Marriott is installing Cisco TelePresence (CTS 3200) video-conferencing units at 25 hotels worldwide in a joint venture with Cisco and AT&T. GoThere Virtual Meetings by Marriott was launched on TelePresence equipment in London, Bethesda and New York and proved the quality of the technology, with excellent voice and picture clarity and surprising intimacy, despite the distances.
The TelePresence experience involves seating at a curved table, both ends of which meet the table of other participants on three screens, giving the impression all parties are in the same room. When a participant talks, their face appears on screen.
There are six- and 18-seat versions and Marriott is installing the smaller units at US$75,000 each. One of the first to benefit from the technology will be London's Grosvenor House, a JW Marriott Hotel, where work has already begun on the installation. It should be available by April or May this year.
General Manager Anthony Stewart-Moore, who is confident it will save customers money. "We have hosted a lot of global partner type meetings - law firms, accounting, consulting - and they often bring in temporary infrastructure to do satellite conference calls and spend thousands of pounds on that. Now we are going to have it there ready for them," he said. Cost will be US$500 per hour or the equivalent. Book on www.gotherevirtualmeetings.com