True to this blog’s intent, I was there for the experience and to hear about other’s experiences. It was unbelievable. After the meeting was over, I honestly felt like I had met David in person. Even in its first release, Cisco has made TelePresence meetings everything they are in person. From each meeting room looking the same on both ends, to seeing people walk past a distant conference room, you really feel like you are there. At one point when David got up from the middle seat opposite me, moved one to the left, and leaned over to whisper something to the person on my right, I half expected him to borrow his pen! Using spatial audio, 65” plasma screens, full sized representations of distant participants, and ultra high definition resolution seven times greater than regular TV, you just forget that you aren’t sitting in the same room with the people in the other conference room.

The ease of use of TelePresence is equally impressive. You can book a TelePresence meeting of one or more rooms in Outlook just like any other meeting, see availability of any room, see your meeting and the next ones queued up on the phone in front of you in the meeting, and even extend your meeting with one button click if no one is scheduled after you. Although Cisco MeetingPlace audio isn’t completely integrated into the product yet, you can also invite audio-only participants to the meeting just as easily as video participants. Sharing a presentation or content with other participants is as easy as passing a cord from one person’s PC to another, no matter which location you are in, and if one group wants privacy, they can mute their side of the conversation, or pause the meeting, which blanks out the screens until needed.

I guess one of the benefits of being late to the game in experiencing a TelePresence meeting, is that I got to ask if the user experience for Cisco employees had lived up to the hype, and whether the goals set for the product had been realized. I was particularly intrigued because at announcement in October, John Chambers made the statement that Cisco intended to reduce corporate travel by 20% or 200 million miles a year by using TelePresence. They have, and more. Although these stats are a moving target, so far Cisco:
•is well beyond their 200 million miles saved goal, which also equates to 10% of their carbon footprint.
• is saving millions of dollars in travel avoidance.
• has deployed over 100 rooms on four continents (goal of 110 by end of July).
• has held 15,000 TelePresence meetings internally and growing.
• has held zero hours of user training.
• has required zero hours of IT support in meetings.
• has increased video conferencing usage from an industry wide average of about 10% to 60% (a typical TelePresence conference room at Cisco is booked 5 hours a day, and up to 10 in some busy areas).

So how have Cisco employees taken to the experience? They said that surprisingly, it’s changed the way they do business too. They find that they get more done in a short period of time because the meetings are in person and personal, not audio only where they get distracted (hmmm, I don’t know anyone that checks email while on a conference call -). The conversational dynamics are better because turn taking is more natural, they can see the body language and expressions of their colleagues, and not have to repeat themselves. They said that they are better at team building and working with their distant colleagues now.

It’s also changing the way some of their customers do business as well. One company, for example, has used TelePresence to rapidly expand store fronts in Eastern Europe. Opening up new stores in new countries is a highly collaborative process that requires team members with a multitude of skill sets to work with their in-country counterparts. So, rather than send a team into a new country for weeks at a stretch, they hold TelePresence meetings with different experts, such as merchandising managers, designers, HR, managers, or lawyers, with their local counterparts as they are needed – sometimes meeting with several different country teams in one day. This has enabled them to grow their business exponentially rather than one store or country at a time.

I can’t wait to see further integration with MeetingPlace, and what they have in store for integrations with WebEX and other unified communications applications, as applications such as TelePresence will drive adoption of UC.

One last thought. I feel that TelePresence meetings are worth the wait and the initial cost for any business that holds extensive long distance meetings, and have high travel costs. It is expensive out the door right now, but seeing as Moore’s law is in their favor, Cisco undoubtedly will be able to provide TelePresence at lower price points in the future, and eventually will bring it into the home. I’m still pondering what I would pay for the home version. How much would you pay?