Office Space News
Regus Hooks Up with Cable&Wireless to Deploy Polycom Telepresence Suites
Published April 29th, 2009 by Jennifer LeClaire
Regus is on a strategic alliance streak. The serviced office company on Tuesday announced a joint initiative with Cable&Wireless worth more than $45 million over five years. The mega-deal will see Cable&Wireless install Polycom’s high definition (HD) telepresence suites at Regus’ business centers around the globe.
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With more than 600 studios, Regus already boasts the world’s largest network of publicly accessible video conferencing rooms. By adding telepresence suites, Regus is offering its clients a new level of meeting capabilities that promises to help people in different locations work as effectively as if they are in the same room.
The strategic alliance – and the Regus investment – is timely. With a contracting global economy, businesses are forced to look for ways to control costs while also striving to become more competitive. At the same time, there is more pressure on companies to jump on the “green” bandwagon and reduce their corporate carbon footprint. As Regus sees it, the deal with Cable&Wireless paves the way for businesses to meet all three objectives without the upfront capital investment of installing high-end video conferencing solutions.
“As the world’s largest provider of publicly available video conferencing studios, we know that our customers appreciate the benefits of this leading-edge technology and are excited to use the product,” says Regus CEO Mark Dixon. “In fact, in 2008 Regus experienced a 40 percent increase in video conference bookings over the previous year. Companies that utilize this virtual tool will save time and money on business travel while minimizing their impact on the environment. We are revolutionizing how people meet by delivering services that will optimize their performance.”
Meeting Virtually Face to Face in HD
If you’ve ever used telepresence technology, you’ve already discovered that it sets the stage for a life-like meeting experience. You can invite up to 10 people at each site to join in. The participants appear in true-to-life dimensions and in HD resolution. Participants enjoy genuine eye contact and full stereo surround sound. That means you can pick up on the non-verbal communication.
“This will be a new way of working for many businesses, but it’s a method where cost savings and improved productivity are realized immediately. Cable&Wireless Video Conferencing will provide new customers with the ability to transform the way they work and give existing video users the opportunity to expand their footprint without the need for significant investment in new telepresence hardware,” says Jim Marsh, Cable&Wireless CEO, Europe, Asia and U.S. “Cable&Wireless leads the UK market with this product and this deal supports our ambitions for customers to use this product around the world.”
Community of Interest
Cable&Wireless believes companies can realize the full potential of this technology when different organizations can communicate together through the same life-like, immersive experience. The Cable&Wireless “Community of Interest” is a service that will make this possible. By signing-up, corporate members can connect with their global stakeholder community – including customers and suppliers – using telepresence and video conferencing, while avoiding the need for international travel.
Cable&Wireless spelled out five key benefits:
• Stronger supply chain integration
• Improved executive relationships
• Greater business efficiency
• Improved collaboration
• Significantly lower travel expenditures
Pay As You Go
Cable&Wireless will provide the video conferencing technology and 24-hour helpdesk. Regus will manage the locations and on-site services. Together, the companies plan to offer a first class business experience for all users that want to focus on business, not travel or technology.
The suites, which can be rented on a pay-as-you-go use hourly basis, will be available globally beginning in the summer of 2009. Regus locations in world business capitals including London, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Manchester, Mumbai, Moscow, Frankfurt, Paris, Shanghai, Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo will be fitted with the suites giving business leaders a cost-effective alternative to executive travel.
“We are excited to work with Cable&Wireless to expand our relationship with Regus and enhance its existing video conferencing capabilities with the most immersive and effective telepresence solution on the market today,” says Bob Hagerty, President & CEO of Polycom. “By deploying systems that support open standards, Regus gives its customers access to a vast ecosystem of more than 1.5 million standards-based video conferencing and telepresence systems in use today. This provides significantly greater value for customers by providing more opportunities to collaborate with video systems in their locations, and with customers, partners and suppliers.”
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Melanie Jones April 29th, 2009 at 9:45 am
What an investment. That’s really significant. I knew Regus was doing well, but this is amazing. I can see that Regus is betting on reduced travel all the way around and is posturing to become the executive office suite provider of choice for companies that want to get beyond the video conferencing options of the early 2000s. This is an amazing investment in innovation.
Marcus Hester April 29th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Forty-five million dollars over five years…that’s $8 million a year. That’s a lot of money, but Regus is spreading its risk. I don’t know what the magic number is about five years. The story isn’t clear on whether that figure includes annual upgrades to the equipment or what that means. But this is a big deal for the executive office suites industry.
Rob Zeus April 29th, 2009 at 9:50 am
That’s actually $9 million a year, Marcus. LOL. But what’s a million here and a million there? I get your point, though. It could be a large initial investment in video conferencing for its major global serviced office hubs with annual iterations of software, or they could be planning to expand a bit each year. It does look like the serviced offices will come equipped with this Polycom gear sooner rather than later.
Mike Sullivan April 29th, 2009 at 10:50 am
I’ve got a call in to Regus, hopefully to find out what it means “worth more than $45 million over five years”. My guess is that the actual cost to Regus is less than $45 million. Cisco, Polycom and some of the other companies who are selling telepresence have a lot to overcome; mainly the big upfront investment. So they are aggressively marketing their products to get momentum. Sometimes that means compromising on price. I read “worth $45 million” to mean that’s the MSRP, actual retail price varies. Just a guess, though.
High end installations for one telepresence room can be as high as $800,000. My guess is Regus is not installing this kind of option, but I bet it is still in the 6 figure range for each installation.
Bill Brookshire April 30th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I think this is really great. This could also help attract businessworld members. Regus is really making a strong push to maintain its reputation as a cutting-edge provider on the serviced office front. And we’ve heard over and over again about how technology is so important in terms of competing in the executive office suites industry.
Elizabeth Sanchez May 1st, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I love the pay as you go concept and Regus has mastered it with its meeting rooms. What a blockbuster announcement. No matter how that investment in telepresence technology plays out over five years, it’s still a major investment that will give Regus a major competitive advantage among executive office suite users that don’t have an appetite for travel, as well as small business owners who may rent office space somewhere else but need this type of video conferencing technology.
Maggie Correta May 4th, 2009 at 7:15 am
Yeah, I agree with Elizabeth (above). This is a major investment that’s going to give Regus a major competitive advantage in the serviced office industry among those who demand this type of service. Video conference has evolved and with the current market conditions, this seems to be a good bet.
Think about it from another angle: When pandemics like the swine flu come about, it makes more sense to do a video conference with your partners in Mexico rather than travel there.
Melanie Jones May 4th, 2009 at 7:34 am
I was waiting for someone to mention the swine flu and telepresence or video conferencing solutions. They say there might be another major outbreak of swine flu, or H1NI if you prefer to call it that, in the fall. If so, Regus is probably going to get some quick ROI on this investment as travel is curtailed.
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