Telepresence is a much utilised term. It is often used to describe the raft of high definition videoconferencing systems now available, which includes anything from the desktop to the boardroom. High definition has certainly made this technology the business tool it should always have been, but it is a tool that requires the user to adapt the way they work. True telepresence is immersive, it is transparent to the way people work which means tasks are carried out as they always were and the technology just makes it quicker and easier, resulting in a positive effect on operational costs.

Telepresence just makes sense. Imagine you are in a meeting with one of your largest clients and you have just heard that they are about to select your competitor on a strategic bid. You have asked for and received extra time to resubmit your proposal, and you now have little more than one week to put together a completely new bid. You need to bring together many disparate parts of your own organisation and include outside suppliers, to put together a counter proposal in a restricted timeframe. Time constraints mean that travelling is out of the question, which traditionally means using email and telephone calls but it is not likely to get the job done.

Getting things done properly and in a timely fashion means communication with the whole team together in real time, it means telepresence and getting the deal done. Your team can communicate naturally and efficiently, see the solution and monitor reaction. Quickly and expediently confirm responsibilities and gain understanding of actions required. You can see if your outsourced manufacturing partner really understands the cost of the solution you are going to propose.

Using telepresence brings together two ideals: it combines the speed and efficiency of a phone call with the benefit of human interaction in a face-to-face meeting. The truly immersive nature of telepresence adds a level of realism and dynamic interaction that no other collaboration tool can provide.

The internet and changes in global logistics have made conducting business on a global scale a necessity for most organisations. Today most companies outsource or move offshore significant sections of their business. This global dispersion of business functions creates a need to collaborate across great distances and almost always with external organisations. Therefore in today’s global economy, people from one business need to meet with people from another business who are not in the same country, time zone or even hemisphere, and the usual tools for collaboration, audio, email, and web collaboration have developed as far as they can.

Telepresence benefits from the same traditional cost justifications that apply to these collaborative technologies; that of cost reduction and improved employee productivity. But with telepresence the return on investment is much faster because utilisation is much higher even than that of traditional videoconferencing. The real business benefit of telepresence though is centred on business transformation. Telepresence is the first video based technology that really is good enough to be customer facing. This means that your organisation can adopt new business strategies and models for sales, supply chain, customer service and more that impacts revenue generation. An investment that is improving competitiveness and gaining strategic advantage will gain far greater rewards than one focused purely on cost reduction.

The successful adoption of telepresence involves much more than identifying the right technology. A business partner that understands your specific needs and aspirations, one that focuses on helping you meet your business objectives, ensuring minimal impact on staff and measures success is essential.

First Connections is a value-added integrator of telepresence, videoconferencing, private video networking, video streaming, and conferencing services. First Connections works closely with its clients in order to successfully implement visual communication tools within their respective organisations, and has helped them to take advantage of the cost savings and numerous productivity benefits that video conferencing and audio visual technologies offer.
First Connections is a financially stable company that has shown sustained growth and profitability over the last 15 years to become one of the biggest and capable companies in the video conferencing industry. First Connections has concentrated on ensuring that continuity of service is foremost, retaining the best staff in the industry long term, ensuring strong customer relationships and a retention of knowledge and experience that is second to none.

The use of telepresence technology enables the adoption of new business strategies and ideas, as such the product and solutions are very specific to an organisations needs and requirements. First Connections are partnered with the world’s leading video technology manufacturers, this enables the company to give a truly focused and independent view. By adopting a policy of ongoing development First Connections ensures client organisations are kept aware of changes, enhancements, and developments affecting their business both in terms of technical and social impact. The company has developed an application discovery process for customers to help push the internal adoption of telepresence and accelerate the return on investment.

First Connections get involved in every aspect of introducing telepresence into an organisation. Working with the customer on the application, solution architecture and design, First Connections deliver a true end to end managed service, covering all aspects of supply and support. First Connections employ their own network architects, AV integrators and project managers working with the customer through design, integration and commissioning. As part of this process it is essential that existing communication tools are well integrated and that solutions maximise existing investments in core network.

First Connections have built a wrap around managed service solution to create a total package managing the life cycle of the product , existing conferencing real estate, 24/7 concierge services, manage the utilisation of equipment, booking of calls and driving the connections; available to clients in total or parts including the option of fixed monthly costs with no capital outlay.

First Connections’ history, the staff, knowledge and stability are all about developing long term business relationships with clients. 15 years of connecting people and ideas.

Contact Gary Austin on +44 1256 301700 mailto:gary.austin@firstconnections.co.uk, www.firstconnections.co.uk