Global Crossing dials up telepresence with Teliris

Global Crossing (NASDAQ:GLBC) deepened its telepresence offering with its announcement yesterday of a business arrangement with equipment manufacturer Teliris.

“Teliris was the very first telepresence vendor that provided a solution for the enterprise,” said Frank Piotrowski, senior product manager for Global Crossing. “The company is over 10 years old, and since its inception they have used Global Crossing as their primary backbone transport provider. We have had their customers on our backbone for well over a decade.”

Global Crossing salespeople have been trained on Teliris equipment and will offer it to their customers, bringing in Teliris personnel as needed to support the sale. A vendor selected by Teliris will handle equipment installation, with Global Crossing providing connectivity over its MPLS network and initial-level support.

The ability to easily reach the installed base of Teliris customers should have strong appeal to new prospects, Piotrowski said. Customers also will be able to connect to sites with telepresence equipment from other vendors through a gateway device, which the partners will make available as part of the sale.

Telepresence has been an important development area for carriers in recent months, with companies as diverse as AT&T and Tata Communications continuing to expand their offerings.