Another High-Def Videophone Comes to the Desktop
Chalk up another entry into the "desktop high-def/telepresence" market, as Tandberg announces its E20 "video VOIP" phone, featuring CD quality audio, DVD quality video, and CxO-quality price tag: $1,499 for this baby. Of course, when Cisco is listing its "personal" Telepresence system for almost $34K, Tandberg looks like a bargain.
Cisco does offer more the more videophone-like Unified IP Phone 7985G, which lists for about twice the cost of the Tandberg E20. So in comparison, the Tandberg price point, together with its high quality, does represent a big leap forward.
But the company may be overselling it just a bit. Their announcement insists that the new product "Enables Mass Adoption of Personal Video in the Enterprise," and suggests:
Whether making a quick telephone call to a colleague down the hall, or collaborating on video with a partner overseas, users of the E20 will experience greater audio quality than today's standard office phones.
At $1,500 a pop, there's not going to be "mass adoption" of this product, I will predict. I'd also say that, while it's one thing to IM the person down the hall so you can get the answer you need without breaking your flow of work, video-calling the person down the hall takes laziness to a new level. Even granting the same principle, that you want to keep plugging away but you've got to communicate with the colleague who's planted in a chair 100 feet away--do you really want "rich" communication, complete with facial engagement? Won't that just distract you? I'm trying to be open here, but even if you do want that, is it worth $1,500 each to give it to everybody?
In addition to the desktop version, Tandberg also announced its latest telepresence product, offering, according to the press release, "Scandinavian Design at Its Best," which is, I'll wager, the first time that phrase has been used in enterprise telecom.
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