Telepresence Options - Industry Press Releases

Telstra ushers in a new era of video collaboration with Australia's first Business to Business Cisco TelePresence service

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:41:31 -0500

In an Australian first, Telstra today launched Business to Business TelePresence, giving Australian organisations the ability to collaborate with each other using Telstra's Cisco TelePresence Managed Service.

Telstra Business to Business Cisco TelePresence means organisations will be able to bring other businesses together in a single, face to face, virtual meeting room, as opposed to intracompany Cisco TelePresence collaboration within the boundaries of one organisation.

Paul McManus, Executive Director of National Sales for Telstra Enterprise & Government said the new Business to Business TelePresence service operated on the Telstra Next IP (TM) network and would help organisations further reduce travel costs, shorten cycle time, improve decision making and help reduce their carbon footprint.

"Business to Business TelePresence is set to provide a real productivity boost to Australian organisations, as they will now be able to communicate via Telstra Cisco TelePresence with their customer networks, partners and supply chain and use the service to make decisions faster, reduce costs, simplify collaboration and importantly help to meet sustainability targets," Mr McManus said. "The ability to use ultra-high definition video will accelerate these benefits even further."

David Barker, Director of the Telstra Alliance for Cisco, said: "We are very pleased to be working closely with Telstra to enable more businesses to effortlessly connect with customers, partners and suppliers from all over the country in a way that feels like participants are across the table. Cisco TelePresence enables organisations to improve productivity and reduce expenses while at the same time enabling them to collaborate without boundaries and improve business innovation."

Philip Jones, Executive Director, Telstra Product Management said the new Business to Business TelePresence service is the second enhanced Cisco TelePresence capability to be offered to the market.

"This service complements our exiting fully managed Telstra Cisco Telepresence solution, providing customers with end-to-end management across our Next IP™ network and across enterprise boundaries. During the next 18 months Telstra will continue to enhance our customer offering with opex based charging models and network based one touch scheduling making it easier to connect intercompany meetings across Australia" he said.

"Business to Business TelePresence represents the latest milestone in Cisco and Telstra's alliance to provide one-click, one-touch, one-screen solutions plus advanced services such as installation, full monitoring and management of the application, remote help desk service and on-site equipment maintenance for rapid customer deployments."

Telstra Business to Business TelePresence will be charged on a simple recurring monthly fee on a twelve month contract that covers service activation and assurance, as well as access to Telstra's world-leading Next IP™ network on an unlimited use basis.

Announced in November 2008, the Cisco and Telstra alliance is designed to deliver a managed services platform to customers that enables Telstra to deploy advanced technologies such as Cisco Unified Communications and Cisco TelePresence. It comes at a time when both Cisco and Telstra are entering into a new collaborative business model designed to drive market growth and foster adoption of advanced technologies in the market place.

AT&T, BT and Tata Demonstrate Industry's First Cisco TelePresence Call Across Multiple Carrier Networks

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:52:04 -0500

Significant Milestone Achieved in Developing Global Public Cisco TelePresence Network

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 1, 2009 - AT&T, BT, and Tata Communications, today took a significant step forward to deliver Cisco TelePresence (TM) services globally, by conducting the industry's first multipoint, intercompany Cisco TelePresence meeting across multiple carrier networks. AT&T, BT and Tata, together with Cisco, demonstrated the technical ability for a Cisco TelePresence user to call others on any carrier network with high levels of security and reliability.

Highlights / Key Facts:

* Inter-carrier intercompany services have the potential to allow Cisco TelePresence users to call one another across participating networks, reliably and with high levels of security.

* The demonstration at Cisco Live 2009 consists of inter-carrier Cisco TelePresence connections between the following sites on AT&T, BT, and Tata Communication's networks:

* AT&T Telepresence Solution sites in Bedminster and Morristown, N.J., and Chicago, Ill.

* A BT site in Colorado Springs, Colo.

* A Cisco site at Cisco Live in San Francisco

* Tata sites in Boston and London

* This demonstration is another key step in Cisco's strategy to bring Cisco TelePresence to everyone, everywhere. It comes on the heels of recent announcements including Cisco TelePresence Extended Reach for one-screen systems over T-1 speeds, HD video conferencing interoperability, and Cisco WebExTM video interoperability.

* More than 350 organizations have selected Cisco TelePresence for more than 2,300 rooms to improve collaboration and productivity and accelerate business decisions. Cisco TelePresence is one of the fastest-growing emerging technologies.

