Hewlett Packard has partnered with telepresence and videoconferencing vendor Vidyo to grow its HP Halo product line. Vidyo brings advanced conference-room and desktop-endpoint technology to the table, and allows HP to go to market with a broader enterprise-class portfolio. The new visual collaboration offerings will be sold under the HP brand both directly and through the channel, emphasizing full interoperability with existing HP videoconferencing endpoints.
Integrating Vidyo’s technology should be relatively straightforward; HP will layer VidyoConferencing’s desktop and room system-based software on HP servers to “dramatically” shrink the overall network and video infrastructure required to provide high-definition video. One of the first results from this new partnership will be an executive desktop videoconferencing offering that runs on an HP TouchSmart PC.
Vidyo is a highly regarded player in the “personal” telepresence and videoconferencing market for both desktop and room systems. But Vidyo’s VidyoRouter architecture likely sealed the deal with HP, as it brings a unique codec, H.264/Scalable Video Coding, to the table. Since codecs “provide a more credible path for high-quality videoconferencing to migrate more rapidly to the Internet,” according to a Gartner research report, and can improve reach, lower transport costs and drive growth, this innovation can be crucial to high-quality videoconferencing. H.264 functions as an adaptive codec that can maintain low-latency performance over “best-effort” networks, and does not require a separate multipoint control unit to bridge endpoints.
“Companies need a complete portfolio of endpoint solutions, including video at the desktop, on mobile devices and in a conference room, so they can collaborate more effectively,” said Rob Scott, vice president and general manager, Halo Telepresence Solutions, at HP. “Together, with Vidyo, we will provide customers with quality desktop and conference room video experiences that run over the Internet or wireless networks, are highly reliable and can seamlessly connect to our existing high-end video collaboration offerings.”
Look for these new, jointly-marketed products to be released later this year.
