First there was teleconferencing, and then came video conferencing. But the next evolutionary step is now with us – telepresence. An entirely immersive technology, it allows users to meet and feel as if they are in the same room, even when they may actually be thousands of miles apart. Users can maintain eye contact, read body language and interact in a real-time environment. It is this true-to-life aspect of telepresence that allows companies to eliminate the need for all but the most important business travel and thereby reduce their carbon footprints, improve the work/life balance of executives and increase productivity.

Although many issues have stood in the way of its success in the past, technology is now at a stage that telepresence is a viable business option.

The advances in video hardware in terms of chip speed has lead to the increased capability to process more demanding algorithms in terms of both video and audio. This also has an effect on the amount of bandwidth a video platform can utilise.  This means that user experience is now better than ever before with systems being able to offer up to High Definition (HD) video and audio quality.

“High-performance IP networks are enabling new technological advancements in speed, quality and ease of use in the conferencing arena to become a reality,” highlights John Short, senior product manager, BT Conferencing. “Therefore videoconferencing and telepresence are becoming more accessible. As technology enhancements continue to evolve, these 'dedicated rooms with sophisticated equipment' are now being turned into high definition or immersive telepresence suites which can transform the conferencing experience. The improved visual impact of HD and immersive suites can make participants feel like they are actually in the same room as their fellow meeting attendees. In a rapidly globalising world, we need to meet other people from across the planet to do business and build networks. And, as most people in business know, it often works best to do that face-to-face.”

Finally, the costs of large plasma and LCD displays have reduced sufficiently that they are a viable alternative to using projectors in telepresence solutions.

“Using large format plasma/LCD means that individual participants can be viewed as 'life size' and therefore encourage a more natural 'feel' to the telepresence meeting,” notes Barry Cross, founder and managing director, ReView Video.

The capability for face-to-face business interactions, without the need for global travel can offer considerable benefits, including reduced travel expenses, and better relationships among employees, customers and partners.

“Collaboration features available with Cisco TelePresence, such as web conferencing and a document camera, allow users to work together on documents and presentations or feedback on prototype products, helping organisations accelerate time to market,” notes Macus Gallo, European marketing manager, Unified Communications, Cisco. “Why travel to speak in-person if you can communicate just as effectively through TelePresence? People no longer have to fly to meetings. They can simply turn them on.”

In addition, it can play a strong role in recruitment, as a solution when time is of the essence, and recruits live far away, even overseas.

Although these benefits are universal, technology companies may find they can garner even more advantages from using such systems.

“Information technology firms use telepresence to provide logistical support for customers in numerous areas around the world and to monitor and ensure the flawless operation of critical network infrastructure. Research and development teams use the collaborative aspects of telepresence to conceptualise data, evaluate prototypes, and interact with systems half a world away, without ever having to leave the laboratory.  Medical telepresence, which makes use of advanced communication technologies such as high-speed networks, high definition video and audio, and large, high resolution displays to produce realistic, interactive experiences, has great potential as a medical tool for remote diagnosis, training and surgery. Many hospitals already use telepresent robotic surgical instruments for remote and microscopic surgeries, and even more medical facilities use telepresence for training and continuity of care,” highlights Mark Barounos, ceo of Hemisphere, organisers of the Telepresence World conference. 

Telepresence is particularly relevant right now as there is increasing pressure for companies to reduce their carbon emissions and the reduction in travel thanks to telepresence use, improves the quality of life and productivity of executives with some clients reporting to Teliris that they can reduce the need for business travel by up to 80 per cent. This then translates into an excellent ROI as massive savings are made on travel expenses like flights and hotel rooms.

But there are more positive implications for modern business. Take the technology sector in emerging markets for example.

“With ongoing globalisation, more enterprises are moving into emerging markets, and need to rapidly establish a solid base for operations to make this viable,” highlights Mike Robinson, director, Converged Comms, Dimension Data. “Telepresence systems make the process of moving into these often hard to reach areas – sometimes with unreliable or non-existent IT infrastructure - easier and less costly.”

Overall, telepresence, once integrated into a larger number of businesses (which is likely to happen as the implementation and technology costs lower), could have a huge impact on how businesses work. Regular red-eye flights could become things of the past for boardroom members, and organisations will find that they will be able to move forward with projects much quicker as they’ll be more responsive, productive and be able to communicate and collaborate more effectively.

“HD conferencing is set to change the face of video conferencing as it offers twice the resolution of standard definition - meaning none of the important business aspects associated with face-to-face meetings (eye contact, body language, etc) are lost. It is one of the most significant technological advances in video conferencing for over a decade. HD can bring videoconferencing to a much wider audience and it also significantly raises the standards for business video conferencing services,” notes Short.

“IM and presence applications will combine with audio, web and video conferencing to provide real-time collaboration tools for people to use,” he continues. “So we’re getting closer to replicating the face-to-face experience i.e. you can see whether someone is 'there', start off talking by IM, then convert to a web and/or video conference of two or more people within minutes. Decisions can be made at first contact, with no need for follow-up email/voicemail - very time efficient.”

“Senior decision makers can collaborate more often, because simply walking into a boardroom to meet face to face in a virtual environment is much quicker and cheaper than flying across the Atlantic,” adds Tony Hurtado, global head of marketing, Masergy. “Therefore, these decision makers will meet more regularly and decisions will therefore be made more quickly, cutting out a lot of red tape and allowing for service and product development to have a much faster turnover, ultimately adding to productivity and profits, increasing the bottom line.”

Telepresence systems today are primarily niche market solutions for the larger, experienced videoconferencing users, but this market will continue to grow slowly in the coming years, and with it, technology will continue to progress.

 With this in mind, the future may hold even more user benefits.

“TelePresence is the basis for a range of future applications,” notes Gallo. “Recently, we announced that Cisco TelePresence will interoperate with standards-based video conferencing. This will enable customers to bring existing standards-based videoconferencing sessions into a Cisco TelePresence meeting. While using TelePresence interoperability, the meeting will preserve the experience for Cisco TelePresence users, while allowing standards-based video conferencing users to participate.

“There are numerous possible applications for the technology in the future. From TelePresence at home, helping families to have an in-person meeting experience despite being in different locations, to a virtual banking agent who has specific expertise connecting with you via TelePresence at your local branch,” he concludes. 

The ExCel Centre is holding Telepresence World 2008 London on March 18-19. For more information go to www.telepresenceworld.com

BOX OUT

Bob Johnson of telepresence specialist Teliris, runs through some of the basic technologies behind today’s telepresence solutions…

“Telepresence is comprised of several technologies integrated together into a turnkey solution.  A few key technology considerations:

•    Codecs - broadcast quality running 60fps with low latency in reasonable bandwidth environments

•    Eye contact algorithms based on the following concepts:

-    continuous presence of all participants
-    ability to receive one to many streams from multiple remote sites
-    ability to line up the tables to allow for eye contact between all participants

•    Dynamic equipment in each room capable of changing position to accommodate the requirements of the algorithm

•    Interoperability - ability for the system to interoperate with standards based 323 and 264 systems

•    Transport - ability to access IP transport systems that can support the bandwidth and class of service requirements of the codecs

•    Managed service including:

-    No user UI for call setup
-    Ability to control all room elements and monitor on a 24/7 basis
-    Guaranteed end to end SLA so the customer can leverage a functioning system in spite of variability in bandwidth and component availability”