September 30, 2009—Hewlett-Packard has unveiled a low-cost videoconferencing tool, less than four months after company executives introduced the idea.
SkyRoom, a new suite of hardware and software, aims to bring real-time collaboration to companies of all sizes, including video, voice and document sharing. The product aims to bridge the gap between high-end technologies that offer nearly lifelike interactions between attendees spread around the globe, and free tools that lack many useful features for business meetings.
SkyRoom allows up to four people to meet at once using a standard business network. At a cost of $149 per seat, the company says the technology costs less than one round-trip flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
SkyRoom consists of a videocamera and a suite of software tools to bring together participants and allow for full desktop sharing. The interaction in the teleconference is limited only by the host’s computer; the SkyRoom technology allows employees to share data and images from programs that may not be available on all attendees’ machines.
HP’s technology seeks to capitalize on the growing interest among businesses of all sizes to cut costs and reduce travel-related greenhouse gas emissions by embracing virtual meeting technologies. For now, HP’s SkyRoom is only available for Windows machines; for more details, see the Web site.
