The meeting can begin, but Traverso is participating from just outside Philadelphia in TE Connectivity's Berwyn office via Telepresence, a high-tech videoconferencing system made by San Jose-based Cisco Systems Inc.

Considering the exceptional sound quality and high-definition video on three large-screen TVs, Traverso might as well be sitting in the midstate office. At times, the system tricks the mind into thinking he's sitting at the table in Lower Swatara Township.

"You really get that immersive experience," said David Wert, TE Connectivity's information technology and communications analyst. "It's an awesome technology."

Manufacturing could be one of the last frontiers for teleconferencing and electronic meetings, such as those used by TE Connectivity. But more companies are warming to the idea of conducting e-meetings as technology improves, executives said.

E-meetings have enabled the technology, finance and government sectors to save on travel expenses, said Michael Starner, president of Harrisburg-based Digital Samba USA, which offers Web-based videoconferencing. The firm is the U.S. subsidiary of Spain-based software company Digital Samba.

Some companies have shied away from teleconferencing over the years because they had bad experiences when the technology was new, but video, audio and Web gadgetry have come a long way over the past decade, he said.

"Early adopters could have experienced technical problems that made them think twice before jumping back into the market," Starner said. "Nowadays, online meetings are very common and work well."

However, manufacturing is the one industry slow to utilize e-meetings, preferring to travel to the assembly line, he said. Some things still require being there to fully understand them, he said.

Large manufacturers such as TE Connectivity are illustrating how e-meetings can be beneficial to their industry. The Switzerland-based maker of connectors, electronic components, wires and other hardware has 34 locations worldwide outfitted with cutting-edge teleconference rooms like the ones in its Central Pennsylvania offices.

It started with seven locations in 2009, including the midstate office, Berwyn and Menlo Park, Calif., as well as sites in Japan, China, Germany and Holland, Wert said. The Telepresence rooms were a hit, and they are almost always booked solid today, he said. In 2011, employees logged 18,000 hours of e-meeting time, he said.

The real advantage is that anyone at the company — not just executives and managers – can use the teleconference rooms without flying around the world, he said.

"You can really get a face-to-face meeting and look at parts without sending someone to those locations," Wert said.

Smaller midstate companies are finding value in such systems, even if theirs don't have all the bells and whistles that a global corporation can afford.

"We have a product that we're reaching out across the country and across the world to sell, but we have a limited budget," said Richard Wurzbach, president of York-based Maintenance Reliability Group, also known as MRG Labs.

The company sells Grease Thief, products and an analysis process Wurzbach developed to sample grease in manufacturing and energy production equipment. By sampling grease and analyzing its contents, MRG Labs can find problems in machines, predict future breakdowns and suggest preventative maintenance that keeps equipment running smoothly.

MRG Labs uses videoconferencing through Digital Samba to demonstrate the process to potential clients. Having that technology available has paid for itself in new business, Wurzbach said.

Explaining Grease Thief via videoconferencing helped MRG Labs land contracts with Dong Energy and Vattenfall, two of the largest wind turbine operators in Denmark, Wurzbach said. He and MRG staff explained the process online last year. A few months later, he said he was standing on top of a 400-foot windmill in Denmark finalizing the contract.

Sometimes companies avoid videoconferencing because they don't want to become over-reliant on it and lose the face-to-face component of their business, Starner said.

"Even though we make a living in this sector, we'll be the first to admit technology will never be the same as a real handshake," he said.

Companies won't lose that personal touch as long as they're using videoconferencing to augment in-person meetings, Wurzbach said.

But if your goal is to better explain yourself, your company and its products to potential clients before flying to Europe or even across the country, then e-meetings have a definite value, he said.

MRG Labs used videoconferencing to explain Grease Thief to staff at the California-based Electric Power Research Institute, an energy industry-backed research nonprofit. Speaking to them live in an e-meeting helped MRG Labs land a $50,000 research contract with the institute, Wurzbach said.

"If your choices are sitting on the phone and being frustrated explaining a complex process, as opposed to showing someone in live video," he said, "that's worth it."