Orange ramps up video conferencing with Cisco

Orange has launched its Telepresence Community solution in collaboration with Cisco, as the companies look to bring the benefits of video conferencing to a wider audience.

The deal will enable Orange Business Service customers to access Cisco's 800 private and public Telepresence rooms across the world. They will also be able to enjoy the solution free of charge until 1 April 2011 without having to commit to a contract.

Orange said it is looking for other partnerships to expand customer connectivity with Telepresence so they can contact people on other networks.

"We aim to have at least three major interconnections in place before the end of the year and will continue adding to the community as required by the demands of our growing customer base," explained Marc Blanchet, senior vice president of global communication services at Orange Business Services.

"Through Telepresence Community, our B2B Telepresence solution, opening our network and customer base to work with enterprises connected to other operators' networks will create a global video community."

Orange is also working on a pay-as-you-go model for Telepresence and is looking to the cloud to provide this service. The telecoms firm believes this will provide customers with better value.