Virtual reality

Challenging global economic conditions will propel telepresence usage to replace 2.1 million airline seats per year by 2012, costing the travel industry US$3.5 billion annually, IT research and advisory firm Gartner predicted last month. While such forecasts may sound a little high, it does appear as if now is the perfect time for telepresence to gain momentum and achieve mass appeal. Michelle Mills reports

Telepresence solutions, such as Tandberg’s T3, emphasis the sensation of being across the same table when holding a virtual meeting

Telepresence and video conferencing has long
been heralded as a time-saving and cost-effective alternative to flying and meeting clients, while also reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Yet, many ICT executives openly admit they rarely, if ever, use the technology. However, with cost-cutting measures being implemented across the board, the investment case for companies to reconsider the merits of virtual meetings has never been as relevant as in the past three quarters.

Speaking at the annual Gartner Predicts 2009 briefing in Sydney in February, Gartner fellow Steve Prentice made the bold prediction that telepresence was on the rise, as every organisation re-evaluates its requirements for in-person meetings.

“Telepresence is not the answer in every circumstance and there will always be strong cultural and other reasons for face-toface encounters, particularly in Asia,” Prentice stated. “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, which is built on top of Second Life, or yet-to-be-released solutions will provide a real alternative for many businesses.” Prentice went on to advise companies to put aside previous prejudices and bad memories of older videoconferencing services and seriously investigate new technologies.

Demand is already gaining steadily with Tandberg, the leading global provider of telepresence and high definition videoconferencing, reporting a record operating profit of US$176.7 million for the full year 2008, an increase of 20.9 per cent year-on-year. Company revenues also peaked at US$808.8 million, 28.3 per cent higher than in 2007. The number of videoconferencing endpoints sold, which range from fully immersive telepresence conference room packages, through to desktop video phones, reached 66,631 units in 2008. Tandberg leads the EMEA region with a 48 per cent market share in terms of revenue, according to Wainhouse Research, while Polycom, Cisco, HP, Telanetix, BrightCom, LifeSize and Teliris are its main competitors.

Technology research firm ABI Research released a report in December forecasting the growth in telepresence would explode in the next few years with the whole market, including equipment, network services and managed services, expected to grow to nearly US$2.5 billion in 2013.

Principal analyst Dominic Dodd of Frost & Sullivan goes as far as to say that telepresence, videoconferencing and unified communications will be essential business tools in 2009 to ensure companies keep their heads above water, with Dodd holding an online debate with key market players late last year on the theme of ‘how telepresence can save the world’.

“For companies able and willing to continuing their IT investments during the recession, visual communications and collaboration products and services should become a central part of their strategy for survival – and for creating a dominant position for themselves, come the upturn,” Dodd states.

And it sounds like the global market is listening, with the Australian government becoming the latest convert, splashing out on a AU$13.8 million (US$8.8 million) contract on February 27, for the deployment of 20 Cisco telepresence units to link government offices across the vast country. It is hoped it will help drastically reduce the government’s annual domestic airfare bill of AU$280 million.