June 30, 2009

Two Hotel Chains to Offer Telepresence

Marriott International announced it will become the first major global hotel company to offer telepresence technology in its hotels, using AT&T's fully-managed AT&T Telepresence Solution. This technology will enable Marriott to offer customers the widest array of meeting options, whether in-person, virtual or both.

In related news, Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Tata Communications have partnered to roll out public Cisco TelePresence rooms worldwide.

Tata Communications will increase its network of public telepresence rooms with 10 new facilities opening in Starwood hotels by the end of 2009. The first telepresence suites are planned for Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, Sheraton on the Park in Sydney, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, The Westin Los Angeles Airport and W Chicago-City Center. Looking ahead, Starwood anticipates expanding the offering to hotels in key international business markets like Brussels, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.

"Because of the decentralized nature of business today, without public room deployments, telepresence can never achieve the critical mass needed to realize the full potential of this exciting video technology," said Paul Waadevig, senior consultant on unified communications, Frost and Sullivan, in a statement.

Telepresence was a topic of discussion and at this year's Cable Show. For more coverage, click here. For more on the hospitality market, click here.

—Linda Hardesty