A not-for-profit organisation set up by TV presenter Noel Edmonds two years ago to encourage the widespread use of audio and videoconferencing (VC) has opened its doors to resellers.
The Meeting Without Moving (MWM) Foundation was initially set up with vendors Tandberg and Polycom, and distributor Imago. Sony came on board earlier this year.
Sarah Joyce, communications director of MWM, told CRN: “Over the past six months we have begun to turn the Foundation into more of an industry forum and opened it up to new members, including resellers.
“Reflex, ICU Global, Focus 21 and Direct Visual have joined. However, we are also in talks with several more, and are holding an event in October to target a large number of resellers.”
Joyce revealed that MWM is also in discussions with BT and Cisco and is due to meet with Microsoft.
“The objective of MWM is to promote collaborative technologies and the adoption of flexible working practices,” she said. “We want to help end-users understand the benefits that VC can bring, such as cutting out unnecessary travel.”
Roland Dreesden, managing director of integrator Reflex, said: “The principal of the MWM Foundation is absolutely spot on. VC has been around for years, but we need to get businesses to understand why they should consider VC as an alternative to face-to-face meetings.”
Ian Vickerage, managing director of Imago and chairman of MWM, said: “Resellers will benefit from the Foundation’s influence with government departments. If we can get the right members on board over the next six months, I think MWM will become a strong industry force.”
Tony Heyworth, director of marketing for EMEA at Polycom, said: “If resellers in the VC industry want to help expand the market, they should join the Foundation.”
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