Washington Post reporter Kim Hart recently enjoyed a live demo of Cisco and AT&T’s Telepresence system and shared her experiences on the Post IT blog.

I sat with five other conference participants on one side of the table facing three flat-panel TV screens showing six participants who were in Cisco’s Herndon office. The screens were positioned so that it looked like the remote people were sitting directly across from me, and the speakers were arranged so that sound came from the direction of the person speaking.

After noting the more obvious benefits of this technology, including reducing travel costs and carbon emissions, Hart focused on the opportunities that it could bring throughout our government. On the health care front, the Department of Veterans Affairs is currently experimenting with the system, and Cisco’s HealthPresence system is already being used in rural areas to connect doctors and patients. Cisco itself saved $200 million last year alone on travel costs. Just imagine what the government could save with more virtual meetings.

A cleaner environment €¦better health care €¦and more efficient government €¦all in a day’s (virtual) work for broadband.

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