Don’t Oversell Telepresence

If you’re a Cisco channel partner gearing up to sell Telepresence, will that make you a “telemarketer?” No, I wouldn’t say that to one of them, even if they ticked me off – or got me a better long-distance plan. No chance you’ve missed it, but Telepresence is Cisco’s answer to high-end videoconferencing. The company aptly touts it as “ a new technology that combines rich audio, high-definition video, and interactive elements to deliver a unique in-person experience – over the network.” It’s one of those thing that is hard to fully appreciate until you’ve actually seen it. Very cool stuff. After awhile, you lose conscious awareness that the people on the screen may be a thousand miles away from you, and not across the table. But sales reps will need to be careful how they position it. Remember how VoIP started out as toll bypass and then evolved into something more application-focused? I think Telepresence will undergo the same transition, except in this case the starting point is “airline bypass.” Yes, large enterprises with Telepresence systems in various remote offices can cut expenses for intramural events among their own employees, but that’s probably the extent of it for now – especially before the systems are widely deployed. Some of us have grandparents who remember getting a telephone and not being able to call anybody because none of their friends had one. Same thing here. Therefore, “Sign this P.O. with one hand and take a big chunk out of your travel budget with the other hand” probably won’t be an effective strategy for the short term, and maybe not even for the long term. People are still social animals – even if we sometimes screen our calls and flip each other off on the freeway. Think of your own interactions with key people in your business life. Some of it takes place in the conference room meetings that Telepresence replaces, or perhaps transforms. But a lot of it happens at dinner, on golf courses, or when reaching over the complimentary buffet while trying not to dip your conference badge in the salad dressing. These are the situations in which people really get to know each other. So until somebody comes up with the “Beam Me Up Scotty” service pack, that social component can never be “telepresent.” Therefore, those friendly TSA representatives will forever remain free to steal my deodorant, totally unaware of the fact that I’m actually a lot more dangerous when running around without it. Telepresence will find its footing – just like VoIP did. As the roll-outs continue, it will become an increasingly viable option for meetings among people who already know each other well, or for extenuating circumstances like when somebody misses a flight. And the savings will be there, as long as you can be a little flexible about payback time frames. But I caution the executives who might say, “Hey, we spent big bucks on Telepresence so I’m slashing your travel budget, effective next fiscal. Now go figure it out.” The net result will be squandered business relationships caused by the elimination of proper care and feeding. In other words, the personal contact will suffer. And those relationships, once reduced, are generally a lot harder to rebuild.