Verizon, BT expand telepresence offering with inter-carrier deal

In what's becoming a fast-moving trend, yet another pair of telcos have announced their telepresence offerings will be able to interconnect. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and BT today said they're extending the range of their telepresence products to communicate with each other via Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) TelePresence.

That means more customers using either service will be able to videoconference and collaborate using their respective immersive facilities. The deal essentially expands the telepresence community, helps clients collaborate globally and improves productivity.

It also helps ensure Cisco's place at the top of the telepresence sector.

"This initiative between BT and Verizon opens up new opportunities for enterprises to collaborate across their premium video platforms and will help multinational customers make the most of their Cisco TelePresence System investments," said Sandra O'Boyle, service director of business network and IT services at Current Analysis.

The deal helps streamline the infrastructure between the two telcos, creating similar scheduling, support, security and encryption mechanisms.

Customers will have access to a directory to determine which organizations are registered and are available for inter-carrier telepresence meetings, and where the sites are located.

Earlier this month, AT&T (NYSE: T) and Orange Business Services announced their own inter-provider connectivity agreement.

Tata Communications, late last month, said it would team up with nine other service providers-- including Sprint (NYSE: S), Glowpoint (OTC BB: GLOW.OB) and TELUS (Toronto: T.TO) in North America, Safaricom in Africa, Telstra (ASX: TLS.AX) in Australia, Etisalat, Qtel and Mobily in the Middle East, and Neotel in South Africa-- to interconnect their business networks.

Andrew W. Davis, senior partner and co-founder of Wainhouse Research, called the Tata deal "a major step forward for the video conferencing industry and its customers."

"By making B2B calls easier and by interconnecting different carriers, the Global Meeting Alliance will drive the usage of videoconferencing and Telepresence systems, enabling customers to see faster and higher returns on their investments," he said. "With its history of wholesale network services, intercarrier experience, and public room support, Tata Communications is in a unique position to launch this alliance."

For more:
- see this release

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AT&T, Orange Business Service connect telepresence offerings
Tata teams with nine operators on telepresence deal