Global Revenue from Managed Telepresence Services to Exceed $360 Million in 2011

Telepresence, a kind of video conference providing the realistic sensation that all participants are actually in the same room, is a rapidly growing industry. The technology, however, is very expensive � prohibitively so, for the majority of its potential users. Hence there is a growing trend toward offering telepresence as a managed service. According to ABI Research vice president Stan Schatt, �The growth of managed telepresence services raises the prospect that soon virtually anybody, from multinational corporations to private individuals, may be able to benefit from this remarkable audiovisual experience.�

What makes telepresence more useful than phones, email, or ordinary videoconferencing? The key is the realism: in complex business negotiations body language, eye contact, and vocal realism are still critical. And for individuals communicating with distant loved-ones, there�s no substitute.

Today, telepresence managed services are still primarily used by large enterprises. But it won�t be long before small-medium businesses and eventually ordinary citizens can use the service. Schatt believes that �The price for telepresence managed services will eventually come down to where any mid-level manager can do it.�

There will also be public facilities, often in hotels or conference centers, where one can use telepresence for a fee. �That�s going to be very attractive to small businesses,� says Schatt. �Take a small business that has a supply chain relationship with an Asian company. The fee for an hour in a telepresence room is always going to be less than the cost of sending a key executive all the way to China. And fewer air miles are better for the environment.�

Many telepresence systems today are still not easily interoperable: another reason to let a service provider handle the technicalities. �We�re already seeing AT&T, BT, and Nortel being very active in this area,� says Schatt, �and India�s Tata Communications has started offering telepresence facilities in partnership with Cisco.