I am often struck by the amazing ways that AV technology is able to connect people on a basic level. Lately, my interest has been caught by the ever-evolving definition of telepresence. I recently had the pleasure of participating in a telepresence demonstration call between a Cisco CTS 3010 and an AVI-SPL Caméléon Telepresence system (with a Tandberg codec). The experience was just as advertised: For a few minutes, I forgot that the people “across the table” were actually halfway across the country.

After such an impressive experience, I wondered why telepresence hasn’t caught on with more big businesses. Though the systems are expensive (most are several hundred thousand dollars each), the money and hours saved in a year or two should be enough ROI to validate the purchase, right?

It turns out that one of the biggest problems with current video communication technology, especially telepresence, is the same thing plaguing the rest of our industry: interoperability. Sure, two Cisco CTS systems can be connected fairly easily and the result is a smooth call every time. However, when you start trying to connect telepresence systems from multiple manufacturers, or different types of systems (desktop video, boardroom video, audio conferencing, multi-screen telepresence), it often takes a monumental effort by a seasoned expert to get the desired results.

The current best solution for connecting different manufacturers and/or types of systems is to use a bridging service, such as Glowpoint’s TEN Exchange (Telepresence interexchange Network). This exchange works much like the modern telephone system to connect various types of video systems through the Glowpoint network. Of course, this connectivity isn’t free, adding another item to the list of video communication expenses.

Until the industry develops a standard for interoperability, I don’t think that telepresence will really take off outside of the mega-corporation offices of the world. I can’t wait to see how things develop, and I’m looking forward to the day when placing atelepresence call is as easy as using a telephone.

What do you think?