Apr 28 10
Virtual Conferencing and Eyjafjallajokull: A Love Story
By: Kelly Shea
I have always had a bit of an obsession with natural disasters; they are just so universally leveling, which is a pretty tragic and fascinating concept. The recent ash cloud in Iceland captivated me, perhaps beyond what is normal in news obsession, but I wasn’t the only one. The volcano also captivated another market: virtual conferencing technology or the“VC”.
On April 19th Cisco Systems successfully acquired Tandberg. Tandberg was a Norwegian company that was the leading global provider of telepresence and high-definition video conferencing solutions for unified communications. On April 17th (a Saturday) Eyjafjallajokull spewed ash, which consequently spread an ash cloud into the skies of Europe. Flights were halted, airports essentially shut down, and chaos ensued. Vacationers weren’t the only ones stuck in the maze of Charles De Gaulle. Meetings and conferences needed to go on. Instead of gathering live companies were forced to conduct meetings via VC.
“We have seen a huge spike in usage,” Fredrik Halvorsen, the former Tandberg CEO, now head of Cisco’s TelePresence Technology Group, told Reuters on Sunday. “The only evidence is anecdotal, but you will not get a demo room in any of the Cisco facilities.”
(Read the full article here- http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2010/04/19/daily4.html?jst=b_ln_hl)
The world is even more connected than we thought. This financial quarter Cisco can thank Eyjafjallajokull and prime acquisition timing. In the VC world Eyjafjallajokull might be the hot new buzzword. Go ahead- try to pronounce it.
Tags: Business, Eyjafjallajokull, Too many vowels, Virtual Conferencing
Video Conferencing is really a very convenient and very fast way in keeping in touch with your business partners.::*