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The telepresence war is heating up as Cisco unveils plans for a network of public pay-as-you-use TelePresence centers. The centers will be at locations such as hotels and business centers across London, New York, Santa Clara, Bangalore, and other India cities. Cisco is currently partnering with Tata Communications to create the network, but it's also looking to recruit other partners to offer new TelePresence locations. Eight centers are available for hire now. The centers will not only be aimed at business meetings but also family getherings, weddings and other social occasions. Customers can book time at the TelePresence centers at the Cisco Web site.

Price ranges from $299 per hour for a meeting between 2 people, to $899 per hour for up to 18 people. Customers are offered complimentary high-speed wireless and business services, while catering is on request.

Cisco also has plans to tighten interoperability with meeting systems from rivals such as HP, Tandberg and Polycom, according to this story by the IDG News Service. The comments follow last week's news that HP and Tandberg plan to sell a joint telepresence package.

Cisco was last week criticized by Microsoft claiming that the Cisco TelePresence System 500 for telecommuters or employees of midsize businesses was too expensive at $34,000. Microsoft touted its RoundTable system that costs between $3,000 and $4,000. The move by Cisco to open public TelePresence centers could go a long way to answer critics who balk at the expense of buying a full-blown system.

See also:

Not snakes on a plane but Cisco TelePresence on a plane?

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