Volcano Eruption Sparks Video Conferencing Opportunities
KBZ Article
Companies everywhere are turning to TelePresence and videoconferencing solutions after the vast disruption to European and Scandinavian air travel this week resulting from the eruption of Iceland’s volcano, Eyjafjallajökull. Industry leaders and service providers have seen a huge increase in demand for video communications in light of these circumstances, and are rushing in to provide solutions that enable “business as usual.”
Cisco has more than 700 specially-equipped telepresence rooms in 124 countries, and the acquisition of TANDBERG adds more facilities to that list. According to an article in The Washington Post, Monday, April 19, 2010, Fredrik Halvorsen, former TANDBERG CEO and head of Cisco System’s TelePresence Technology Group, reported the company’s video conferencing suites were almost fully booked. “The only evidence is anecdotal, but you will not get a demo room in any of the Cisco facilities." Then as published in the Financial Times blog, Halvorsen predicted the volcano eruption would have a lasting impact on attitudes toward business travel. “We are seeing people come into our suites as an emergency response and going away seeing it as something that could be a normal part of their day-to-day business life.”
TANDBERG offers the FlyFree program, providing businesses an easy and risk-free way of experiencing the power of high-definition video conferencing and telepresence. "The Fly Free program is something we literally created on the fly as we saw a lot of need," Halvorsen said. "We think it is only the right thing to be doing."
KBZ Communications partner, Glowpoint Video, has also stepped in to facilitate some relief for business travelers affected by the lingering volcanic ash cloud. On Monday, Glowpoint launched a new website (http://www.glowpoint.com/publicrooms.asp) aimed at swiftly handling an apparent doubling in call volume by some of its international callers. Glowpoint's website features video room locators that provide travelers with the ability to reserve telepresence and video conferencing suites through TATA, an India-based provider that features Public and Private Cisco TelePresence rooms, and through Affinity VideoNet, a US-based provider of rentable video conferencing spaces.
TANDBERG officially became part of Cisco Systems on Monday, April 19, 2010. And in finalizing this venture there was naturally a plan for international travel, given that Cisco Systems is based in San Jose, CA, and TANDBERG in Oslo, Norway. Yet while flights proved impossible the close in European air space did not prevent the planned in-person meetings from occurring, with Cisco TelePresence technologies providing the immediate solution. As reported in the New York Times on Monday, Charles Stucki, Vice President of Cisco’s TelePresence Technology Group, was able to quickly assemble his teams in San Jose, as well as colleagues in Europe, to successfully carry out all planned communications that now make it official.
Learn more about Cisco TelePresence at www.cisco.com and www.tandberg.com.
Sources & further reading:
http://blogs.ft.com/rachmanblog/2010/04/volcanic-ash-disruption-postcards-from-the-stranded/
http://blog.tandberg.com/tag/volcanic-ash/
http://business-video.tmcnet.com/news/2010/04/16/4732375.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/19/AR2010041902749.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/business/20road.html?src=busln
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/glowpoint-offers-telepresence-and-video-services-for-travelers-affected-by-volcanic-ash-crisis-in-europe-2010-04-19
Contact:
Cindy Oliver
KBZ Communications, Inc.
cindy@kbz.com