* Cisco has also installed more than 500 Cisco TelePresence rooms on its own internal network for greater productivity and effective collaboration.

Executive Quotes:

* Marthin De Beer, senior vice president, Emerging Technologies Group, Cisco

"Today's demonstration marks a significant milestone for Cisco's service provider partners and our customers. With inter-carrier intercompany Cisco TelePresence, we're extending the power of video communications and collaboration across network service providers to bring people a new visual experience that's as easy as making a phone call."

* Bill Archer, chief marketing officer, AT&T Business Solutions

"Inter-carrier connectivity is the next step in building out telepresence for improved collaboration for businesses throughout the world. With the AT&T Telepresence Solution we are providing companies today with the ability to interact with customers or other key businesses in a highly-secure environment. Looking to the future, AT&T is committed to working with other network service providers to bring this proof of concept to market as soon as possible."

* Jeff Prestel, general manager, Video Business Unit, BT Conferencing

"To drive the ultimate value from telepresence services, enterprises need to be able to collaborate with colleagues, partners and customers, regardless of their network provider. We are delighted to participate with Cisco to help empower our customers to experience the versatile, easy-to-use and reliable communications of the future and to enable customers to maximize the return on their TelePresence investment."

* Peter Quinlan, director, Managed Telepresence Services, Tata Communications

"This proof of concept with AT&T and BT showcases how Tata Communications will conveniently support B2B sessions among any connected private and public Cisco TelePresence rooms, on the Tata Communications global network and also inter-carrier. This pioneering global service pushes managed telepresence from being a private intra-company experience to an open inter-company experience able to bring together the full ecosystem of employees, partners, customers and prospects. This open intercarrier B2B capability enriches Tata Communications' comprehensive approach to managed Telepresence services."

Human Productivity Lab FLASHBACK - From Telepresence, Effective Visual Collaboration, and the Future of Global Business at the Speed of Light - Published August 2006

--The Future of Telepresence and Effective Visual Collaboration - Page 33

The Interconnection of Effective Visual Collaboration Networks

Making logical and physical connections while maintaining an acceptable quality of service across multiple high-bandwidth IP networks is a difficult undertaking . . . at least for now. Technical challenges aside, some solution vendors will resist the interconnection of telepresence and effective visual collaboration networks. Vendors will seek to leverage the value of connecting to the businesses, publicly available locations and content headends on their own network by closing it to all but paying customers. This will not last long. Their own customers will demand connection between networks, making interconnection the future of effective visual collaboration.

Two new services for Telepresence, the immersive videoconference solution from Orange Business Services

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:11:08 -0500

* A personalized concierge system, as well as a new line of equipment for an even simpler customer experience.

* Telepresence Community, which enables businesses to open their existing Telepresence solution to external participants.

Less than a year after the launch of Telepresence, Orange Business Services introduces two new services to enrich this offer, available today in 104 countries, making it the world's largest coverage.

Simplifying Telepresence users' everyday lives

To improve the Telepresence solution, Orange Business Services offers a new 24/7 personalized concierge help-desk service. Businesses and their employees have a personal assistant in charge of reservations, the technical setup and management of the meetings, as well as technical support. Orange Business Services offers businesses customized support, allowing them to benefit from all of the solution's advantages without having to worry about how it operates. The Telepresence solution also integrates a new line of equipment and conference rooms.

Accelerate decision-making by involving external participants thanks to Telepresence Community

To allow businesses to visually communicate with external entities, Orange Business Services offers Telepresence Community. This solution is compatible with all Telepresence-related solutions offered to businesses anywhere in the world, on the Orange network. By integrating their customers, partners or even service providers into the Telepresence user community, businesses drastically increase their productivity and speed up decision-making processes.

Orange Business Services' Telepresence is entirely compatible with currently installed video equipment. A multi-location conference can be organized between Telepresence equipped conference rooms and other traditional HD/SD videoconference rooms.

About Orange

Orange is the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world's leading telecommunications operators. With 123 million customers, the Orange brand now covers Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the Group operates. At the end of 2008, France Telecom had consolidated sales of 53.5 billion euros (12.7 billion euros for the first quarter of 2009) and at 31 March 2009, the Group had a customer base of almost 184 million customers in 30 countries. These include 123 million mobile customers worldwide and 13 million broadband Internet (ADSL) customers in Europe. Orange is the number three mobile operator and the number one provider of broadband Internet services in Europe and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.

