Cisco Unveils HD TelePresence Meeting Solution

Cisco Systems introduced a high-end, "telepresence" video conferencing solution that delivers HD streams over an MPLS backbone to create a face-to-face meeting experience. The Cisco TelePresence Meeting solution -- available in two versions for large and small meetings -- combines 1080p video, life-size plasma displays and high-quality, spatial audio along with certain room design elements to make that conference participants feel as though they are sitting across the table from each other in the same room. The life-size, high-definition images at 1080p screen resolution are 4x better than standard television quality and 2x better than HD TV.



The Cisco TelePresence 1000 is designed for small group meetings and one-on-one conversations, as well as emerging applications like the "Virtual Assistant." Pricing for this system starts at $79,000.



The Cisco TelePresence 3000 is designed for meetings of up to 12 people around a virtual table. The product is ideal for executive round-tables and engineering reviews, as well as general employee, customer and partner communications. The Cisco TelePresence 3000, starts at $299,000.



Cisco said it is deploying over 100 of the virtual meeting room systems in its own offices worldwide to help reduce the need for travel. The company expects this initiative to grow into a billion dollar business over time.



AT&T has completed initial testing to help ensure network interoperability and performance of the TelePresence Meeting solution, with plans to incorporate offerings into its network integration and managed video communications portfolio, pending successful completion of full trials. The solutions will combine the Cisco TelePresence Meeting solution with the low latency of AT&T's global IP-MPLS network, as well as AT&T's integration capabilities for design, deployment and service management.http:/www.cisco.com