Cisco Brings First Cisco TelePresence Room In Lima, Peru. Saves Environment And Saves Money

#Cisco Inaugurate First Cisco #TelePresence Room In Lima, Peru. http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Cisco launched it's first TelePresence Room in Peru last week bringing spatial audio, life-size ultra-high-definition video and interactive elements to provide a face-to-face meeting experience live through the network.

"In order to thrive in the current economy, it is necessary to collaborate with colleagues and customers worldwide in a timely way while also improving the quality of our relationships. The Cisco TelePresence solution facilitates collaboration to conduct business more effectively and enables benefits in productivity, travel reduction and savings." voiced Alvaro Merino-Reyna, general manager, Cisco Peru and Andean Region

The TelePresence room located in Cisco premises in Lima, Peru will set pace for many technological advancements to reach Peru. Currently what this means to Peruvians is;

    * Through Cisco TelePresence technology, face-to-face meetings can be held without the need for traveling. Just making a simple call facilitates collaboration, productivity and decision making.
    * The Cisco TelePresence solution comprises 65-inch plasma screens at 1080p resolution providing the participants with life-size video images of session participants. Three high-resolution cameras in each room show details of facial expressions and gestures on the other side of the "virtual table" in important meetings and negotiations.
    * Cisco TelePresence has a high-quality spatial audio system and multiple inputs and outputs, all of which allow more realistic conversations.  
    * Participants in a Cisco TelePresence session have access to the ability to record high-quality video, use collaboration applications such as Cisco WebExTM during each meeting, and gather for special events.
    * Participants can meet in up to 48 Cisco TelePresence rooms at the same time.
    * Existing systems of standard-definition video conferencing can be easily integrated with Cisco TelePresence solutions.

The system will bring benefits such as;

    * Since the deployment of the first Cisco TelePresence rooms at Cisco headquarters, company employees have scheduled more than 711,836 meetings by this means, which have also greatly improved productivity and the executives' quality of life.
    * The use of TelePresence rooms at Cisco has saved more than 231,000 metric tons of contaminating emissions in employee travel.
    * To date, Cisco has also saved $628 million in travel expenses

Cisco TelePresence For 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

Cisco TelePresence For 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
ESPN and Cisco hosted a live global press conference over Cisco TelePresence, involving soccer enthusiasts/broadcasters and business leaders from both organizations. Global sports, business and technology media were also in attendance from Toronto, New York, London, Warsaw, Kiev, São Paulo and Johannesburg. This event was intended to demonstrate the remote video connectivity benefits associated with Cisco TelePresence and highlight how this technology will play a key role in delivering in-depth sports reports of the World Cup to soccer fans around the world.


SAN JOSE, Calif., and JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, May 20, 2010 – Cisco today announced that ESPN will use Cisco TelePresence^TM to deliver live and recorded coverage of soccer matches and connect the global soccer community with teams, players and coaches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer Tournament in South Africa. The incorporation of Cisco TelePresence will allow ESPN to deliver televised content more effectively and economically as well as enhance soccer fans' viewing experience. Cisco TelePresence, which uses high-definition video and audio to create a face-to-face virtual experience, will further enhance ESPN's coverage of soccer matches throughout the month long tournament. By using the existing Cisco broadband network in South Africa, the two industry leaders are transforming the sports television industry by enabling a more timely delivery of video content, including greater fan access to unique game analysis and player footage.
ESPN is taking advantage of the Cisco TelePresence HD real-time video for its live coverage of the 19th FIFA World Cup Soccer Tournament, a first for any video communications solution. The technology will also give the worldwide leader in sports increased flexibility and expanded coverage, enhancing both the content and coverage of the games. The immersive experience is made possible with imperceptible latency, regardless of distance, ultimately leading to a more compelling interview. In addition, with the deployment of Cisco TelePresence in South Africa, ESPN will be able to host remote interviews with visiting country leaders, coaches, players and fans, all from highly secure and quiet locations with convenient access to key stadium sites. The remote broadcast interviews captured via Cisco TelePresence will then be accessible for soccer fans to view on ESPN's worldwide soccer sites.

FACTS

Advantage ESPN: Business Benefits

• By utilizing Cisco TelePresence to conduct exclusive World Cup reports from Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, ESPN will achieve significant cost savings as compared to traditional remote interviews.
• Even though these two locations are hundreds of miles from the International Broadcast Center in Johannesburg, Cisco TelePresence technology negates the need for ESPN to send news trucks to the host cities, creating an "always available" virtual studio.
• ESPN will televise exclusive World Cup reports from Cape Town and Port Elizabeth on the network's news and information shows.

