Tandberg extends telepresence reach

Tandberg today announced new products that extend the reach of telepresence to a broader audience using a new codec and updated videoconferencing equipment. The idea is to move high-quality video for corporate meetings into videoconferencing spaces that don’t have to be very high-end telepresence rooms.

“With these products, we are extending a very high-quality video into a broader market of team collaboration rooms and videoconferencing rooms,” said Pete Nutley, director of global product marketing for Tandberg. “The idea is to take high-end capabilities and bring them down so they can be more widely used.”

These products are interesting to telecom service providers because they can extend the range of managed or hosted telepresence offerings for Tandberg’s service provider customers to deliver.

“With video, we have designed and enabled customers to collaborate and be more productive,” Nutley said. “This is not just about key meetings, it’s also about brainstorming on an ad hoc basis and regular collaboration without requiring business travel.”

The new codec, the Tandberg Codec C60, is based on the same technology that the company launched last September, the Codec C90, and delivers the same 1080p high-definition video and standards compliance for connecting with other standards-compliant systems. The difference is in the size and number of connections it will support, Nutley explained. The C60 is only one rack unit high and while it can support up to four sites in a multi-site conference, the picture quality for multi-sites is 720p, not 1080p.

The updated Tandberg Profile videoconferencing gear is intended to bring cost-effective videoconferencing to corporations looking to cut travel expenses. It features three options for screens – a single 42-inch screen, a single 52-inch screen or a dual 52-inch screen designed to allow those in the videoconference to also view documents, medical images or other material.

“This is an environmentally friendly design which incorporates recyclable aluminum materials,” Nutley said.

Tandberg now has a range of video solutions from its very high-end telepresence system down to its desktop and Movi PC video systems.

“We will very soon be announcing our second release of Movi,” Nutley said. “We have publicly stated that it will support up to 720p video. It’s a nice continuation down to the PC.”