Virtual Conferencing (VC) is a form of on-line collaboration enabling two different kinds of work processes used in the Extended Enterprise:

• Remote conferences between persons involved in different Business Processes
• Interactive access to and common work on product, process and project data.

The aim of the recommendation recently approved by Odette is to promote common requirements and recommendations for VC tools and their usage. A list of general requirements and criteria has been establish, which will help companies to decide on an appropriate tool. It should be as interoperable as possible, be user friendly and have a set of mandatory or optional functions to set up conferences in the context of the Automotive Industry. The document also outlines the best practices shared by Automotive Manufacturers and Suppliers that have experimented with and put in place the usage of VC with Partner Companies. These Guidelines are the first step towards a standardisation of such processes and tools on behalf of the European motor industry through Odette.

This recommendation is not only intended for users from the automotive industry, but also for developers and vendors of VC tools so that user requirements for existing and future tools can be fulfilled.

BMW, BOSCH, PSA PEUGEOT CITROËN, RENAULT, SIEMENS VDO Automotive, SUPPLYON, VALEO; BROSE and DAIMLERCHRYSLER have been involved in the development work.

The project group are now talking with their counterparts in the AIAG with a view to working on a common European/North American recommendation.