If there's any winner in the chaos created by the volcanic ash spewing out of Iceland, it is teleconferencing services. Stranded business travelers around the world are turning to audio and video conferencing to participate in meetings they would otherwise miss. For the industry, the volcano has provided a great opportunity to showcase the latest offerings.

The largest telecom operator in the United Kingdom, BT Group, experienced a 35 percent increase in demand for its audio and video conferencing services, BusinessWeek reports. Since flights were grounded in Europe, demand for web conferences has risen 20 percent for the Dutch phone company, Royal KPN. Other European phone companies have been offering special deals on conferencing, including free services from Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica.

Videoconferencing services that provide physical facilities have seen an especially steep rise in popularity, reports InformationWeek's W. David Gardner. Videoconferencing services from Regus, which runs meeting rooms with videoconferencing equipment around the world, reported a 108 percent increase in demand in Europe not long after flights were grounded last week.  In the United States, demand for the company's video communications rose 75 percent in four days.

In a post at WebWorkerDaily, Simon Mackie recommends several applications that can assist stranded business travelers, including tools for project management, collaboration and scheduling, as well as conferencing. If you're stuck at an airport, you might as well check them out--several are free.

For more:
- here's the BusinessWeek article
- see W. David Gardner's article at InformationWeek
- read Simon Mackie's post at WebWorkerDaily

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