Telepresence Consulting
What is Telepresence?Telepresence is the science and art of creating visual collaboration environments, networks, and strategies that duplicate in-person meeting experiences as completely as possible in both internal and external business communications. Effectively leveraging telepresence as an organizational and collaborative strategy can improve productivity and effectiveness by enhancing business communication, collaboration, and reducing physical travel.
A good telepresence strategy puts the human factors first, focusing on visual collaboration solutions that closely replicate the brain's innate preferences for interpersonal communications, separating from the unnatural "talking heads" experience of traditional videoconferencing. These cues include life-size participants, fluid motion, accurate flesh tones and the appearance of true eye contact.
How Can Human Productivity Lab Help Me?
The Human Productivity Lab provides telepresence consulting services for Fortune 500 and mid-size firms across a broad range of industry sectors. We approach every telepresence engagement exclusively from our client's perspective, employing a vendor-neutral focus. With objective analysis, companies and enterprises get the right hardware, network, and services mix for their needs, not what a single vendor wants to sell them.
Selecting equipment, managed services and network providers is a complex process and the investment considerable. The Human Productivity Lab's mission is to future-proof and secure the best possible terms for your organization's telepresence deployment.
The Human Productivity Lab offers telepresence end-user firms and vendors a host of advisory services including RFP/RFI Development, Acquisition Consulting, Realistic ROI Modeling/Deployment Strategies, Vendor and Technology Assessments, Telepresence Solution Design, and Best Practice Assessments.
The Lab's expertise and knowledge of current and future technology trends is not just academic - it is real-world. In fact, the Human Productivity Lab has more experience with telepresence than any other consulting firm on the planet.
If your organization is considering deploying telepresence, call the Human Productivity Lab at 512-828-7317, or email us at Info@HumanProductivityLab.com.
Examples of HPL Consulting Engagements for End-Users:
Global Fortune 20 Oil Company - The Lab helped a global Fortune 20 oil company better understand its telepresence options with respect to deploying telepresence group systems between its global locations. The Lab traveled to multiple telepresence hardware vendors and met with their research scientists and product managers to get an up-to-date understanding of multiple product offerings and their technology roadmaps. The Lab conducted an evaluation of a new telepresence system on the market, helped write the firm's RFP and produced a comprehensive report comparing the firms' various options with our recommendations to streamline deployment.
International Investment Bank - The Lab helped an international investment bank evaluate multiple providers of desktop video conferencing solutions including a new firm with which that client had an investment. The Lab made recommendations and preliminary budgets for the firm to create a studio environment for their equity analysts to rapidly create video content of breaking economic and company news for their equity research clients. The Lab created a preliminary design and budget for creating a solution that would connect their New York City and London trading floors so their head trader in New York could be "present" on the London floor while trading. The Lab worked directly with the CEO and CIO on the engagement.
International and Domestic Standards Bodies - The Lab helped both an international standards body and a domestic (US) standards body understand their telepresence options for effectively connecting their organizations together to work on a major project. The organizations required a large capacity telepresence solution to accommodate a 16 member board and four executives on one-side of the Atlantic and eight board members and executives on the other with the ability to stream and archive content. The Lab accelerated their due diligence process and provided expertise to evaluate vendor proposals.
International Security Consulting Company - The Lab helped the CEO of an international security consulting company understand his options for improving the human factors of his existing videoconferencing deployment. The CEO, a best-selling author, spends more than half the year writing at his home in Fiji and wanted to improve his ability to communicate with his staff and clients. The CEO realized the limitations of his traditional videoconferencing system especially with respect to eye-contact and contacted the Lab to better understand his telepresence options.
Examples of HPL Consulting Engagements for Vendors:
Arming Telepresence Commission Driven Mercenaries - This is the Lab's "Open Source" competitive overview for telepresence solutions vendors, managed service providers, and inter-networking firms in the telepresence and telecommunications industries. The course is designed for product managers, sales representatives, sales managers, and sales engineers to rapidly bring them up-to-speed on the competitive landscape in the telepresence industry. While the Lab judiciously protects forward-looking product roadmap information that we are under NDA on, we offer a true critique of the various telepresence systems on the market and the pros and cons of various approaches. The Lab has created courses for multiple Fortune 500 clients.
International Telecommunications Carrier - The Lab helped an international telecommunications carrier better understand the landscape of telepresence managed service providers so they could select a provider to private label a telepresence managed service offering. The Lab further helped the company better understand the differences between small group telepresence solutions so they could create bundled telepresence solutions for their portfolio. The Lab worked directly with the firm's two principals / co-founders.
Telepresence Product and Strategy Review - The Lab worked with an established telepresence solution provider to understand the telepresence landscape. The Lab provided an independent third party critique of the firm's telepresence offerings, managed service provider strategy, and go-to-market strategy with respect to telepresence. The Lab worked directly with the CEO.
