Telepresence

The past several years have seen tremendous gains in the image quality and affordability of video conferencing and telepresence systems. No longer restricted to corporate boardrooms and conference rooms, a new generation of affordable hardware and software-based endpoints has made this technology available to all. Along with a reduction in greenhouse gases, the cost savings and increased productivity gained with telepresence is compelling. Depending on the number of corporate locations and related employee travel, some systems can pay for themselves in less than a year.

Cisco offers a complete line of telepresence endpoints that range from large screen executive conference systems like the System 3010 down to desktop systems and the new compact TelePresence Touch. The System 3010 features a truly immersive user experience with three 65-inch plasma screens, integrated cameras, lighting, and sound, and seating for up to six participants on each side of the virtual table. The popular TelePresence System 1300 is designed for general purpose meeting rooms and offers a full 1080p screen resolution for a lifelike experience. Presentation-in-picture and content sharing is also supported.

The affordable freestanding TelePresence Profile Series is available in three different sizes to suit any size meeting room. Desktop systems include the EX Series, 1700 MXP, and 1000 MXP models. All Cisco telepresence endpoints follow industry-standard video codec and signaling standards and feature direct interoperability for point-to-point calls.

Any telepresence system is only a good as the telepresence infrastructure that supports it. For multipoint calls, Cisco offers a complete line of a variety of MCUs, video conference bridges, and directory servers. Telepresence sessions can be recorded using the TelePresence Content Server, then uploaded to any standards compliant content management system for later distribution and viewing.

Cisco’s new Callway service is a hosted telepresence and voice service tailored to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. Using their own telepresence endpoints, businesses pay a low monthly subscription fee for this fully managed service. Rapid provisioning and unlimited secure point-to-point and multipoint video calls are included as part of the service.