The Group's strategy, which is characterized by a strong focus on innovation, convergence and effective cost management, aims to establish Orange as an integrated operator and benchmark for new telecommunications services in Europe. Today the Group remains focused on its core activities as a network operator, while working to develop its position in new growth activities. To meet customer expectations, the Group strives to provide products and services that are simple and user-friendly, while maintaining a sustainable and responsible business model that can be adapted to the requirements of a fast-paced and changing eco-system.

TANDBERG Offers Unrivaled Telepresence Interoperability To Growing Base Of Customers Through Expanded Telepresence Server Portfolio

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:15:18 -0500

TANDBERG Telepresence Server 7010 delivers greater flexibility and interoperability for B2B telepresence calls

Leading global telepresence provider TANDBERG has introduced the new TANDBERG TS 7010 - a compact telepresence bridge that offers even greater flexibility and interoperability for the region's telepresence customers.

A compact version of the award-winning chassis-based TANDBERG Telepresence Server, the TS 7010 is a powerful solution that enables high-definition, multi-vendor, multi-screen telepresence calls for entry-level customers and remote offices.

Telepresence is expected to be a $1.4billion industry by 2013, as business leaders continue to look for ways to transform their organizations, reduce costs and increase collaboration. By enabling telepresence interoperability with standards-based video conferencing and third party telepresence systems, TANDBERG seeks to grow the telepresence market through true B2B communication. Recently designated as 2009 Telepresence Provider of the Year by European CEO magazine, the TANDBERG solution was called "The benchmark for enterprise-wide Telepresence deployment" with its outstanding product design and ability to interoperate with third-party telepresence products. At the heart of this interoperability is the telepresence server portfolio, which now includes the TS 7010.

"The TS 7010 is one more example of TANDBERG leading the industry in delivering superior telepresence solutions that support the highest level of interoperability available," said Håkon Dahle, Chief Technologist, TANDBERG.

"Customers need solutions that bring their employees, customers and suppliers together. They will no longer accept the limitations of proprietary systems that lock out other vendors' systems and prohibit open collaboration. TANDBERG has overcome this barrier, which is key for successful B2B communications and maximizing the value of telepresence investments."

TANDBERG's interoperability with competitor products was a deciding factor for implementation at Technopolis, a Finnish company specializing in providing business environments for high tech companies.

"Our clients have global operations, so the chosen solution had to be standardized and able to integrate with other networks, technologies, and vendor solutions. We were completely satisfied that TANDBERG offered us this capability," said Laura Krusius, Business Services Director, Technopolis, which also expects to cut its own travel by 40% using telepresence and video conferencing.

TANDBERG also released a software upgrade for its Telepresence T3 that delivers an enhanced user interface and simplifies call setup by allowing participants to easily configure the Telepresence Server from the T3's touch screen. Additionally, the powerful scheduling capabilities of the TANDBERG Management Suite can now be used to schedule conferences.

With recent awards for Best in Show, Design Excellence, Telepresence Provider of the Year and several Product of the Year awards, TANDBERG's telepresence offering is second to none. For more information, please visit www.tandberg.com or contact middleeast@tandberg.com. You can also stay up-to-date on the latest TANDBERG news by connecting on Facebook and following Tandberg on Twitter.

Marriott Becomes the Largest Hotel Company to Offer Telepresence Globally, Giving Customers the Widest Array of Meeting Options

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:32:25 -0500

Using AT&T Telepresence Solution, Marriott Will Increase Opportunities for Small Meetings Business and Create New Revenue Streams for Its Hotels

Solidifying its position as the lodging industry technology leader, Marriott International (NYSE:MAR) is announcing it will offer telepresence technology in its hotels worldwide, using AT&T's fully-managed AT&T Telepresence Solution. Cisco TelePresence (TM) technology will enable Marriott to offer customers the widest array of meeting options, whether in-person, virtual or both.

Telepresence is a rapidly growing and increasingly popular technology that enables small groups of less than 20 people to meet and collaborate in multiple locations worldwide in real time. By combining high-definition video, crisp, real time audio - no delays - and interior design for telepresence suites, groups feel as if they are actually meeting together in the same room, even if they are thousands of miles apart. (See video demonstration.)

"As the 24/7 world economy becomes more interconnected, the need to hold small global meetings that cross continents and oceans will only grow," said Arne Sorenson, president and COO, Marriott International. "We believe telepresence will create more business meetings because people can travel shorter distances and easily connect with colleagues and clients around the world. The addition of telepresence meeting suites in our hotels will give Marriott a leg up on its competition."

