At an event at its offices in Bryanston on Tuesday, Cisco demonstrated its telepresence room with a live presentation via telepresence by Ian Gander, business developer, EU and EM of the Cisco TelePresence business unit.
Telepresence, as defined by Wikipedia, is a set of technologies to make a person feel as though they are present at a distant location.
Cisco's TelePresence allows two or more parties to see each other life-size, in high-definition imaging. The system also features spatial audio that allows the speaker's voice to be heard from whichever part of the room he or she is speaking.
The room consists of a semi-circular table, with large screens on one side, which display the other party. "It's as if we've taken a table, cut it, and the other half is somewhere else in the world," says Gander.
The telepresence room at Cisco features a CTS 3000, the most popular of the Cisco TelePresence offerings, according to sales figures. It consists of three high-definition screens on one side of a table, microphones, cameras and an IP phone. Gander explains there is no need for end-user training to use the system, just an instructional e-mail.
Kumaran Nair, director of operations for Cisco SA, notes that the important component is the IP phone, which lists the upcoming meetings and the user presses a button to connect to the other party. Meetings can be made via Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes, which then transfers the information to the telepresence system.
A network cable in the room allows the user to connect their computer to display slideshows that will be projected in the recipient's telepresence room.
Nair explains that the environment is very controlled, with specific lighting and look and feel in the room. "Even the colour of the walls is specified."
Nair advocates telepresence as the solution to high travel costs and the impact on the environment of carbon emissions from airplanes and cars. That is why Cisco's TelePresence room in Bryanston is nicknamed the "green room" despite its brown walls.
Nair says that, unfortunately at the moment, the bandwidth issue in SA is a restricting factor to the wide adoption of telepresence locally.
To date, 241 Cisco TelePresence systems have been installed globally, mostly in the US and Canada. According to figures released by Cisco, updated on 9 June, a total of 110 627 TelePresence meetings have been held.
The system comes in four sizes. The biggest, the CTS 3200, accommodates up to 18 people per room. The CTS 3000, the most common, is designed for six users per room. The CTS 1000 is designed for small groups and the CTS 500 is designed for home use.
Although it has been touted as the next generation of video conferencing, telepresence succeeds where video conferencing fails, says Gander. The average utilisation rate for video conferencing is in the single digit percentages. Telepresence, however, has seen good growth, averaging nearly 50% utilisation, he adds.
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