HP has unveiled an extension to its Halo videoconferencing suite that will allow it to interoperate with other systems.

Halo uses a purpose built studio, special cameras and a high bandwidth network to allow videoconferencing without the traditional time-lag associated with such systems.

The new HP Halo Gateway uses a Tandberg 6000 MXP codec and video switch, a Halo compositor, an HP ProLiant server and HP-designed software to allow the system to talk to any H323/H320 videoconferencing system.

"The partnership with Tandberg is very important," said Ken Crangle, general manager of the HP collaboration studio.

"There are no plans at the moment to offer this kind of technology on the PC platform yet."

Halo had previously been a closed suite for use only with other HP systems. The company has sold 120 Halo systems, at a current cost of $249,000 per unit with $18,000 running costs per month.

"We have actually got paying customers for this system; we are not giving it away like some companies," said Ross Camp, marketing communications manager for the HP collaboration studio.

HP is hoping that the new interoperability will give Halo the edge over rival systems, such as Cisco's TelePresence.