Business Travel Tips

“Business travel without the travel” is a slogan used by Cisco for a commercial of its teleconferencing systems.
With companies tightening travel budgets due to soaring travel costs, as the teleconferencing technology improves, the entire industry is betting heavily that videoconferencing — and especially its highest-end niche, telepresence, is going to become a viable alternative to traveling.

There are various levels of videoconferencing, ranging from the simple two-way audio-video capabilities that are standard on personal computers — may be ok for personal and very basic business communications, to sophisticated telepresencing systems that feature cinematic-quality, ultra-high-definition picture and sound.

Systems — by companies such as Polycom, Hewlett-Packard, Teliris, and Cisco, designed to link conference suites in different locations in such a way that participants feel they are present together in the same location, are priced from around $80,000 to $400,000. (source)

Companies that sell these sophisticated systems are also looking for partners to develop free-standing locations in hotels and business centers where systems can be rented by the hour.

Meanwhile, some companies are rapidly filling in lower-priced market niches with systems designed for small groups and one-on-one meetings. Last spring, Teliris introduced a person-to-person system that lists for $32,000.