A new study revealed a disconnect between the declining value of business travel and its increasing use in Europe.

On one hand, about a quarter of the executives surveyed plan to increase the volume of their business travel this year; on the other hand, one-third question whether the business gets the best value from their travel and say that many meetings that take them out of the office could be efficiently and effectively conducted by video conference.

Many also report feelings of stress and admit to having missed family occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries.

Conducted by Coleman Parkes Research on behalf of Polycom Inc., a global leader in unified communications, the study sheds light on one reason behind the disconnect: About half of all short-haul domestic flights were for executives attending more “regular” meetings – meetings that could be successfully conducted by video conference for less cost, less time, less business disruption, and less family stress.

And yet, the study found, a surprising number of companies – four in 10 – have not yet implemented video conferencing, a practice that many executives have found to be far more time and cost efficient.