Leader: Videoconferencing stepping up a gear

'This isn't the future. It's here right now.' In tech, how often have we heard such claims? How often does the reality live up to the hype? Not too often, as we all know.

So when the launch of Cisco Systems' high-end videoconferencing offering TelePresence this week comes with the attached line of marketing spiel, what are we to think?

Fortunately, this particular class of product lives up to the hype - even with a hefty price tag.

This publication writes 'class of product' rather than talking about TelePresence in isolation because it will inevitably always be compared with HP's Halo service, which hit the market at the end of last year.

The good news: both, as an experience, are excellent. You could say they're head and shoulders above most of the conferencing that most of us are used to. (HP's Halo was developed in collaboration with Shrek studio Dreamworks, which explains the presence of CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg on the right in this photo.)

So there's an evolving class of product, one where you can see the merest change in someone's features, let alone hear them like never before and collaborate online.

Others will get involved. Conferencing stalwart Polycom also chose yesterday to talk about "the industry's only complete high-definition communications and collaboration solution", UltimateHD. This is a nascent market.

Whereas HP started shouting about its progress with a customer such as Dreamworks in tow, Cisco has some impressive launch partners who are close to this market - in Europe it had 2e2 and Dimension Data talking about being involved from an early stage.

Cisco claims some would-be Halo customers have now stopped in their tracks, eyeing TelePresence. Yet an HP exec told silicon.com that Cisco's long-talked-about release "hasn't affected any of our sales".

Where the two tech giants differ most greatly is in business model and in open versus closed technology.

HP offers a managed service. Cisco is selling kit (including nice furniture!), though it will undoubtedly look for revenue from support contracts too and upgrades.

HP runs Halo rooms around the world over its own network, using proprietary technology. It says it can guarantee the top-notch service this way.

Cisco has developed a patented, clever codec to transmit all the high-definition stuff over about 6Mbps bandwidth (HP claims Cisco needs 10Mbps at user sites) and uses the public internet.

Both claim the high ground in inter-company conferencing.

In terms of performance, given we're looking at costs of anywhere up to $540,000 plus $18,500 per month for Halo and $300,000 plus comms costs for the fully loaded Cisco TelePresence respectively, you wouldn't expect something bland.

Cisco's leading man behind the project says his company will give you "five times the quality at half the price".

silicon.com, having experienced both, couldn't see much difference between either room. They are experiences that have to be seen and heard to be believed - and that will be both companies' main approach to winning business. Expect an invite, if you have a say over purchasing such a service/product at one of the country's biggest companies.

It's not too much to say a new class of collaboration has arrived - for the lucky few, as they won't be for everyone's pocket.

And we're probably a little distracted by Cisco and HP readily kicking each other, with a little encouragement, rather than looking at the lead they may have over a number of other players.

Is the future here right now? We kind of agree, even though that's a ridiculous way of putting it.