Initially, Marriott plans to locate telepresence meeting suites in 25 global gateway cities, including New York, San Francisco, Washington, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Frankfurt and London, in its Marriott Hotels & Resorts (R), JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts® and Renaissance Hotels & Resorts (R) brands. The first telepresence meeting suites are expected to go live at the end of October.

Marriott chose AT&T Telepresence Solution because it combines AT&T's global communications networking capabilities with the Cisco TelePresence technology. The Marriott telepresence suites will also be able to connect to existing private Cisco TelePresence locations throughout the world through the use of the AT&T Telepresence Solution intercompany capabilities.

AT&T Network Map

"Marriott is leading the lodging industry in using advanced technology to help extend the reach of meetings for participants in disparate locations," said Ronald E. Spears, president and CEO of AT&T Business Solutions. "Working closely with Marriott, we are focused on delivering to Marriott hotels throughout the world the premier telepresence experience through the AT&T Telepresence Solution."

Since early 2008, AT&T and Cisco have collaborated to enable the growth and use of Cisco TelePresence technology and services among businesses and organizations throughout the world. AT&T Telepresence Solution leverages the power of Cisco TelePresence to create a unique, "in-person" experience with the simplicity of making a phone call as well as provides a "meet me" feature with a highly-secure PIN code that simplifies intercompany calling. AT&T Telepresence Solution also offers multipoint functionality and reliable intercompany capabilities enabling multiple locations to connect with one another.

Click here for Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) company information.

Starwood Hotels and Tata Communications Partner to Roll-Out TelePresence Rooms in Hotels Globally

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:14:43 -0500

TelePresence Provides the Experience of in-Person Meetings With Participants in Locations Around the World

SINGAPORE and WHITE PLAINS, NY, June 30 - Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (NYSE:HOT) and Tata Communications, a leading provider of the new world of communications, today announced a partnership agreement as part of an ambitious plan to roll out public Telepresence rooms worldwide.

The agreement will significantly increase Tata Communications' network of public Cisco TelePresence rooms with 10 new facilities opening in Starwood hotels by the end of 2009. The first telepresence suites are planned for Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, Sheraton on the Park in Sydney, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, The Westin Los Angeles Airport and W Chicago-City Center. Looking ahead, Starwood anticipates expanding the offering to hotels in key international business markets like Brussels, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. Tata Communications Telepresence Service will provide Starwood and its guests an "in person" meeting experience with participants in rooms around the world.

Tata Network Map

"We believe that public telepresence rooms are the key to increasing the accessibility of telepresence beyond major company offices to their wider ecosystem of users - customers, suppliers, remote workers and business partners. Using managed telepresence services is 'better than being there' and helps companies hold more productive meetings without incurring travel and time costs. More team members can participate in meetings and collaborate around the world," said John Landau, Senior Vice President Global Managed Services from Tata Communications.

"We intend to make telepresence available to as many users as possible with our global network of public telepresence rooms and our suite of managed telepresence networks services for businesses. Our partnership with Starwood is a major step towards making this vision a reality," added Landau.

"Starwood has made a name for itself as an innovator in the hotel industry, and it is crucial that we continue to evolve our meetings offerings to address the needs of today's consumers," said Christie Hicks, Senior Vice President of Global Sales for Starwood. "The partnership with Tata Communications is yet another opportunity for us to bring innovative, cutting-edge technology to our properties, and add true value for our business and conference facilities' guests."

"With global companies under increasing pressure to foster productivity at the least cost, the need for public telepresence rooms is greater than ever. Telepresence that is available on a per use basis enables affordable, high quality communication for the small and medium business or remote/regional office worker. Because of the decentralized nature of business today, without public room deployments, telepresence can never achieve the critical mass needed to realize the full potential of this exciting video technology. Tata Communications is aggressively investing and building public telepresence rooms to help achieve this potential and meet the needs of the global workplace," said Paul Waadevig, Senior Consultant on Unified Communications, Frost and Sullivan.

Cisco TelePresence provides life-like, high definition, conferencing facilities with superior audio, video and environmental qualities allowing participants to meet their colleagues, customers and business partners across a virtual table. The public facility offers users who do not have Telepresence rooms in their companies, access to this cutting-edge technology at an affordable per hour rental rate. Tata Communications has several operational public rooms in India (Mumbai, Bangalore (x2), Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Gurgaon), UK (London) and USA (Boston), and has recently announced an agreement to manage a public room in Manila for PLDT in the Philippines.

