AT&T And Cisco Joins Hands To Provide Intercompany Cisco TelePresence For Businesses Around The World

If you have seen those nice out of the TV advertisements by Cisco and wondered if it is real, the answer is at hand. AT&T has become the first service provider to deliver Cisco Telepresence around the world. In these times of uncertain economy and high priced traveling, companies will be able help the company's bottom line.

The venture partner AT&T will bring, in addition to a bigger sales force, the capability to enables video conferencing among multiple corporate customers and partners, instead of intra-company use as it is now popular.

Cisco and AT&T will start selling the joint service in the second half of 2008 in 23 countries, and expand into more countries in 2009. It will be sold as a corporate telecommunications service, including remote help and on-site equipment maintenance, rather than a one-off equipment sale.

Following is the press release;

SAN ANTONIO, April 21, 2008 - AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced global plans to deliver the industry's first, fully managed Cisco TelePresence solution that allows companies to connect to their customers, suppliers and partners worldwide.

The new offer - AT&T Telepresence Solution - is a highly scalable solution that creates unique, 'in-person' experiences with the simplicity of a phone call. The AT&T Telepresence Solution will also provide a "meet-me" feature that enables intercompany connectivity - a key component and industry-first feature that distinguishes the AT&T solution from any other telepresence offer available today.

The AT&T Telepresence Solution is expected to be available in the second half of 2008 in 23 countries, with additional countries planned for 2009. AT&T and Cisco have started early trials with key customers. Sales teams from AT&T and Cisco will target U.S.-based multinational companies and selected companies headquartered outside of the U.S. in their initial efforts.

AT&T and Cisco have joined forces to enable the growth and use of telepresence technology among businesses and organizations. Today's announcement is the first of what is expected to be many industry-leading innovations to be introduced by AT&T and Cisco.

AT&T and Cisco have agreed to combine the innovative Cisco TelePresence solution with AT&T's Internet Protocol (IP) network and Virtual Private Network (VPN) capabilities to create new ways for companies to collaborate and conduct global business across industries that will include health care, high-tech, retail and government.

"The AT&T Telepresence Solution is the latest example of how we're helping enterprises to improve 'business velocity' by enabling them to move quicker and make better business decisions," said Ronald E. Spears, AT&T group president of Global Business Services. "Customers can take advantage of the power of the AT&T network and our expertise in providing world-class services to enjoy the multitude of benefits of this fully immersive collaboration technology."

The AT&T Telepresence Solution enables businesses to interact and collaborate with others, delivering life-size images via full-high-definition video (1080p) and spatial audio within a specially designed environment. This creates the experience of being in the same room with remote participants, whether they are down the street or around the world. The solution also features concierge service, which complements common enterprise calendaring applications for scheduling and an easy-to-use telephone interface to launch calls with just the push of a button.

AT&T is focused on developing industry-specific applications for telepresence across a range of industries - including health care, high-tech, retail and government - to generate new revenue and growth possibilities for businesses while also helping them reduce costs and improve productivity. For example, the retail industry, which faces constant margins pressure and complex sales ecosystems, is continually seeking ways to accelerate time to market while increasing efficiencies in the supply chain. The AT&T Telepresence Solution will offer retailers an opportunity to collaborate in real time with their designers, merchants and manufacturers all over the world to create and modify products and processes in order to drive time-to-market advantages and improve competitive positions.

Three-screen and one-screen site options will be available, based on Cisco TelePresence System 3000 and Cisco TelePresence System 1000 endpoints.

In addition, the AT&T Telepresence Solution provides AT&T-owned Cisco TelePresence equipment, installation, full monitoring and management of the application, network provisioning (including AT&T VPN transport), remote help desk service and on-site equipment maintenance and repair.

"AT&T is playing a critical role in the delivery of intercompany Cisco TelePresence to the more than 750 Cisco TelePresence room footprint worldwide," said Marthin De Beer, senior vice president for Emerging Technologies at Cisco. "AT&T is the first provider of a complete intercompany solution based on our TelePresence system, using the IP network as a platform."

"We currently have 11 Cisco TelePresence sites set up in AT&T offices throughout the U.S., with plans to expand globally in the coming year," said Spears. "We're already seeing tremendous value from the ability to bring our management team together for face to face meetings on a regular basis, even though they are scattered across the country. Not only are we saving time and expense associated with travel, but we are much more productive. When we implement the intercompany telepresence capability, we expect to quickly start using it to build closer relationships with our key customers throughout the world."

As part of its work with Cisco, AT&T has received the Cisco Powered TelePresence Connection Certification for its IP VPN service. The Cisco TelePresence Connection certification process goes beyond static measurements of network performance and is based on industry standards with regard to staffing, verification, processes and tools. The process works to ensure that the network meets requirements for the quality of service, performance and reliability levels to support Cisco TelePresence applications. The AT&T IP VPN service is at the heart of the world's largest global business service network. AT&T has more than 50 Tier 1 points of presences (PoPs) outside the U.S. and is the largest service provider in the United States. With more than 3,700 service nodes supporting Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based services in 143 countries, AT&T's vast global network carries 14.5 petabytes of data traffic on an average business day.

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