With new technologies such as Telepresence offering high-definition visual video and audio, many Indian enterprises today are actively using Telepresence—primarily due to the rapid ROI. Says Anshul Dhingra, Senior Marketing Manager - India & SAARC, Polycom, “Cut one business trip for a few employees who travel across Asia, or to the US or Europe, and you have paid for a Telepresence system.” Dhingra says that travel savings are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Telepresence ROI. Besides savings on travel, enterprises save valuable time which translates to ROI in as little as one month. In addition, critical and urgent meetings across several geographies can be held at a short notice.

The strong growth of Telepresence solutions can also be seen in the increasing number of Telepresence installations across the country. A case in point is HP. with its Telepresence solution called ‘Halo’. “In India, we have in excess of 20 HP Halo installations, where our customers are gaining positive benefits in communicating with their international offices, while reducing travel and increasing productivity,” says Pramod Deshmukh, Country Manager for Data Center and Network Solutions Group, HP India Sales.
Sensing a huge opportunity, service providers such as Tata Communications and Tata Teleservices (in collaboration with IBM) have launched public Telepresence rooms, which can be used by enterprises on a pay-per-use basis. Using Telepresence solutions from Cisco, Tata Communications has already launched public rooms in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Gurgaon. Similarly, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) has launched Telepresence solutions across Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa.

Most Telepresence rooms are specifically designed to give the impression of a real-life meeting experience. “Designed with special premium lighting and features, the room creates an immersive effect that gives the impression that participants are actually sitting across the table, even if they are half way across the globe. Over the last few months in particular, Indian enterprises which have existing video conferencing endpoints, have been looking at adopting a Telepresence solution to complete the experience,” explains Dinesh Sehgal, Regional Director, India, Tandberg.

In India, the adoption levels are gradually picking up, as business centers add rooms with Telepresence capabilities. For example, Cable & Wireless recently signed a deal worth approximately £32 million over five years, in which Polycom’s Telepresence video conferencing suites will be established at Regus’ global business centers across the world’s business capitals, including Mumbai. This will provide Regus’ business executives with a genuine alternative to executive travel.