Regus Group Plc Selects Cisco Technology To Provide First Public TelePresence Service To Be Deployed Globally

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced that Regus has selected Cisco technology to provide the first public TelePresence service offering that will enable Regus’ clients to book a virtual meeting at any of 50 selected locations globally. Participants will be able to meet their colleagues, customers and business partners across a virtual table using lifesize, high definition video and spatial audio. The new service will allow multiple physical rooms to be linked simultaneously, either using other Regus TelePresence locations or linking to external TelePresence facilities at third party locations.

The service will be made available both to existing Regus tenants as well as the general public, and can be utilized as a by-the-hour or extended service.

In addition Cisco will take advantage of the newly equipped Regus sites to supplement and complement its own internal deployment of TelePresence. Cisco will use the service to provide more geographically convenient facilities for Cisco’s customers, employees and business partners to collaborate more effectively.

“We have long believed there was a gap for a premium electronic meeting room solution. There is a desire to eliminate unnecessary global travel due to the congestion of airports, cost of travel, demands on time and focus on green issues, ” said Mark Dixon, CEO of the Regus Group. “As business becomes increasingly demanding, we need to be more productive. Electronic and virtual meetings are key to this. This is yet another product that Regus is offering its clients to enable them to work more flexibly, interact with their teams, protect the environment, keep costs down and work without boundaries.”

The new service will take advantage of the Cisco Secure Business-to-Business (B2B) technology announced at CeBIT to support connecting Regus TelePresence locations with end points located outside the Regus corporate network. The new Cisco TelePresence Multipoint switch solution will underpin the ability to link up to 36 geographically distant sites together in one single virtual meeting.

“Regus has developed a highly innovative service offering which will add considerable value to its business and that of its customers. The TelePresence solution will help Regus’ clients improve existing business processes, speed time-to-market for developing new products and services, and scale valuable resources,” commented Robert Lloyd, senior vice president, US and Canada, for Cisco. “By taking advantage of the Cisco Services organisation, Regus and its customers will have the confidence that qualified network management is available to support the service globally.”

The Cisco Select Operate Service will provide remote network monitoring and management of the TelePresence, Unified Communications and network elements of the Regus service. In addition, the Cisco TelePresence Remote Assistance service will provide real-time administrative support for Regus and customers in setting up and managing meetings.