Cisco Introduces a New Way to Communicate and Collaborate

Cisco TelePresence Extends the Network as a Platform for In-Person Experiences; New Category Added to Cisco’s Emerging Technology Portfolio.

SAN JOSE, Calif., October 23, 2006 - Cisco® today announced Cisco TelePresence, a new technology solution that creates unique in-person experiences between people, places and events whether they are across town or across the world. Through Cisco innovations in video, audio and remote communication technologies over the Internet Protocol (IP) network, Cisco has redefined the experience of “face-to-face” communications.

Research indicates that more than 60 percent of in-person communication is nonverbal, and yet most existing collaboration tools do not capture the nonverbal messages individuals exchange through face-to-face meetings. Cisco TelePresence transforms remote experiences by capturing such important interactions through a rich, high-quality experience that is almost the same as an in-person interaction, regardless of the distance between the parties.

“Cisco is changing the way people work, live, play and learn, one human experience at a time,” said Charles Giancarlo, chief development officer and senior vice president, Cisco. “IP has made it possible for us to extend the communications horizon to actually meet with and work with people, in person, without having to travel. Just as the jet engine opened up the world to business and personal experience, so will Cisco TelePresence open up the world to natural communications that have an immediacy and effectiveness never before possible at a distance.”

Using the reach and intelligence of the network, Cisco TelePresence can eliminate distance barriers to interaction while at the same time providing a high-quality experience. With its ability to create a real sense of sitting face-to-face with a person on the other side of the virtual TelePresence table, Cisco TelePresence completely changes the experience of remote communications. Additionally, Cisco TelePresence taps Cisco’s unique Unified Communications capabilities, making TelePresence calls as easy as a regular phone call.

Applications of Cisco TelePresence

Cisco TelePresence - which utilizes innovations designed and built by Cisco, including ultra high definition 1080p video, imperceptible end-to-end latency and wideband spatial audio - is paving the way for transformational business models by delivering a vivid personal experience. As the telepresence category grows, Cisco will develop additional applications tailored for specific industries, such as healthcare, retail, banking, entertainment or government. This could include a doctor’s appointment, a “virtual specialist” for providing in-store expertise, remote interviews or depositions, or a visit between the kids and grandparents without the need for travel. The first application to market announced today, the Cisco TelePresence Meeting solution, is targeted at businesses to facilitate collaboration and enhance productivity.

“The network has evolved from the information superhighway of the nineties, to a platform for all forms of communications, enabling new business models never possible before,” said Marthin De Beer, vice president, Emerging Markets Technology Group, Cisco. “Cisco TelePresence is a new innovative application on this platform and catapults the concept of remote communications and collaboration to a remarkable new level.”

Cisco Enterprise Video Solutions

The network has become a platform for real-time, or next-generation, video delivery. Cisco TelePresence, Cisco’s latest emerging technology, is the third in a series of new video solutions for the enterprise. Recent additions to this portfolio include physical security/video surveillance, introduced earlier this year; and the Cisco Digital Media System, a solution for the creation, management and delivery of digital media, introduced last month. All three product lines come out of Cisco’s Emerging Markets Technology Group, an internal venture team that focuses on innovation in adjacent markets beyond Cisco’s traditional networking portfolio.

Delivery of Cisco TelePresence

In addition to its innovative technology leadership, Cisco’s global span of channel partners, recommended service providers, and its own services and support capabilities speed application deployment and provide for the ongoing optimization and additional business application of Cisco TelePresence. The Cisco TelePresence Advanced Technology Provider (ATP) Program currently includes 23 partners from around the globe. The program is focused on helping partners provide the expertise, intellectual property and lifecycle services capabilities necessary to deliver the Cisco TelePresence experience.

The Cisco TelePresence Meeting Solution is delivered over a Cisco-certified TelePresence connection. Service providers who meet the requirements for this designation have made a commitment to the TelePresence certification program and to using Cisco technology to help deliver high quality, reliability, simplicity and network intelligence to the business end user through tight integration between Cisco TelePresence technology and the providers’ Cisco IP Next-Generation Networks.

For more details on Cisco TelePresence please see http://newsroom.cisco.com/ciscotelepresence/.
About Cisco

Cisco Systems, Inc., (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

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