Vidyo, ShoreTel tout competitive prices

Aimed at 'bargain shoppers' who are looking for desktop HD videoconferencing and unified communications systems.

VoIP, unified messaging, products and services

Whether or not the economy is in a recovery or still stalled is a question we'll leave to the economists, but we do know that enterprises and small/midsize businesses are still looking hard at both prices and total cost of ownership. This week's two separate announcements from Vidyo and ShoreTel will be of interest to the "bargain shoppers" who are looking for desktop HD videoconferencing and unified communications systems.

In the first announcement, Vidyo has launched a $1,000 personal telepresence system designed for the executive desktop. The solution uses low-cost, off-the-shelf, all-in-one touchscreen computers running VidyoDesktop 2.0 software, demonstrating the benefits of building on standard x86-based platforms -- thereby taking advantage of cost and performance curves of the high-volume computer industry.

The VidyoDesktop runs on Mac- and Windows-based endpoints. VidyoDesktop Executive provides a 1080p HD video conference and it has been selected as Best of Interop Finalist in the Collaboration category. The system will be demonstrated at Vidyo's Booth #2207 at Interop in Las Vegas, from April 27 – 29.

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Whether or not the economy is in a recovery or still stalled is a question we'll leave to the economists, but we do know that enterprises and small/midsize businesses are still looking hard at both prices and total cost of ownership. This week's two separate announcements from Vidyo and ShoreTel will be of interest to the "bargain shoppers" who are looking for desktop HD videoconferencing and unified communications systems.

In the first announcement, Vidyo has launched a $1,000 personal telepresence system designed for the executive desktop. The solution uses low-cost, off-the-shelf, all-in-one touchscreen computers running VidyoDesktop 2.0 software, demonstrating the benefits of building on standard x86-based platforms -- thereby taking advantage of cost and performance curves of the high-volume computer industry.

The VidyoDesktop runs on Mac- and Windows-based endpoints. VidyoDesktop Executive provides a 1080p HD video conference and it has been selected as Best of Interop Finalist in the Collaboration category. The system will be demonstrated at Vidyo's Booth #2207 at Interop in Las Vegas, from April 27 – 29.

Commenting on the product’s release, Ofer Shapiro, Vidyo CEO and co-founder, noted that in addition to the attractive price, "The simplicity and intuitive design of the VidyoPortal graphical user interface on a multi-purpose touch screen computer finally puts telepresence quality at an executive’s finger tips."

In other news, ShoreTel has introduced a program that guarantees the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) for new ShoreTel customers. The ShoreTel Lowest TCO Guarantee Program uses independent third-party data to compare the actual costs a business incurs for its UC system over time, and if the TCO analysis shows that ShoreTel's TCO is higher than a competitor's, ShoreTel will lower its prices to beat the competition.

Data used to calculate the five-year TCO includes items such as operating costs, hardware replacement, training, support, software upgrades, moves, adds and changes, system management, power consumption and other ongoing charges.

Read more about voip & convergence in Network World's VoIP & Convergence section.

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. Larry Hettick is a principal analyst at Current Analysis.