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While today's meeting and collaboration tools provide a significant productivity boost, most users will admit that these tools are still no substitute for in-person meetings. In the past, videoconferences in particular have been difficult to set up, challenging to use, and frequently unsatisfying in their ability to replicate in-person meetings and the benefits of face-to-face interaction.

To improve this situation, Cisco has developed an innovative solution that creates an "in-person" meeting experience over the converged network. Cisco TelePresence delivers real-time, face-to-face interactions between people and places in their work and personal lives using advanced visual, audio, and collaboration technologies. These technologies transmit life-size, high-definition images and spatial discrete audio. Now it's easier than ever to discern facial expressions for those crucial business discussions and negotiations across the "virtual table."

The components of Cisco TelePresence use standard technologies in conjunction with specialized applications and hardware to create an approachable solution using the network and unified communications as core components.

Audio/Visual Technology
Cisco TelePresence incorporates the most up-to-date standards and technologies to offer the best audio and visual results:

H.264 video codecs to offer the highest quality and lowest bit rate
Session Initiation Protocol
Native 720p and 1080p high-definition cameras
Native 720p and 1080p high-definition encoding/decoding
Low-latency architecture and low bandwidth utilization
Wideband advanced audio coding with low delay (AAC LD)
Multichannel spatial audio with echo cancellation and interference filters to eliminate feedback from mobile devices
Optimized environmental conditioning to provide the best audio and video and overall user experience

Network
Cisco TelePresence uses the standard IP technology deployed in corporations today and runs on an integrated voice, video, and data network. The system supports high-quality, real-time voice and video communications with branch offices using broadband connections. It offers capabilities for ensuring quality of service (QoS), security, reliability, and high availability for high-bandwidth applications such as video, particularly high-definition video, which can require 1 Mbps to 5 Mbps, depending on the resolution.

Hardware-Optimized Environment
This system includes purpose-built office furniture, which incorporates cameras and displays, lighting, speakers, microphones, and projection capability into a specially designed table for larger rooms, or, in smaller configurations, into existing office furniture.

Software Applications
Cisco TelePresence applications incorporate a variety of new and existing standards-based software for accommodating converged voice and video transmissions, including:

IP telephony — Cisco TelePresence works with IP-based phones and call-processing systems from the major networking and telecommunications vendors. This can simplify launching calls because it uses a telephone instead of a complicated remote control.
Groupware — Integration with enterprise groupware solutions (such as Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes) accommodates easy scheduling of meetings and access to corporate information.
Services — Cisco TelePresence enables easy scheduling, management, reporting, billing, and metrics applications to ensure proper tracking and bill-back of activity on the system, as well as real-time support services.