Distance becomes an illusion

By Alex Kayle, Senior portals journalist

Johannesburg, 24 Nov 2008

Vodacom has partnered with distributor Kathea to bring Polycom's high-definition telepresence technology to SA.

The system will allow Vodacom to communicate directly with other businesses around the world as it expands. In addition, Vodacom plans to eventually hire out the rooms for corporates to utilise the technology.

The announcement was made last Friday, after Polycom met with its potential customers and partners to officially unveil the two RealPresence Experience High Definition (RPX HD) conference rooms at Vodacom's headquarters, in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

The demonstration featured a real-time video and audio streaming of a conference between Johannesburg and Cape Town. It has taken nine months for the two rooms to be constructed and set-up.

“This is the shortest trip you'll ever make to Cape Town,” says Andrew Hug, VP of sales engineering for Polycom Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Hug says RPX HD gives a completely 'immersive' experience as it gives the illusion all the delegates are sitting in the same room, even though they might be continents apart.

According to Ray McGroarty, Polycom solutions marketing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, RPX HD takes traditional video conferencing to the next level, as it creates a realistic in-person meeting experience with true-to-life dimensions, which was not possible in the past.

RPX HD has one large window split into two-screens, while its built-in projectors, cameras, microphones and speakers are concealed. Full-colour touch-screen panels are fitted into the desks and control video dialling, audio and have a direct link to the managed services help-desk. Business presentations can be viewed on the panels.

Bandwidth worries

The rooms are scalable as the suites can be designed to seat between four to 28 people. The rooms are identically designed as they are built to a specific size, and have the same furniture and light fittings to create a symmetrical appearance.

The solution interoperates with standards-based traditional video conferencing devices. Multiple participants can join a meeting from the rooms, or through standard video conferencing systems or mobile phones.

Hug points out that the solution is bandwidth-hungry technology. “The biggest issue facing an emerging market, such as SA, is bandwidth availability and cost. For full high-definition video quality, the technology runs at 10Mbps across both screens, but this can be customised and lowered while sacrificing video quality. Bandwidth can be reduced by 90% down to 1Mbps. The video quality will be reduced, but the audio, which has the highest priority, will still have high quality.”

Hug believes, following the laying of undersea fibre optic cables in 2009, bandwidth will become more ubiquitous in SA and RPX HD will become sought-after.

David Stirling, Polycom business development director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, says: “Polycom has deployed 200 of these solutions globally. It can be run on a NPLS network over a converged model and can also adjust itself to multiple bandwidths.”

Green considerations

Stirling pointed out that, with RPX HD, there is no time delay in communications as previously experienced with satellite communications.

According to Hug, the solution cuts travel costs and reduces a company's carbon footprint and, in addition, strengthens business relationships with face-to-face communication.

“In the UK, legislation is coming into place where large organisations have a green agenda that they have to abide by. The solution provides an excellent opportunity to fulfil these obligations.”

According to Wainhouse Research, the global telepresence market is likely to grow at well over 100% per year for the next four years and is likely to become a $1 billion market by 2011.

Dan Engel, regional sales manager at Polycom for Europe, Middle East and Africa, says this growth is due to corporate market uptake based on mounting concerns for saving costs and green initiatives. “South African business needs are no different [to that of international requirements] and environmental and social challenges facing the local market make this solution even more viable,” says Engel.

“I think this country is going to be seeing major change in its telecommunications and the technology is definitely going to be beneficial to the country.”

According to Engel, the solution can cost around $300 000, depending on its modifications.