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Drill down into all of the telepresence consulting services the HPL offers:
Asking the right questions with the vendors
HPL has written and reviewed RFP/RFI requirements for Enterprise Solutions for a wide range of clients, from Fortune 10 companies to those rising into the Fortune 5000. We are committed to achieving business objectives and goals within company budgets. We have a proven methodology that helps us understand each customer's needs, asks vendors the right questions, and provides a technically elegant solution your personnel can easily use.
In addition to our experience and knowledge, we are vendor-agnostic and will evaluate each and every project with no preconceived prejudices. With our help, you can shorten the time between conception and implementation. And we will work cooperatively with your in-house staff, adding their in-depth knowledge of your corporate climate and culture to the new project while allowing them to manage their daily work routines.
HPL has written and reviewed RFP/RFI requirements for Enterprise Solutions for a wide range of clients, from Fortune 10 companies to those rising into the Fortune 5000. We are committed to achieving business objectives and goals within company budgets. We have a proven methodology that helps us understand each customer's needs, asks vendors the right questions, and provides a technically elegant solution your personnel can easily use.
In addition to our experience and knowledge, we are vendor-agnostic and will evaluate each and every project with no preconceived prejudices. With our help, you can shorten the time between conception and implementation. And we will work cooperatively with your in-house staff, adding their in-depth knowledge of your corporate climate and culture to the new project while allowing them to manage their daily work routines.
Understanding your options and getting the best deal
HPL has developed matrices to quantify the strengths and weaknesses of each vendor and remove the smoke and mirrors from the process. With our help, you can clearly and confidently assess each vendor and make an informed decision.
The HPL's strategy is designed around deploying visual collaboration solutions that achieve "end user acceptance," i.e. the willingness of senior executives and managers to adopt the technology, instead of flying, driving and/or walking to make an in-person meeting. To that end we focus on the "human factors" of deployment: ease-of-use, training, scheduling and getting the right data collaboration solutions in place to ensure success.
In addition, much of the promise of telepresence is not simply connecting to your own internal locations, but connecting to your outside vendors, customers and joint-venture partners. HPL's methodology analyses your important vendor, customer and joint venture relationships with a strategy towards connecting you together virtually.
HPL has developed matrices to quantify the strengths and weaknesses of each vendor and remove the smoke and mirrors from the process. With our help, you can clearly and confidently assess each vendor and make an informed decision.
The HPL's strategy is designed around deploying visual collaboration solutions that achieve "end user acceptance," i.e. the willingness of senior executives and managers to adopt the technology, instead of flying, driving and/or walking to make an in-person meeting. To that end we focus on the "human factors" of deployment: ease-of-use, training, scheduling and getting the right data collaboration solutions in place to ensure success.
In addition, much of the promise of telepresence is not simply connecting to your own internal locations, but connecting to your outside vendors, customers and joint-venture partners. HPL's methodology analyses your important vendor, customer and joint venture relationships with a strategy towards connecting you together virtually.
Understanding and modeling the ROI of virtual communication internally and collaboratively with partners and external stakeholders
With today's renewed emphasis on corporate governance, understanding and accepting virtual communication internally and collaboratively with business partners demands ROI modeling. Investors, stock holders, boards of directors and government regulators demand well-conceived and meticulously implemented capital investments. Realistic ROI modeling has always been a demanding process, but can become even more demanding if the evaluators are unfamiliar with the specifics behind implementing telepresence solutions. The telepresence industry has unique deployment requirements that involve network connectivity, facility make-ready, information security, legacy videoconferencing capabilities and collaborative tools - requirements that must be followed precisely to achieve project goals and objectives.
HPL has the expertise to guide you in these endeavors. Certain factors in the ROI of a telepresence solution are just as important as the cost of the installed system: reduced travel costs, time-to-market advantage, and happier road warriors with increased productivity. HPL can make sure these very real benefits are part of your ROI equation.
With today's renewed emphasis on corporate governance, understanding and accepting virtual communication internally and collaboratively with business partners demands ROI modeling. Investors, stock holders, boards of directors and government regulators demand well-conceived and meticulously implemented capital investments. Realistic ROI modeling has always been a demanding process, but can become even more demanding if the evaluators are unfamiliar with the specifics behind implementing telepresence solutions. The telepresence industry has unique deployment requirements that involve network connectivity, facility make-ready, information security, legacy videoconferencing capabilities and collaborative tools - requirements that must be followed precisely to achieve project goals and objectives.
HPL has the expertise to guide you in these endeavors. Certain factors in the ROI of a telepresence solution are just as important as the cost of the installed system: reduced travel costs, time-to-market advantage, and happier road warriors with increased productivity. HPL can make sure these very real benefits are part of your ROI equation.
