Affordable Telepresence Solutions for SME Sector - By: Mark Voucher

Telepresence is an immersive web conference service that simulates the 'feel' of a place, thus rendering people to a virtual location. This is a state-of-the-art technology in terms of business conferencing in India, and provides unmatched user experience, making the event highly interesting than video conferences. Telepresence service mainly is used by large enterprises, primarily due to the high costs of equipment. However, with the advent of companies like Vidyo and Lifesize in the market, these high end telepresence solutions are now within the reach of Small and Medium sized companies based in India.

Traditionally, the Indian economy has been supported by a large number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These organisations work in close coordination with their domestic and foreign associates and make use of the audio conferencing services which streamlines the business communication process. Such firms usually resort to desktop video conferencing softwares like WebEx or Skype to interact face to face in spite of the wide geographical gap between them. However, industry experts like Pranabesh Nath from Frost & Sullivan's (Asia-Pacific region) believes that the Telepresence marketplace does exists among the SMEs of India.

According to analysts and specialists, technological complexities and pricing misconceptions are the major hindrance against Telepresence growth in India. Speaking globally, SMEs accounted for 20 per cent of the global revenue for telepresence, though this number has increased to 30-40 per cent in 2011. Unsurprisingly, the share of global SMEs is expected to rise to 50-70- per cent in the next four years. SME sector in India, can also adopt the Telepresence solution for their business needs. However, Vendors must encourage wide adoption of these Conferencing solutions in india, by highlighting the substantial lower cost, in order to be availed by companies of all sizes.

The requirement of complex IT and network resources, interoperability, high bandwidth - are major factors in hindering the growth of Telepresence in India. Many SMEs today do not have uninterrupted access to the sophisticated IT and network resources required to deploy high end web conferencing solution within their office facilities. Moreover, the recurring running costs can also be quite daunting for smaller companies who would want to expand their operations in India. Also, training, maintenance and bandwidth costs are the major factors, stopping companies to adopt telepresence solutions.

However, analysts say that running costs can be brought down if the government launches nation-wide high-speed broadband connections at subsidised costs. Nevertheless, vendors have to make considerable efforts for educating prospects on the recent technology advancements that have brought this premium web conference service within their reach. Prospective users should be educated on how they can achieve 100 per cent Return On Investment (ROI) within a year of adopting telepresence solutions. Moreover, the productivity enhancing aspects of such solutions must also be explained for organisations to understand how much they can actually save with deployment of such solutions.

In addition to the Large organisations, now Small organisations can also enjoy the advantages of using the telepresence solution, depending on their geographical reach and their business model. Enhanced productivity, lower travelling costs and increased collaboration are some of the prominent benefits of using telepresence. However, increased user satisfaction, active participation by attendees and streamlined decision-making are the key benefits that take telepresence to a next level.

About the Author

Mark Voucher is an experienced writer having more than 10 years of experience in writing articles on various topics such as audio conferencing services ,conferencing solution and web conferencing solution etc.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Mark-Voucher/175498

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