Tata Communications is unique in offering a comprehensive Cisco-certified TelePresence network consisting of hosted and managed service within private networks, between the world's first public rooms and soon, across an open global telepresence exchange. Later this year, Tata Communications plans to launch its Global Meeting Exchange service that will conveniently support business-to-business sessions between any telepresence rooms (public or private) subscribed to the service, regardless of the network service provider. This pioneering global service framework pushes Telepresence from being a private intra-company experience to supporting the strong demand for open inter-company sessions. European CEO Magazine named Tata Communications the Best Managed Telepresence Service Provider of the Year.

For further information on Tata Communications Telepresence Services and Starwood, visit http://www.tatacommunications.com/telepresence or http://www.starwoodhotels.com

About Tata Communications

Tata Communications is a leading global provider of a new world of communications. With a leadership position in emerging markets, Tata Communications leverages its advanced solutions capabilities and domain expertise across its global and pan-India network to deliver managed solutions to multi-national enterprises, service providers and Indian consumers.

The Tata Global Network includes one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks, a Tier-1 IP network, with connectivity to more than 200 countries across 400 PoPs, and nearly 1 million square feet of data center and collocation space worldwide.

Tata Communications' depth and breadth of reach in emerging markets includes leadership in Indian enterprise data services, leadership in global international voice, and strategic investments in operators in South Africa (Neotel), Sri Lanka (Tata Communications Lanka Limited), Nepal (United Telecom Limited), and subject to approval by the Chinese government, China (China Enterprise Communications).

Tata Communications Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. (NYSE: TCL)

http://www.tatacommunications.com

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 960 properties in 97 countries and 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis(R), The Luxury Collection(R), W(R), Westin(R), Le Meridien(R), Sheraton(R), Four Points(R) by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft(R), and Element SM. Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit http://www.starwoodhotels.com.

Telx Launches First Video Exchange to Enable Advanced Video Adoption by Enterprises

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:11:10 -0500

NEW YORK, NY -- 06/25/09 -- Key Highlights:

-- Telx provides the first network-neutral Exchange for transmission of
    video traffic.
-- Company establishes relationship with Toronto-based IP V Gateways to
    support new Telx Video Xchange VPN-NAP.
-- Telx provides carrier-neutral and video equipment neutral video
    exchange

Telx, one of the largest and fastest-growing domestic interconnection and colocation data center operators, today announced that it has become the first colocation and interconnection provider to offer a virtual private network-network access point (VPN-NAP) that is optimized for video transmission. Branded as the Telx Video Xchange, the new interexchange service enables customers to deploy and use video conferencing or Telepresence equipment with other entities on different networks. The new service solves the critical inter-enterprise video issues that have hindered the adoption of such technology to date, such as mis-matched QoS, addressing conflicts and asynchronous security, for carriers, enterprises, and systems integrators.

VPN-NAPs are network exchange facilities that securely connect networks for private, private to private, and/or public communications. Using this architecture for the Telx Video Xchange provides a secure business-to-business video exchange that enables a customer to connect to their customers, suppliers, and partners who are operating on different private networks. Standards-based addressing, security and quality of service (QoS) transliteration are handled in the Telx Video Xchange, ensuring quality transmission of video for customers.

"Telx provides extensive secure space for customer equipment, such as video bridges. Also our carrier-neutral colocation environment allows cross-connections with a global marketplace of more than 600 service providers. This makes Telx an excellent provider to offer a video exchange," said Rose Klimovich, Vice President of Product Development and Product Management for Telx. "Leveraging our network neutral environment, customers can enable use of enterprise video across private networks by in building cross-connects. Telx provides the previously missing component in the exploding world of enterprise video communications."

The Telx Video Xchange will be powered by IP V Gateways' Connectivity+ platform, a robust video telecommunications software platform that enables videoconferencing, as well as integrated audio, desktop conferencing systems, and Web-enabled devices, across carrier and private network boundaries. The platform solves the problem of maintaining quality across carrier networks while enabling systems to interoperate.

"We are extremely pleased to be working with the premier interconnection and colocation company in the United States," said Pat Montani, CEO of IP V Gateways. "Our company sees huge advantages for our current video service provider and carrier customers, as well as for Telx's customers in moving to a real and ubiquitous interexchange environment where quality and security are paramount."

Telx's first Video Xchange will be located in the company's facility in 60 Hudson Street in New York City.

