According to Wikipedia “Telepresence” is a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance that they were present, or to have an effect, at a location other than their true location.”
The challenge of current world economic conditions is set to drive uptake of video telepresence in the next three years, with the travel industry hit by the economic turmoil, analysts predict that high-definition based video meeting solutions will replace 2.1 million airline seats annually, costing the travel and hospitality industry $3.5 billion per year.
Industry insiders agree that in today’s tight economic environment, telepresence provides a viable alternative to travel and an effective means of facilitating communication among companies and customers. The challenge of the global conditions demands that every organization revisit the need for face-to-face meetings,” said Gartner’s analyst Steve Prentice. “Telepresence is not the answer in every circumstance and there will always be strong cultural and other reasons for face to face encounters, particularly in Asia. But not every meeting needs to be face to face and there is no doubt that telepresence and other approaches to virtual collaboration such as Immersive Workspace, will provide a real alternative for many businesses.
The traditional category of video conferencing has widened to include newer technologies such as telepresence which enables a life-like meeting experience – participants feel they are actually sitting at the same table and communicating face-to-face. Top players are already competing at this rapidly growing market among them Cisco, Polycom and Tandberg. Realizing that businesses have different needs which depend on budget, space requirements they continue to develop new immersive solutions for life-like experience, as well as xecutive desktop systems and cost-effective PC-based solutions along with VoIP solutions at affordable price. There are also other vendors operating on specific segments of the market: HP, LifeSize, Sony, Teliris and others.
Vendors of these solutions also highlighting the cost-cutting aspect and benefits to the environment, emphasizing that video conference, as an alternative to travel, can help companies significantly lower the costs and carbon emissions associated with travel. Many companies throughout the United States, Europe and Asia have begun their own initiatives, actively using video conferencing to reduce travel costs and help our planet.
Take into account an international nature of outsourcing business, opportunities provided by video and telepresence industry can be successfully employed by outsourcing providers to significantly reduce the costs and improve the quality of their services.