Telepresence - The Next Step For Videoconferencing

All over the world businesses looking to cut both their travel costs and their carbon

footprints are looking at new methods of communication and collaboration. One of the most effective solutions offered in the modern business environment is Telepresence, a technology which represents the next big step for video conferencing systems.

Video conferencing - the combination of real time audio and video to talk over distance - has been around for some time yet until recently, the technology was unable to provide a truly effective solution to business needs. This changed with the advent of better methods of network communication, with access to high speed broadband unlocking dramatically higher levels of bandwidth.

This expanded bandwidth, combined with the increased sophistication and availability of high-fidelity recording equipment and processors, is to thank for the advent of the highest current level of video collaboration technology: Telepresence. Taking its name from the Greek prefix for "distant", this type of system delivers high-definition and stereophonic sound to an unprecedented level of realism, encouraging and assisting remote collaboration.

Aside from a high speed communications link, Telepresence set ups are dependent upon the use of high-definition television systems (HDTV). Screens and cameras are positioned around a Telepresence 'boardroom' so that participants who are sitting across from each other are able to look at each other directly.

This gives the impression that they are sat in the same room as each other, despite being solely connected by the Telepresence system; in short, it removes the problems of video conferencing technology where the set-up of cameras and screens leads to participants having dramatically different eye lines from one another, disrupting any sense of immersion in the collaboration.

The screens are linked together into open wide screen that simulates the opposite side of the boardroom 'desk', complemented by an extensive audio system where speakers are positioned so that sound appears to emanate from the person at the remote site. This stands in contrast to set-ups where sound comes from fixed positions such as the centre of the table or an overhead speaker.

Because the technology draws upon a variety of well-positioned modular systems, telepresence set ups require a dedicated boardroom. However the cost of keeping one area of a property dedicated to virtual collaboration is almost always offset by the savings in travel expenses and the loss of hours required by face-to-face travel.

With the growing pressure on businesses to make cuts to their environmental footprint - especially in the shape of financial incentives - Telepresence is becoming an attractive prospect to many companies both large and small.

by: Stephen Smith

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