About Telx

Telx is a world-class leader in providing interconnectivity solutions through their network-neutral and network rich, colocation facilities. With 15 facilities in North America, Telx offers cost effective networking solutions for customers to seamlessly access diverse global networks and exchange information in a secure and reliable environment. More than 650 leading telecommunications carriers, ISPs, content providers and enterprises rely on Telx's world-class team to support their mission-critical global infrastructure needs and to create a global connectivity marketplace to dramatically expand their business growth opportunities. Telx is a privately held company headquartered in New York City with facilities in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Miami, Phoenix, Charlotte, as well as Weehawken and Clifton, N.J. For more information about Telx, visit www.telx.com.

About IP V Gateways

IP V Gateways Inc. (IPV) is the world leader in providing VPN-NAP services though its Global, carrier neutral, Video Interexchange facilities based on its Connectivity+(TM) platform. Leading video service providers and carriers, currently supporting thousands of video appliances, bridges and applications servers on converged and overlay networks, connect through IPV's Connectivity+ platform. IPV is a privately held company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. IP V USA Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary.

Contact:
Karyn Price
Bailiwick Company for Telx
+1 609 397 4880 ext. 204

Savvis Achieves Cisco Powered Managed TelePresence, MPLS-VPN, Firewall & IDS/IPS Designations

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:28:34 -0500

ST. LOUIS -- Savvis, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVVS), a global leader in outsourced managed computing and network infrastructure for IT applications, today announced it has achieved Cisco Powered designations for Savvis' Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Application Transport Network (ATN) by meeting the standards to achieve Cisco Powered designations for Managed TelePresence™ Network Connection. The company also announced that it has achieved Cisco Powered designations for Managed MPLS-VPN, Managed Firewall and Managed IDS/IPS services.

The Savvis Demonstrator - An HSL & Brian Thornton Joint

"Video communications continues to grow in importance as companies cut back on travel expenses and raise the bar on employee productivity," said Dennis Brouwer, Vice President, Global Network Solutions for Savvis. "At the same time, enterprises are shifting away from do-it-yourself models and towards selective outsourcing to best-of-breed service providers. Achieving Cisco Powered Managed TelePresence Network Connection designation, as well as designations for Managed MPLS-VPN, Managed Firewall and Managed IDS/IPS services, is a significant milestone for Savvis, and aligns perfectly with our strategy of focusing on delivering latency sensitive applications where bandwidth and performance are critical."

A Cisco Powered designation recognizes a solution provider's investment in the tools and processes necessary to provide high-quality network-based managed services. It not only acknowledges that the managed service provider has invested in industry-leading Cisco solutions, but also entitles the solutions provider to take advantage of Cisco resources to envision, build, market and sell its managed services, contributing to market acceptance and adoption.

"To deploy, manage and support Cisco TelePresenceTM is particularly compelling for global private networks who can offer significant value to enterprise customers interested in exceptional video conferencing service," said Edison Peres, senior vice president of the worldwide channels go-to-market group at Cisco. "By achieving Cisco Powered designations, Savvis has made an investment in obtaining the training, skills and knowledge necessary to play a pivotal role in meeting increasing market demand."

In addition, Savvis' participation in the Cisco Managed Services Channel Program indicates that its Cisco Powered services have undergone a rigorous third-party assessment and have met requirements based on the Information Technology Infrastructure Library(R) (ITIL) framework of practices and market and industry requirements.

Savvis has also implemented Cisco TelePresence internally using the solution to help improve employee efficiency and customer communication, reduce travel, and assist in meeting environmental goals.

About Savvis

Savvis, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVVS) is an outsourcing provider of managed computing and network infrastructure for IT applications. By outsourcing to Savvis, enterprises can focus on their core business while Savvis ensures the quality of their IT infrastructure. Leading IT organizations around the world have selected Savvis to help them improve their service levels, reduce capital expense and deal with the rising costs of bandwidth, energy, real estate, staff and expertise. As a pioneer in utility computing, Savvis understands and harnesses the latest advances in technology like virtualization, cloud computing and support process automation. For more information about Savvis, visit www.savvis.net

British American Tobacco Selects Teliris Telepresence 6G Platform

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:39:19 -0500

Total of 130 6G Telepresence Rooms Ordered in First 30 Days of General Availability

ORLANDO, Fla., June 18 -- Teliris, the leading global provider of agile telepresence and collaboration, announced today that British American Tobacco will double their current Teliris Telepresence deployment as well as upgrade all existing systems to realize the benefits of the newly released agile 6G platform.

