Page 72 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

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▶ChApter three

presence

Being there even when you’re not

When you can have two people sitting in the room on opposite sides of the
planet and not feel like they’re having a remote meeting, I think you’ve
achieved telepresence. When you feel like the technology is getting in the
way of the discussion, as it does during video conferencing, then you don’t
have telepresence.
—Bill Avey, director, WW Strategy and Marketing,
HP LaserJet and Enterprise Solutions, Hewlett-Packard 1

We couldn’t wait to experience the latest in “telepresence,” the term
the electronics industry is calling the newest generation of teleconfer-
encing systems. Telepresence products have seen enormous growth
recently, and companies like Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Cisco now
offer high-definition, high-tech products designed to make you feel
like you are right in the room with others who might be a half a world
away. Now we were about to take a look at HP’s telepresence product.

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