Tandberg offerings get personal with AV
Three new products target individual desktops in large corporates
Tandberg has launched three new audiovisual (AV) products aimed at pushing the technology onto desktops and driving up demand for personal videoconferencing within large corporates and enterprises.
Last week the AV giant unveiled the T150, an 8.4in screen compact unit, the 17in T1500 MXP and the 23in T2000 MXP. The move comes in response to demand from customers for more personal, user-friendly videoconferencing equipment.
"Video needs to work around people," said James Shaw, UK and Eire sales director at Tandberg. "Until now it's been about people adapting to the way the videoconferencing systems work. People are no longer happy about having to troop into the boardroom to have a meeting."
This, he said, is the rationale behind the T2000, a system for small rooms. It has a 23in screen but a small footprint and is designed to be folded away.
The portability of the new systems will help resellers make more AV sales to remote, regional and satellite offices, Shaw claimed. "Video needs to be ubiquitous, instant and unscheduled. But most of all it's got to be convenient," he said.
The 17in Tandberg T1500 MXP, an executive system that requires 2Mbps to provide video calls and CD-quality stereo, is aimed more at the individual.
And slightly further down the chain is the 8.4in T150, which Tandberg hopes will be deployed directly onto users' desktops. The firm has claimed it can run smoothly on IP, so IP voice and video calls can be handled at up to 512kbps.
According to Shaw, desktop systems running IP, such as the T150, could create sales and installation opportunities for a whole new channel: networking resellers and systems integrators. Traditional AV experts are not usually up to speed with networking and IP, he admitted.
However, Nathan Marke, director at Tandberg partner Prime Business Solutions, warned: "If you're purely a networking expert you'll struggle to deliver on AV.
"But traditional AV suppliers are struggling too, because video is no longer a point-to-point technology now it's on everyone's desktop. It's a collaborative solution, and not many people can deliver that."