing a loan to five hours. The process begins when a loan originator faxes the applicant's completed loan forms to the mortgage center, calls the center to confirm receipt of the application, and requests the assignment of a loan underwriter. The underwriter calls the originator's office to arrange a videoconference and to designate a conference time. At the end of the videoconference, loan information is entered into the computer system for final processing and approvals. MANAGEMENT OF MERGERS AND DECENTRALIZATIONS An effective tool in encouraging post-merger communications between two disparate workgroups, video communication allows companies to establish an ad hoc management team and to keep that team communicating regardless of distance. A successful merger requires integration at all levels of a company; video communication is ideal in these situations because it promotes comprehensive team participation. The tool helps companies overcome the challenges of coordinating activities between two formerly unaffiliated companies and bridge both geographic and cultural chasms. It is particularly valuable for merging engineering, management information systems (MIS), legal, accounting, and human resources workgroups. Visual communications tools are equally valuable in managing a decentralization project. When a department is split into multiple groups, video can foster a sense of teamwork, and facilitate regularly scheduled meetings. JOINT-ENGINEERING AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Review and in-depth focus meetings often involve numerous people. Because video communication enhances face-to-face interaction with graphical information, the emergence of computer aided design (CAD) conferencing is little surprise. Video communication helps reduce product time-to-market intervals. Delivering a high revenue-generating product ahead of schedule can make for a fast ROI. In one instance, Boeing simultaneously reduced the development time of its 767 by a year, generated revenue