the solution will appeal to that higher end consumer. It's easy to use, the quality has to be seen to be experienced, and it can be deployed fairly quickly.
At long last, the wait is over. After months of speculation and rumor Cisco finally reveals its consumer oriented TelePresence solution. Before I get into my thoughts on the solution I'll provide a quick overview of what and how much the solution is.
The solution name is Cisco umi telepresence, pronounced (you-me). Catchy as far as Cisco naming goes.
The consumer TelePresence solution includes: * A camera that sits on top of or underneath any flat screen TV. HD is a requirement for the solution
* A second box; the "CPU" sits between the camera and the TV. The TV interface is HDMI
* There is no TV as part of the solution. I know there were rumors that consumers would have to purchase a "Cisco TV," but that is not the case. Camera, base unit and remote control is what you get with the solution
* The solution can be connected to the home network via WiFi or with an Ethernet cable.
* List price is $599 for the purchase of the equipment and then a $24.99 fee paid monthly to Cisco as a subscription cost for the service.
* Product will be available from Best Buy, Verizon or cisco.com.
* Solution is initially focused on North America
* Usage of the solution is based on the "service" that's paid to Cisco, and usage is unlimited. For the $24.99, users can make unlimited video calls, record video messages, record video greetings within the community of people that have been set up. The usage is driven off the remote control and is very simple to use. The user can zoom, tilt and turn the camera on/off from the sofa.
* The solution is designed with security and privacy in mind. There is a physical shutter that goes over the camera when not in use. There's no ability to do a search on names and find people to chat with (like you can with Skype), so consumers do not need to be concerned with random people trying to communicate with them. The solution is meant to be deployed within a group of people that want to TelePresence with one another and not meant to be a tool used to find people to communicate with randomly.
Cisco is planning to blitz the market with consumer TelePresence post the launch. We'll see ads on TV, the solution in malls, concerts and all over the place. Cisco certainly has the resources to make everyone in America aware of this technology and I believe they will spend the money to do so.
The Cisco umi telepresence solution
I was given a demo of the solution in advance of the launch and I was surprised at the quality of the video. I've used corporate TelePresence a number of times so I'm well aware of how good the quality of the corporate solution is, but that is typically delivered over a nailed-up connection so the bandwidth is always there. This solution is delivered over a home connection (Charlie Guyer's to be specific for the demo) so I wasn't sure how it would look. There were a few moments where some blocking occurred but it was very minor. For the most part, the experience was very close to what you would get with the corporate version (minus the furniture, lighting, wall colors, etc).
So how successful will this launch be? Is this the thing that will vault Cisco into achieving broader name recognition and make the company a household name?
I think umi is a good start for Cisco' there isn't a similar product on the market so Cisco's competition won't come from another vendor initially but will come from the consumer's willingness to put up with "good enough" to save the money that they'd otherwise spend on Telepresence.
There are several TV manufacturers now that are embedding applications, like Skype, directly into the TV and it won’t be long before cameras are embedded into the TV. Now, is the experience the same? I haven’t seen a Skype/TV demo but as I said, I have seen the Cisco one and the quality was fantastic. The picture below is from the demo with Ken Wirt, who I believe was in Dallas, at his home and shows a couple of things. First, the quality of camera on my Droid X phone is great!! More relevant to this blog is that you can see how clear the pattern on the blanket looks and get a sense of how vibrant the colors are.
The solution was dead simple to use as well. I don't think Skype is hard to use but for the older, less tech savvy generation, I do think it’s a barrier. Additionally, the Cisco service is engineered to be high quality and geared towards communities, not best effort, which is focused more on ad hoc communications.
So, is that enough to convince people to spend the money and not use the free, "good enough" service? My first thought was the price was too high but I've thought about it and I’ve changed my mind. For individuals that are among the early adopters of technology and appreciate the difference between mi and the free solution, I don’t think the price point is too high. If you don't need it or don't understand the difference then no price point, other than free, will really be appealing.
Because of this though, I do think the sales of umi will be limited to a higher end niche user that buys the solution to allow family to keep in touch with one other. Additionally, because the solution is secure you might see some potential for usage in verticals such as retail, healthcare and education for B2C services. If you believe in the typical hockey stick adoption of technology, the blade on this stick will be fairly long but when the market is ready, the price points will have fallen, making it more affordable for others.
I do think, over time, free services will get better, and Cisco's big challenge is to find ways to show umi to enough people and continue to add features to convince the average consumer (not the high end) that free and "good enough" aren't good enough when it comes to visual communications--and that might take some time.
In the meantime though, the solution will appeal to that higher end consumer. It's easy to use, the quality has to be seen to be experienced and it can be deployed fairly quickly.
