Verizon, Tata Communications strike telepresence reciprocity deal

The world just got smaller for Verizon's telepresence customers after the telco struck a deal with Tata Communications, which gives users access to any public or private telepresence room on the Tata Communications Global Meeting Exchange, one of the broadest telepresence networks accessible and a gateway to the company's public room network spanning 31 cities on five continents.

Tata telepresence customers also will be able to communicate across Verizon's global Private Internet Telepresence facilities as well.

The deal is pretty straightforward, as both companies use Cisco systems, but Verizon said plans are under way to establish similar agreements with other immersive video providers and services to further expand the availability of telepresence.

"Video is the new voice for business, and it's becoming more and more available to meet the changing nature of work," said Farooq Muzaffar, Verizon vice president of enterprise network and communications solutions. "As businesses expand beyond the traditional four walls of an office building, we're seeing more of our customers turning to advanced collaboration tools like telepresence for a bigger impact on their overall productivity and performance."

The deal highlights the need for more intercarrier connections that connects regardless of network or service provider.

"It's agreements like this that fundamentally make telepresence a truly global collaboration tool," said Tata's Peter Quinlan, vice president of integrated business video services.

For more:
- see this release

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