Cisco adds plenty of clarity

New videoconferencing system promises crystal-clear reception, Li Xinzhu reprts.

Cisco, a world leader in networking and telecommunications, has created a new platform for videoconferencing called TelePresence. The system, which is featured at the Expo 2010 Shanghai, offers solutions for frustrated users struggling with limitations of other videoconferencing technologies.

With fast-developing Internet technology, videoconferencing is now widely used in both the business and private sectors, and users are demanding high-quality images and synced voices. Regular network infrastructure and limited broadband speed cannot always satisfy users' needs. To remedy these limitations, Cisco, in collaboration with Tata Communications, created TelePresence.

The system provides high-definition 1080-pixel video, spatial audio and the ability to link separate rooms to resemble a single conference room.

The system is not new - it was first launched in 2006. To attract more users, Cisco decided to promote its concept through a series of events during the Expo.

"With technologies like Cisco TelePresence, we are elevating creativity and collaboration to the next level, changing the way people communicate and learn," said Anthony Elvey, the Cisco Pavilion director.

"How technology can enhance your life is the theme of the Cisco Pavilion at the Expo," he said. "One day, people will be using high-definition video to communicate as easily as they do with the telephone today."

To promote its TelePresence system, Chinese dancer Huang Doudou was invited to the pavilion in early July to use the system for an upcoming performance. Huang and his students from the Shanghai Children's Palace were able to rehearse with the National Dance Institute in New York using the TelePresence system, quelling Huang's apprehensions about the overseas collaboration. The students, from both China and the United States, will perform together at the end of July.

The Cisco Pavilion will also hold virtual family days twice a month until the end of October for selected families who wish to talk to relatives overseas via the TelePresence system.

"Those family reunions are a powerful expression of Cisco's vision of a 'human Network'," said Owen Chan, Cisco's president and CEO for Greater China.

"We hope that by inviting Chinese families to participate in these reunions, they can experience first hand the benefits of living a 'Smart+Connected Life'," he said.

Chinese families interested in participating in the program can apply by visiting www.cisco-club.com.cn.

(China Daily 07/23/2010 page35)