Ball in the Fan's Goal: Dynamic Video Experience

• Most soccer enthusiasts will want to maximize their viewing experience with access to more behind-the-scenes footage. Cisco TelePresence gives ESPN the opportunity to present a larger number of interviews with players, coaches and analysts.
• All Cisco TelePresence interviews captured during the tournament will be converted to video files for posting and viewing on the ESPN Soccernet site.
• This Cisco TelePresence technology will be used for remote face-to-face interactions for other upcoming sporting events.

Overtime: What's Next

• As the TV business model continues to evolve, Cisco is innovating the way that sports and media organizations deliver content, providing a timely delivery of unique video content into the home and allowing fans to engage in richer ways with the sports and teams they love.
• The Cisco TelePresence ecosystem will continue to expand worldwide, changing the game for how fans experience sports.

Executive Quotes:

• "Having Cisco Telepresence in the arsenal of content-contribution tools ESPN is using in South Africa allows us to give fans unique content that brings the World Cup one step closer to home," said Rob Hunter, ESPN vice president for innovation. "Cisco TelePresence will connect fans and our audience to the action in Capetown and Port Elizabeth in ways that weren't previously possible."
• "The 2010 World Cup is one of the largest global sporting events, and we're excited to join forces with ESPN to branch out and do something different, giving fans the ultimate viewing experience," said David Hsieh, vice president of marketing for emerging technologies, Cisco. "Cisco TelePresence technology is changing the way television organizations think about the connection between content creation and fan consumption of sports content."
• "The World Cup is one of the premier sporting events that unite communities across the globe. It transcends borders, languages and cultures," said Paul Mountford, senior vice president of emerging markets, Cisco. "And as a global company that is focused on connecting communities through the collaborative use of technology, we're excited to work with ESPN in bringing interactive communications services to the residents of South Africa and beyond. Coupled with the new Internet connectivity that SEACOM is bringing to South Africa, the region has a unique opportunity to transform the lives of its citizens and make the tournament one of the most connected events in sports."

Cisco Offers To Acquire Tandberg For 3 Billion.

Cisco Acquires Tandberg
Cisco Made an acquisition offer to Tandberg today. TANDBERG, based in Oslo, Norway, and New York, is a global leader in video communications, including a broad range of  video endpoint and network infrastructure solutions with intra company and multi-vendor interoperability.
The acquisition will aid Cisco reaching even further into the collaboration and teleprecense market, specially small business sector. It will also open more doors for Cisco globally for it's communications products.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will commence a cash tender offer to purchase for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $3.0 billion.  This represents an 11.0% premium to the previous day closing price of TANDBERG's stock, and a 25.2% premium to the 3-month volume weighted average closing price for TANDBERG's stock.  The proposal was recommended unanimously by TANDBERG's board of directors.
The parties expect the acquisition to close during the first half of calendar year 2010 and Cisco expects the acquisition to be accretive to Cisco's non-GAAP earnings in fiscal year 2011.
On the occation, Cisco's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, John Chambers said,

"Cisco and TANDBERG have remarkably similar cultures and a shared vision to change the way the world works through collaboration and video communications technologies," said Cisco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Chambers. "Collaboration is a $34 billion market and is growing rapidly—enabled by networked Web 2.0 technologies.  This acquisition showcases Cisco's financial strength and ability to quickly capture key market transitions for growth."

while  CEO, TANDBERG Fredrik Halvorsen,said

"Cisco and TANDBERG share a vision of changing the way people communicate and collaborate," said TANDBERG Chief Executive Officer Fredrik Halvorsen. "This transaction is a vote of confidence, not just in TANDBERG but in our technology and our people.  The combination of world-class technologies, Cisco's global scale, and exceptional people from both organizations will enable us to accelerate innovation and market adoption."

ooVoo Video To Take On Skype, Cisco Telepresence.

Video Conferencing Space
You know something is good when Reuters pay attention and write two page article about it. Yes that article is about oovoo. ooVoo is not new to us, ever since their 500 minutes of free calls campaign, we have written about the company and products.
The ooVoo video came to our rescue when Skype HQ video failed us on a planned conference. (Skype Video has changed since then and provides free video conferencing for up to 25 users.) But I guess it more appealing to read the Reuters article than all our writeups about ooVoo. (I wish that capitalized all or none, it gives me figer cramps to type this name)
The article has more informationabout where ooVoo is headed and planing on taking Skype and Cisco TelePresence in video conferencing space.
"We took what we had with the consumer and packaged it with a business plan," said ooVoo CEO Philippe Schwartz who said that about 20 percent of the company's current users were business customers even before its business-targeted plan.
ooVoo's business service costs $39.95 a month per person or less, depending on the number of users in a company, ad-free. The consumer service starts at no fee to as high as $17.95 a month for six-way chats.
Reuters

Tags: ooVoo, Free Video Conference, Free calls, Skype