Telepresence World 2008 to Examine Technological Solutions to the New Complexity of Global Finance

London, United Kingdom, February 10, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Financial institutions of all sizes are quickly realising the vast benefits telepresence technology offers (live and face-to-face virtual meetings). Many financial institutions are, by design, very geographically distributed to increase their opportunity to reach new markets and potential clients. However, increased numbers of localised branches means that core resources become widely distributed. The use of telepresence can significantly reduce time, travel costs and time to market for new products, while increasing productivity, customer experience and revenue.

Telepresence World 2008 London (www.telepresenceworld.com), which will take place 18th – 19th March at the internationally acclaimed ExCel Exhibition and Conference Centre located in London, will give attendees a unique opportunity to experience telepresence technology via live demonstrations provided by the world’s top telepresence providers and to see for themselves how this amazing technology can streamline their global operations.

Since 2006, AIG Financial Product Corp has conducted global employee meetings and rollouts using the HP Halo telepresence offering. The company has negotiated deals and conducted personnel reviews and training sessions using Halo. The benefits of the technology have been several fold: more productive meetings, less need for travel, and enhanced access to distributed resources. Halo has allowed AIG-FP to quickly and effectively promote multi-national and cross-cultural business collaborations while reducing their carbon footprint and saving money.

Telepresence can help finance organisations to close contracts quickly, shorten sales cycles, and streamline their operations by getting the right people and materials together at the right time in order to make critical decisions rapidly and with confidence. In many cases, the merger & acquisition process (M&A) can be significantly improved by using telepresence to create a “Virtual Data Room.” The traditional data room used in M&A is literally a physically secure and continuously monitored space in which bidders and advisers meet to inspect and report on the various documents and data available. Teams involved in large “due diligence” processes may need to be flown in from remote sites and remain available throughout the process. Such teams often comprise a number of experts in different fields and the overall cost of keeping such groups on-call, near to the data room is often extremely high. Telepresence can simplify this process tremendously, saving travel costs and time.

According to Dominic Dodd, senior analyst of global growth consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, buyers find that despite the higher costs telepresence systems can quickly pay for themselves by cutting travel expenses and reducing executive ‘wear and tear’. "While video conferencing is now widely regarded as just another communications technology," says Mr. Dodd, "the in-built service capability that defines and differentiates telepresence seems to be creating a new-found enthusiasm among key decision-makers in organisations both large and small." As a partner of Telepresence World 2008 London, Frost & Sullivan will be on hand to moderate many of conference sessions, providing market leadership, perspective, and insight.

For further information of Telepresence World 2008 London, including additional conference content and registration logistics, please visit http://www.telepresenceworld.com. Diamond Sponsors of Telepresence World 2008 London include Teliris, Cisco, and HP. BT has joined as a Gold Sponsor and Network Sponsorship will be provided by Masergy Communications. The Interactive Media & Collaborative Communications Alliance (IMCCA) and the European Association of Healthcare IT Managers are Strategic Alliance partners. Organisational Supporters include the International Society of Presence Research (ISPR), Digital Content Forum (DCF), the Communications Management Association (CMA), the British Computer Society (BCS), and the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE). Audio Visual (AV) Magazine, AV News, Connect World, CXO, Education Business, European CEO, Financial Sector Technology (FST), Government Technology, Health Business, Healthcare IT, New Media Age, Report Buyer, Total Telecom, and Videoconferencing Insight Newsletter are among a growing listing of Media Sponsors who have signed on to promote the event. Telepresence World 2008 London is presented in association with Frost & Sullivan and is a CarbonNeutral event.

Additional major sponsor announcements will be released in the next few weeks; however partner and exhibitor opportunities are still available; please email info@hemisphereinc.com for details. For more information on Telepresence World events, see: http://www.telepresenceworld.com. To view “Telepresence in Action,” please visit http://www.telepresenceworld.tv ; and to find out more about telepresence, read the latest news, and participate in the global dialogue surrounding this fantastic technology, please join them at http://www.telepresenceworld.net.

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