Helping you choose the right vendor and technology for your telepresence solution
HPL is perfectly positioned to assist in Vendor and Technology Assessments. Howard S. Lichtman, the founder of HPL, is the author of "Telepresence, Effective Visual Collaboration and the Future of Global Business at the Speed of Light (2006)," and was a contributing author to "Emerging Technologies for Teleconferencing and Telepresence (2005)." Howard has worked with numerous Fortune 500 clients as vice president of Business Development at telepresence pioneer TeleSuite Corporation, designed visual collaboration solutions as President and Chief Product Officer at Powwow Networks, and delivered true QoS internetworking and information security solutions for Wall Street as head of the financial industry sales organization at Savvis Communications (where he also tested, evaluated and deployed visual collaboration solutions to improve organizational productivity and business communications).
Howard's unique background in evaluating and deploying visual collaboration solutions as an end-user, delivering telepresence solutions for a telepresence vendor/managed service provider, and his on-going evaluation of the emerging telepresence industry as an analyst makes the HPL uniquely qualified to help you move from interest to evaluation to deployment with speed and confidence.
HPL makes the following type of "pro and con" recommendations to clients:
HPL is perfectly positioned to assist in Vendor and Technology Assessments. Howard S. Lichtman, the founder of HPL, is the author of "Telepresence, Effective Visual Collaboration and the Future of Global Business at the Speed of Light (2006)," and was a contributing author to "Emerging Technologies for Teleconferencing and Telepresence (2005)." Howard has worked with numerous Fortune 500 clients as vice president of Business Development at telepresence pioneer TeleSuite Corporation, designed visual collaboration solutions as President and Chief Product Officer at Powwow Networks, and delivered true QoS internetworking and information security solutions for Wall Street as head of the financial industry sales organization at Savvis Communications (where he also tested, evaluated and deployed visual collaboration solutions to improve organizational productivity and business communications).
Howard's unique background in evaluating and deploying visual collaboration solutions as an end-user, delivering telepresence solutions for a telepresence vendor/managed service provider, and his on-going evaluation of the emerging telepresence industry as an analyst makes the HPL uniquely qualified to help you move from interest to evaluation to deployment with speed and confidence.
HPL makes the following type of "pro and con" recommendations to clients:
- Technology: ultra-high definition, low-latency cameras and codecs
- Human factors: data collaboration, display technology, graphical user interfaces
- Backwards compatibility with legacy videoconferencing systems
- Vendor and system reliability
- Adoption potential
- Vendor technology road map: information security
- Vendor long-term strategies and potential: inter-company business potential
- Pricing: determining the price/performance ratios of different solutions
Custom telepresence solutions designed around your unique business challenges
Custom-designed multi-vendor solutions for:
Unfortunately, no single vendor carries a mature, complete portfolio of telepresence solutions. Some vendors can seat only six participants your organization may need 28 seats. Some vendors are backwards compatible with legacy videoconferencing, others are not. Some offer executive solutions for the desk, some don't. HPL works with our clients to understand their business objectives and budget to design and deliver custom multi-vendor solutions, whether this entails a solution that leverages subject matter experts among thousands of bank branches or extending telepresence to executives in their home offices.
Custom-designed multi-vendor solutions for:
- Executive and Board Level Communications
- Effective Meeting and Team Environments
- Distance Learning Environments
- Virtual Employee and Subject Matter Expert Solutions
- Virtual banking, pre-sales engineering, sales specialist, etc.
Unfortunately, no single vendor carries a mature, complete portfolio of telepresence solutions. Some vendors can seat only six participants your organization may need 28 seats. Some vendors are backwards compatible with legacy videoconferencing, others are not. Some offer executive solutions for the desk, some don't. HPL works with our clients to understand their business objectives and budget to design and deliver custom multi-vendor solutions, whether this entails a solution that leverages subject matter experts among thousands of bank branches or extending telepresence to executives in their home offices.
Information Security
Telepresence and effective visual collaboration solutions are often delivered as a managed service using an overlay network connection provided by the vendor or third party. With a background in providing network solutions to Wall Street for trading floor technology, HPL understands both the traditional information security risks inherent in third party networks and those of inter-company telepresence that potentially connects your organization directly to the competition. We conduct due diligence with vendors, recommend information security policies, and make sure the cameras in your telepresence studios aren't displaying what the previous team left on the whiteboard to your competitors during the next call - all to assure that you've covered your bases.
Best practice assessments include:
Telepresence and effective visual collaboration solutions are often delivered as a managed service using an overlay network connection provided by the vendor or third party. With a background in providing network solutions to Wall Street for trading floor technology, HPL understands both the traditional information security risks inherent in third party networks and those of inter-company telepresence that potentially connects your organization directly to the competition. We conduct due diligence with vendors, recommend information security policies, and make sure the cameras in your telepresence studios aren't displaying what the previous team left on the whiteboard to your competitors during the next call - all to assure that you've covered your bases.
Best practice assessments include:
- Information Security
- Due diligence, policy, strategy, penetration testing
- Technology Roadmaps
- Existing Videoconferencing assets (network)
- Project Management, Implementation and Training for Success