Leveraging Teliris' groundbreaking 6G platform, British American Tobacco will double the number of Teliris Telepresence rooms originally anticipated this year at the same total cost of ownership enabling the company to surpass their carbon reduction goals. The new Teliris Telepresence locations will be in more than 10 countries including the United Kingdom, Chile, Pakistan, Vietnam, Venezuela, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Brazil, China, New Zealand & Spain.

According to David Sampson, British American Tobacco's Group Mobility & Virtual Working Manager, "When British American Tobacco adopted telepresence, we set ourselves a number of 'hard' and 'soft' targets for benefits. Our experience to date has been that all our targets have been exceeded. As well as the financial benefits, we also hope this will help lead to new ways of working and collaborating, ultimately giving our staff choices about how they want to work, freeing up their time and improving their work/life balance. Additionally, we hope telepresence will help us meet the stated sustainability goals, including a real reduction in our carbon footprint. We have set ourselves a target to reduce 11,000 tonnes of carbon over the next five years through telepresence and we have managed to a reduction of 50 percent of that in just one year."

"We are thrilled, although not surprised, that British American Tobacco and other premier customers quickly realized the unrivaled value that Teliris' 6G platform delivers," said Tony Smith, Teliris European Managing Director. "We have secured over 130 orders in less than 30 days since our newest innovation became generally available and expect to continue at the same pace in the future."

Over the last year, British American Tobacco has experienced annualized savings of 9 million pounds Sterling on travel expenses and recovered 96,000 working hours previously lost during travel. Additionally, the company saved over 6,000 tonnes of carbon by eliminating 5,592 short, medium and long haul flights. The company experienced a 250 percent increase in Teliris Telepresence meeting attendees with almost 13,000 participants in just one year. These benefits will continue to accrue at an accelerated rate due to the new system deployments.

Teliris' 6G platform, which is based on a new agile client server-based software architecture, offers the broadest immersive telepresence and immersive collaboration portfolio available that allow for the most affordable experience with anyone in any location, at any time. As the longtime telepresence leader in both innovation and deployments, Teliris is the only option allowing the telepresence experience to be delivered over general purpose networks. Teliris has the broadest suite of telepresence products ranging from sub-$8,000 desktop solutions to boardroom systems. All Teliris solutions offer comprehensive interoperability options that allow for connection to any system, anywhere and an end-to-end managed service with a 99+ percent reliability guarantee.

British American Tobacco:

British American Tobacco is the world's second largest stockmarket-listed tobacco group by global market share, with brands sold in over 180 markets and employing 54,000 people. It is the only tobacco business selected for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, for the 7th year running in 2008-09, scored on its economic, social and environmental performance.

About Teliris Telepresence:

Teliris develops and implements the world's most widely deployed fully managed telepresence collaboration solutions, realistically replicating the human dynamics of an in-person meeting experience. Through its 6G platform and unique intellectual property, Teliris has radically simplified the acquisition, deployment and operating costs of telepresence, breaking new ground in adoption and reach of the technology. Teliris has deployments in over 50 countries with the largest installed base of Global 2000 companies, including Unilever, British American Tobacco, Lazard, Pearson plc, GlaxoSmithKline, and Royal Bank of Scotland, Xchanging and Merck, among others. Headquartered in New York and London, the company is the leading innovator in agile telepresence with end-to-end integration, market-leading 99%+ availability guarantee and interoperability with Cisco TelePresence, Tandberg Total Telepresence and Polycom RealPresence. For further information, visit www.teliris.com or email info@teliris.com.

Website: http://www.teliris.com

In Era of Tight Budgets, PSAV Enables Businesses to Extend and Regionalize Events for Less with Polycom Telepresence

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:37:35 -0500

LONG BEACH, CA and PLEASANTON, CA -- PSAV Presentation Services, the leading supplier of audiovisual and event technology support to hotels, associations, producers and meeting planners worldwide, is deploying high-definition (HD) telepresence from Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), the global leader in telepresence, video and voice communication solutions. With Polycom telepresence, PSAV is enabling businesses to cost-effectively extend the reach of events and host sales conferences, industry events and other meetings at a time when eight out of 10 companies are cutting back on business travel.

