Business Technology Roundtable

The hospitals in Talcahuano (Las Higueras), San Carlos and Linares have inaugurated Cisco TelePresence units -- the high-definition video technology that allows them to interact with their patients via tele-consultations, examinations and interviews. The TelePresence technology also helps them find solutions for cardiovascular pathologies, the main public health problem facing Chilean society that has resulted in great human and economic impact. This HD video communication solution enables the hospitals in Linares and San Carlos to connect with specialists in Las Higueras Hospital in Talcahuano and carry out remote specialized consultations -- as a result accelerating the process of attending to patients. As an example, now the time taken for a specialist's first response has been significantly reduced (from 12 months to 54 hours), as well as the time taken to resolve the problem that gave rise to the initial consultation (from as long as two years down to one month). Ena...

Many of the visitors to the AT&T booth at the VoiceCon 2009 are having their first experience of a TelePresence solution in action. Tina Vestal, customer care center manager at CHEP, perhaps sums it up best with her assessment -- "it's amazing!" Earlier this week, BAE Systems Land and Armaments, part of the third largest defense company in the world, agreed to enhance their global employee collaboration and productivity with the AT&T Telepresence Solution . BAE Systems will use Telepresence to provide an in-person meeting experience with executive leadership and engineering teams across the U.S., and the United Kingdom. This capability will also be expanded to Sweden, South Africa and other regions in the future. Their TelePresence applications are intended to be far reaching, across numerous parts of their organization. Live video-based meetings will help them accelerate decision-making processes and problem-solving for high-priority projects. More Productive M...

Companies with extended supply chains frequently need to collaborate with multiple partners -- simultaneously and visually. Yesterday at the National Retail Federation Conference in New York, AT&T and Cisco reminded attendees that they have added multipoint capabilities to their telepresence offering, which AT&T delivers as a managed service . Attendees visiting AT&T's booth participated in videoconferencing discussions with Cisco employees in San Jose, and expressed confidence that they could apply the teleconferencing capabilities in their business immediately. Collin Cupid of high-end handbags and accessories manufacturer Coach said, "It made you feel like everybody's in the same room." Sally Curtis of Planet Retail, a market research firm, said, "We can use this in our own context for communicating with customers. It's absolutely real." A couple of executives from United Rentals wanted an installation "yesterday," but were wi...

AT&T demonstrated its telepresence capabilities at this week's National Retail Federation conference in New York City. Retailers and other attendees are already talking about how the global industry could use Business Video technology to improve supplier and customer relationships, reduce travel expenses, and make supply chains more efficient. Using Cisco's TelePresence technology for videoconferencing , AT&T offered attendees the chance to participate in sessions with Cisco employees in San Jose. Chris Eubanks of athletic equipment retailer Sports Authority said, "It was one of the most real things I'd ever seen. It was like being in the same room as the people in San Jose." Carlo Pochinesta of clothing manufacturer Gucci said, "It was as close to meeting in person as you can get and yet not be in the same room together." As a salesperson, Erik Kostelnik of employment Web site careerbuilder.com found it helpful in his work. "I started readi...

According to Matt Cowall at Appia Communications , if you look around the business video communication landscape today, you'll see two extremes in predominant use within the marketplace. At one end are TelePresence and other highly sophisticated solutions. These are expensive and largely aimed at the enterprise market, but the quality of the video experience is excellent. At the other end are PC- and Web-based solutions. These products are inexpensive, but often lack the quality and reliability that business users require. Mid-Market Video Requirements Somewhere in the middle, SMBs and similar organizations hope for the best of both extremes -- high video quality and reliability at an affordable price. But a recent convergence of circumstances and next-generation technologies appears to be closing the gap in both directions, fueled by: The soaring costs, hassles, and inefficiencies associated with travel The slowing of the economy, which puts a premium on doing more with less The f...