Frost & Sullivan: Telepresence at a Turning Point With New Opportunities for Service Providers and Systems Integrators

LONDON, April 28, 2010 - The unique benefits offered by telepresence - further highlighted by the
enforced ground stop of European aviation in April - has attracted growing
interest and increased sales. However, rapid development in the capabilities
of videoconferencing systems and Internet protocol (IP) networks over the
last three years is creating alternative means to deliver these highly valued
benefits. Videoconferencing products and custom solutions will more
frequently present the value proposition of the immersive-user experience,
thereby creating further opportunities for service providers and systems
integrators.

(Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO)

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (www.conferencing.frost.com),
Telepresence Global Market, estimates the market value of $396.2 million for
2009, and forecasts this to reach $825.9 million in 2015. The visual
collaboration endpoints covered in this research are both ready-built
telepresence room solutions, and kits of telepresence component parts that
are used by third parties to construct customized telepresence room
solutions.

"The effectiveness of the latest technologies and the impact of the
global economic downturn are impelling businesses to re-assess visual
collaboration such as video telephony, videoconferencing and telepresence as
viable solutions to facilitate reduced operations costs and create new
sources of productivity. The volcano ash clouds from Iceland are just the
latest in a long line of issues that have impacted business travel," says
Frost & Sullivan Principle Analyst Dominic Dodd. "Telepresence in particular,
has played a pivotal role over the last two to three years in helping build
greater awareness and in re-focussing executive-level attention on visual
collaboration."

Telepresence offers a unique proposition that can deliver effective and
reliable visual communications. Its development and growth in popularity
parallels advancements in other forms of visual collaboration, notably the
rapid emergence of high definition videoconferencing and managed service,
which together, will eventually challenge the telepresence space.

Visual collaboration is also an essential component of unified
communications (UC). The technological and industrial structural changes,
which are still playing out, are part of a process of fully integrating all
forms of visual collaboration into the wider UC portfolio of products and
services.

Despite the rising awareness about the benefits offered by immersive
telepresence solutions, the combined impacts of the recession and the
increasing power of high definition videoconferencing are causing prospective
buyers to move more cautiously. Additionally, the majority of telepresence
systems continue to rely on significant network bandwidth and quality of
service management to perform up to their maximum potential. Globally,
reasonably priced and accessible network and managed services remain patchy.

"There is growing opportunity for visual collaboration in general - being
driven by an irresistible combination of technological developments and
increasing customer need," explains Dodd. "While telepresence can uniquely
offer a number of attractive customer benefits, there are concerns about the
cost and availability of the network required to support it, and also how
effectively it may work with other parts of a customer's video estates."

Visual collaboration endpoints are expected to fare well in the long
term. Although the product format by which immersive telepresence is
delivered is likely to change, the overall demand for its unique features and
benefits will continue to grow. The emerging custom telepresence solutions
segment is expected to gain further importance over the next three to four
years with several opportunities for systems integrators, visual
collaboration applications developers and managed services providers.

"While the latest research indicates that the market for today's
ready-built systems will ultimately reach its upper-limit within the next
five years, it also shows how growth demand for the immersive experience can
accelerate as it is fed by other product sets such as high definition
videoconferencing and custom telepresence solutions," concludes Dodd.

If you are interested in more information on this study, please send an
e-mail to Joanna Lewandowska, Corporate Communications, at
joanna.lewandowska@frost.com, with your full name, company name, title,
telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and
country.

Telepresence Global Market is part of the Conferencing & Collaboration
Growth Partnership Services programme, which also includes research in the
following markets: unified communications, visual collaboration and
conferencing services. All research services included in subscriptions
provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been
evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to
accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation
and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and
the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to
drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth
strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in
partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment
community from 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership,
please visit www.frost.com.

    Telepresence Global Market
    M46C - 64

    Contact:
    Joanna Lewandowska
    Corporate Communications - Europe
    P: +48-22-390-41-46
    E: joanna.lewandowska@frost.com

Joanna Lewandowska, Corporate Communications - Europe, Frost & Sullivan, +48-22-390-41-46, joanna.lewandowska at frost.com