jor international supplier of industrial gases and related equipment, chemicals, and environmental, and energy systems. It maintains project management control through a Video Communication Applications communications system that links its Allentown, Pennsylvania location with Bechtel in Pasadena, Texas. Throughout one project, Bechtel provided engineering support to Air Products for a new plant that it was constructing at Air Products in Pasadena. The project team received project status updates through regularly scheduled video meetings. The Project Forum team met every other week to discuss project designs with engineers in Texas. The Project Steering Committee met every other week with the entire project team. Every six weeks, the team provided formal project review meetings for senior managers. Video communication allowed greater staff and senior management participation in the project; it even allowed controllers to join, for the first time, in discussions. Models, blueprints, and 35mm slides provided additional information about the project during meetings. The use of video communication saved more than $100,000 and eliminated more than 30% of the travel. Figure 2-3. Dual Monitor System (courtesy of (Tandberg). FINANCIAL SERVICES A Michigan based wholesale mortgage lender has improved the way it receives and processes loan applications from more than 4,400 loan originators and mortgage brokers nationwide. Its system allows officers to complete 8-10 mortgage applications each day rather than, as had previously been the case, only one. Video Video Communications: The Whole Picture communication enables loan applicants, loan officers and underwriters to eliminate approval steps and avoid delays. In such meetings, underwriters input and make judgments about information, reconcile it, and verify it with the correct documentation. A company officer declared that the alternative would have been to hire 25,000 geographically dispersed loan underwriters. Nationwide, more than 500 institutions installed more than 60