"This economy has created a new reality for meetings and conventions. The traditional way of hosting meetings -- where hundreds or thousands of attendees travel to one place to meet -- no longer works for many companies," said Brian Lagestee, senior vice president of technology and business development at PSAV. "Polycom telepresence offers us a way to recapture the part of the industry that has evaporated in the economic downturn. The initial response has been tremendous."

Many businesses and associations are downsizing their gatherings. In April, the National Business Travel Association reported that 84 percent of travel buyers say they have cut travel budgets since October 2008, and more than 70 percent expect to reduce spending further through 2009.(1)

With telepresence, meeting planners can reduce the financial and productivity impact of traditional meetings -- without sacrificing the crucial elements of interactivity, collaboration and face-to-face communication. For instance, instead of bringing 300 people to one central location, event hosts can bring 100 people to three regional locations and connect them all through telepresence.

Telepresence is also an effective way to enhance the content of events by bringing in high-value keynote speakers more cost-effectively. It can also serve as a contingency plan when event speakers or large groups of participants are unable to travel for any number of reasons.

In a strategic move to extend its offerings among more than 800 luxury hotels, resorts and conference centers, PSAV is investing in Polycom HDX 8000(TM) room telepresence systems, which allow people to meet and work together naturally across distances with an UltimateHD(TM) experience including HD video, HD stereo audio and sharing of multimedia HD content. PSAV is also leveraging the Polycom RMX 2000(TM) media conferencing platform for greater scale and flexibility for meetings and events. PSAV plans to offer telepresence to bring new cost efficiencies to small meetings to large, general session-style events involving hundreds of participants in each location.

PSAV and Polycom are demonstrating these capabilities this week at the InfoComm Expo conference in Orlando, Fla. In addition to Polycom's presence at the conference, PSAV is helping the company stage live musical performances via telepresence from the Belmont Club in Austin, Texas. Performances will be transmitted live to the Polycom booth in Orlando, as well as to sites in Santa Clara, Calif., New York, and Sao Paolo, Brazil. See additional press release today titled "With UltimateHD Fest at InfoComm, Polycom Shows How Telepresence Can Extend Reach and Impact of Events."

"Our investment in conferences like InfoComm is significant and through telepresence we can extend those efforts to reach a wider audience of customers and partners not attending the show by creating regional customer and partner appreciation events with direct interaction to the show floor," said Joan Vandermate, vice president of marketing, Video Solutions, Polycom. "It's an exciting new model to improve the ROI and impact of major events that also addresses the new realities of the current economic environment."

PSAV supplies hotels and other event venues with audiovisual equipment and expertise from its network of 32 regional Event Services facilities throughout the United States and Canada. Its initial roll-out of Polycom HDX 8000 systems will target its largest U.S. markets, though PSAV expects to outfit all 32 Event Services facilities with Polycom solutions. Eventually, the company plans to make telepresence available in some of their locations internationally.

PSAV chose Polycom after evaluating proposals from six vendors and testing solutions from two finalists. Among the reasons for choosing Polycom: superior features, including full HD support for the entire user experience; and Polycom's Lost Packet Recovery(TM), which provides a more consistent, high-quality experience across typical broadband network environments; and support of open standards, ensuring the ability to interoperate across platforms. The Polycom systems are also portable and easy to use -- both essential criteria for PSAV.

PSAV sees HD telepresence as a way to remain the market leader in an environment that seems to present one challenge after another. "We are excited about the customer reception to our telepresence services," said Lagestee. "We see it as a differentiator not only for us, but for our hotel partners as well. It's something they can offer that another hotel can't."

About PSAV (R) Presentation Services

PSAV is the leading supplier of audiovisual and event technology to hotels, associations, producers and meeting planners worldwide. With over 800 luxury hotels, resorts and conference centers worldwide, PSAV is totally committed to making every live event an unforgettable experience. PSAV's goal is to turn ordinary meetings into memorable experiences so the message lasts. For more, please visit: www.psav.com.

About Polycom

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) is the global leader in telepresence, video, and voice solutions and a visionary in communications that empower people to connect and collaborate everywhere. Please visit www.polycom.com for more information.

(C) 2009 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. POLYCOM, the Polycom "Triangles" logo and the names and marks associated with Polycom's products are trademarks and/or service marks of Polycom, Inc. and are registered and/or common law marks in the United States and various other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

(1) "NBTA Report Highlights Importance of Travel Management in Down Economy," National Business Travel Association press release dated April 20, 2009, accessed June 9 at http://www2.nbta.org/usa/pressreleases/Pages/rls042009.aspx