Telepresence and the Future of Collaboration

Telepresence and the Future of Collaboration

Linda Simms

Abstract

In this case we will look at how Cisco Telepresence Systems brings the future of collaboration together and how it is bringing great benefits to companies worldwide. It has some risks involved and some strengths and weaknesses in the respective approaches.

CiscoTelepresence is an advanced video conferencing system that has advantages over normal video conferencing. It has very low latency crisp video and audio quality and gives directional sound. People appear in life size images and it allows for direct eye contact.

Businesses with Cisco Telepresence can have live conferences with contacts all over the globe as if they were literally in the same room. Time-sensitive issues can be resolved quickly and easily with effective collaboration. It means for businesses a higher return on investment for the future, lower travel expenses, and it helps businesses to "Go Green" due to reduction in travel, therefore cutting carbon pollution.

Benefits of Collaboration Technologies

The main business benefits that can be accumulated from collaboration technologies would be that it is easy to use, minimizes the geographical distance between places, bringing everybody throughout the world in one common screen. It is cost effective because it saves cost for a group of people to come together at a specific place and conduct meetings. It also saves time and increases effectiveness of decision making, making the whole process more interactive and participative. It enhances the efficiency and productivity of the organization that is using it.

If an organization is using collaboration technologies it's not just that organization is saving a corporate travel, it is also saving the most precious resource that is time and making it possible for all the concerned parties to attend meeting throughout the world. For example, if a multinational company like Coca-Cola has to conduct a meeting regarding its product distribution strategy, then it's not possible for all the people around the globe related with coke to meet at the same common place and conduct it. Yet with collaboration technologies like Tele presence from Cisco it can bring all the related parties in a common screen without their moving anywhere and conduct the meeting. With it, organization is also enhancing its decision making ability by letting everybody come together and speak, regarding the strategic plans. Great ideas are formed by more people interaction and this makes innovation possible (O'Brien, 2011).

Beyond Corporate Travel Savings

Besides saving on corporate travel, these collaboration technology systems can allow a company to have more employees being remote into the office permanently, thereby decreasing the physical space and other physical equipment those employees would need without losing the ability to directly interact with each other. It can also boost productivity by removing the "down time" that employees have while traveling to and from meetings at the same facility. Due to the ability to have face to face conference meetings through these technologies, the company can also decrease the number of meeting rooms needed which will also decrease costs.

Cisco's Strategy and Proprietary Standard

Cisco has been