Nortel, TANDBERG Agree to Deliver Fully-Managed Telepresence Services Globally

Simple, High-Quality, ’Always On’ Services Lower Travel Costs, Aid Environment
ORLANDO – Save some green, save the planet. That’s the end game of video conferencing. And it’s within reach using fully-managed telepresence services built on unified communications from Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] and open standards-based video solutions from TANDBERG* [OSLO: TAA.OL].


Through a new, non-exclusive global agreement announced at VoiceCon Orlando 2008**, Nortel and TANDBERG will jointly deliver fully-managed telepresence and high-definition (HD) video conferencing solutions to enterprises worldwide. These solutions will be offered through service providers or direct from Nortel.

Nortel Telepresence Services with TANDBERG’s enterprise-wide telepresence portfolio including Experia** can help businesses save millions in travel costs and carbon emissions annually.

A company that spends as much as US$23 million a year on travel, for example, could lose approximately 385,000 hours of productivity and generate more than 14,000 tons of carbon dioxide at a cost of more than US$43 million. By using telepresence in lieu of travel, this company could save as much as US$6.9 million and reduce its carbon footprint by more than 4,200 tons.

“The nature of telepresence - an ’always on,’ ultra reliable, highly-supported environment - lends itself to being delivered as a managed service,” according to the Gartner Research report, Toolkit Best Practices: Building the Business Case for Telepresence, published in August 2007. The report suggests that companies build “requests for proposals based on a managed service selection process. This isn’t about buying equipment. It’s about buying the fully-managed experience.”

“We make the technology transparent,” said Dietmar Wendt, president, Global Services, Nortel. “It’s no different than simply walking into a conference room for a regular, face-to-face meeting. Ours is a fully-managed service, delivered over an enterprise’s IP network with no impact to existing VoIP and data applications.”

“User convenience is essential to enterprise-wide adoption of video communications,” said Fredrik Halvorsen, chief executive officer, TANDBERG. “A fully-managed experience - available through our global agreement with Nortel and possible because our TANDBERG video systems are built on open standards - delivers that convenience to the user.”

On display this week at VoiceCon (booth #1011), the joint Nortel-TANDBERG offering provides life-size, full motion, natural communication experiences as simple to set up and just as effective as in-person meetings. It includes performance guarantees and service-level agreements for ’always on’ convenience and reliability.

HD video and audio make users feel like they are in the same room. Cameras and microphones are optimally placed for minimum intrusiveness and maximum performance. As a result, eye contact, body language, voice inflection and other subtle communications cues are preserved.

Concierge-like services make the technology seamless and inviting by simplifying scheduling and set-up. Reservations are Web-based. Conferences are pre-connected, including external parties. Meetings can be recorded and replayed on-demand from desktop, laptop and mobile devices. Full program management, worldwide 24x7 support, network monitoring and performance metrics promote optimum system performance and availability.

TANDBERG video solutions are open and interoperable with other standards-based solutions, allowing enterprises to get the most out of existing video conferencing investments. They are tightly integrated with Nortel’s unified communications platforms and Agile Communication Environment, which means enterprises can easily incorporate telepresence into a complete unified communications solution. These platforms include Microsoft* Office Communications Server 2007**, IBM Lotus Sametime**, Nortel Multimedia Communication Server 5100 and Nortel Communication Server 1000. Nortel’s Agile Communication Environment leverages Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Web services standards for fast, simple development of new communications- and video-enabled applications and business processes.