Cisco Accelerates Intercompany Collaboration With Telepresence Interoperability

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 26, 2010 - Building on its history of using open standards to break down the barriers to intercompany collaboration, Cisco today announced the release of an interoperability protocol to the public domain that allows multiscreen telepresence systems to interoperate. TelePresence customers now have a way to improve communications with vendors, suppliers and partners while maintaining an immersive telepresence experience. LifeSize, TANDBERG and RADVISION have signed agreements to license the Telepresence Interoperability Protocol (TIP). Cisco has offered to license its protocol to industry participants royalty free.

Cisco also announced five new Cisco TelePresence^TM experiences that extend the value of telepresence beyond the virtual meeting, and it has released enhanced versions of its flagship Cisco TelePresence System 3000 and Cisco TelePresence System 3200 endpoints. The five new Cisco TelePresence experiences take face-to-face virtual collaboration to classrooms, facilitate virtual brainstorming, provide instant in-person help desk support, create a worldwide virtual showroom, and deliver a new streaming service for global virtual events. The new Cisco TelePresence System 3010 and Cisco TelePresence System 3210 offer better energy utilization and faster installation for cost-effective information technology support and new in-room enhancements for an improved user experience.

Telepresence-to-Telepresence Interoperability

The Telepresence Interoperability Protocol has helped establish a standard of experience that customers have come to expect from immersive telepresence offerings. By licensing the protocol, Cisco offers vendors the opportunity to take advantage of a switched architecture, using the network as a platform, to improve media processing and intercompany security, lower the cost of media resources, and decrease latency.
Release of the Telepresence Interoperability Protocol marks a significant step in creating a new open standard for telepresence, similar to other industry video standards. Cisco already supports H.323, which allows Cisco TelePresence to interoperate with standard- and high-definition videoconferencing systems and other collaboration applications. Cisco supports HD videoconferencing interoperability solutions via the Cisco MXE 5600 (Media Experience Engine) and Cisco Unified Video Conferencing.

Extending the Cisco TelePresence Experience Beyond Meetings

Cisco is extending the virtual in-person collaboration experience with five new Cisco TelePresence experiences designed for teaching; brainstorming, design meetings and other active collaboration sessions; remote demonstrations; concierge services; and webcasting and session recording.
Many of these new applications have been requested by Cisco TelePresence customers who have seen an opportunity to radically change existing business practices with video: to scale operations globally, contact experts anywhere around the world, and offer employees a better work-life balance.
In partnership with Cisco Advanced Services, Cisco Authorized Technology Provider (ATP) Partners and Cisco Technical Services, Cisco is able to provide customers with unique, customized experiences, including:

The Classroom of the Future, which takes the face-to-face Cisco TelePresence experience into classrooms, lecture halls and corporate training rooms to extend expertise and knowledge sharing around the globe, and to allow students and teachers to interact no matter where they are.
Cisco TelePresence Active Collaboration Room, which combines a virtual meeting experience with collaborative applications such as Cisco WebEx^TM for brainstorming on virtual interactive whiteboards and a document camera for design meetings across multiple locations.
Cisco TelePresence Remote Demonstration Center, which creates a unique way for businesses to use Cisco TelePresence and other video technology to showcase new products and solutions virtually, and potentially over great distances, without requiring on-site demonstrations.
Cisco TelePresence Live Desk, which provides customers with instant in-person concierge service in the Cisco TelePresence room via a softkey on the in-room IP phone.
The Cisco TelePresence Streaming Service, which provides live webcasting or recording services from any size Cisco TelePresence meetings to any type of desktop or mobile device, Cisco Digital Signage, or social video system.

Cisco TelePresence experiences are available through Cisco Advanced Services and qualified Cisco TelePresence Authorized Technology Provider Partners as they become commercially available.

New Cisco TelePresence Endpoints Improve Energy Consumption and Data-Sharing Experience

With the introduction of the Cisco TelePresence System 3010 and Cisco TelePresence System 3210, customers have enhanced choices for the flagship Cisco TelePresence experience. Both endpoints enhance collaboration with a new in-room HD liquid crystal display (LCD) to share content across the Cisco TelePresence meeting from a laptop or from an integrated document camera. The new LCDs, combined with advanced plasma displays, help reduce overall power consumption by 25 percent.
The new endpoints provide the same high-quality Cisco TelePresence experience as the rest of the portfolio, including ease of use, support for a variety of applications, 720p and 1080p HD video, spatial audio and a superior environment.
The two new endpoints also offer a faster installation, lower room remediation costs, increased bandwidth efficiency and easier management as well as energy savings, which all lower the overall total cost of operations.

More than 550 organizations have contributed to Cisco's footprint of more than 3,500 Cisco TelePresence rooms deployed worldwide. Cisco has also installed more than 685 Cisco TelePresence rooms on its own internal network in 47 countries for greater productivity and effective collaboration.

Supporting Quotes:

Håkon Dahle, Chief Technologist, TANDBERG:

"TANDBERG has always been committed to open standards for telepresence and video conferencing technology, essential for building a global video community. We are very pleased to enable even greater company-to-company video collaboration to our customers for more flexibility and a higher return on their telepresence investments. With this additional interoperability, we are helping to make video pervasive around the globe."

Roberto Giamagli, general manager, Networking business unit, RADVISION:

"Seamless interoperability across different networks, protocols, devices and vendors has always been a strong focus of RADVISION. Bringing the TelePresence Interoperability Protocol to our product line will provide all our customers with many more connectivity options."

Casey King, CTO, LifeSize Communications, a division of Logitech:

"LifeSize has always been committed to open, standards-based, interoperable solutions that enable anyone, anywhere to communicate face-to-face in high definition. We encourage all vendors to embrace interoperability with the ultimate goal to deliver a seamless experience for the end user even in multi-vendor environments."

Charles Stucki, vice president and general manager, TelePresence Systems business unit, Cisco:

"Cisco is bringing the future of work to reality with high-quality video collaboration for everyone, everywhere. We are providing our customers with 'any to any' interoperable solutions while maintaining the overall high-quality Cisco TelePresence experience. We believe that the Telepresence Interoperability Protocol, new experiences and new endpoints will enable many more organizations and people to transform global business."

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