Cisco offers olive branch to videoconference rivals

Cisco Systems has gotten the ball rolling toward interoperability among all high-end videoconferencing platform by licensing the Telepresence Interoperability Protocol (TIP) to other vendors, but the ability to plug any two systems together may be a long way off, according to vendors and analysts. 



 

Cisco introduced its first Telepresence Meeting System, a high-definition videoconferencing system with 1080p video, in 2006. But other vendors were already selling platforms with immersive and high-quality features, and the market offerings have continued to expand. Making multiscreen systems work together can be complicated because of the many steps involved in initiating a session and switching displays among the participating sites as speakers take turns talking. 



 

TIP is designed to standardize those processes and make endpoints from various manufacturers work together without the need for custom configuration. Cisco announced Tuesday it is offering to license TIP and will not charge royalties. Three vendors have already licensed the protocol: LifeSize, a maker of telepresence and lower end videoconferencing systems; Radvision, which sells multipoint conferencing units (MCUs) for linking different endpoints, and Tandberg, the Norwegian videoconferencing company Cisco made a deal to acquire last year. But Cisco's biggest rivals, Hewlett-Packard and Polycom, haven't done so. 



 

When it introduced its Telepresence Meeting System, Cisco downplayed interoperability, instead pushing networks of all-Cisco meeting rooms to guarantee the premium-quality experience they could deliver. But the company was criticized for not making its systems work with others, and it eventually changed its tune, said Wainhouse Research analyst Ira Weinstein.



 

"They're taking the interoperability problem by the horns and trying to deal with it," Weinstein said. "I give them kudos for recognizing this is a market need and trying to deal with it." 



 

The push for compatibility comes as many enterprises are expanding their use of videoconferencing, according to Wainhouse. The number of large-scale telepresence systems deployed grew from 1,150 in 2008 to 1,475 in 2009, according to Wainhouse, which expects to see 4,225 systems in use by 2014. While telepresence revenue grew about 28 percent to US$325 million in 2009, all videoconferencing revenue grew just over 5 percent to about $1.7 billion. But the number of videoconferencing units being used rocketed more than 30 percent to surpass 444,000. 



 

Radvision makes MCUs, dedicated gateway devices that can make different vendors' platforms talk to each other to some degree. For example, someone using a single-screen third-party videoconferencing system can participate in a meeting on a Cisco multiscreen system, appearing on one of the screens. With TIP, a full multi-screen system from another vendor will be able to join in on a Cisco-based meeting, said Bob Romano, vice president of enterprise marketing at Radvision. This is a key to full interoperability, because having a high-quality three-screen image from another endpoint makes users feel like they're in the same room, vendors and analysts say. Radvision plans to add TIP to its MCUs. Both Cisco and LifeSize resell Radvision MCUs under their own names, he said.