Chambers lauds TelePresence, Cisco's evolution

Computerworld - ANAHEIM, Calif. -- He may be CEO of the powerful Cisco Systems Inc., but John Chambers still knows when to give in.

Chambers told reporters yesterday that he recently wanted to set up a Cisco TelePresence system in a bedroom in his California home, but after negotiating with his wife, he ended up locating the large videoconferencing monitor and related gear in the basement instead.

As a result, the leader of one of the most successful multinational corporations in the world will be running some meetings from his basement.

Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers

"We've already done [TelePresence technology], and it's much better than I thought," Chambers said. "The minute I saw it, I was changing business models and changing the way I was touching customers on sales. It will be a grand slam home run ... It makes it easy to communicate."

He said using a TelePresence system in his home means he can spend more time with his wife, handle some meetings late at night, get more sleep and even do better at his job. "I'm on my own time zone, the other person on theirs, we can share data. I could be wrong, but I think it can be used in very difficult government relations. We already have TelePresence systems in Middle Eastern countries."

Chambers said he has used the TelePresence system for meetings with lawyers in sensitive contract negotiations over multimillion-dollar acquisitions. Today, he requires companies expecting to do business with Cisco to have TelePresence technology on their end to communicate better with his company.

In the near future, Chambers said, he hopes to replace annual face-to-face meetings with many important customers at events like the Networkers Conference here with monthly videoconferencing meetings that can be personal and effective. Instead of meeting reporters annually, as he did yesterday, he suggested he could do quarterly informal TelePresence press conferences.

Chambers and Stephen Moore, head of global services for Regus Group PLC in Surrey, England, said the two companies are working together to build 50 sites around the globe with Cisco TelePresence systems. Each site would have three large monitors and studio-type lighting. Groups would rent the facilities for a day or a few hours, Moore said in a separate interview, noting that TelePresence is similar to Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Halo videoconferencing offering.