Telepresence is so much about the experience. I'm a big fan of simple and elegant controls and that's what I saw from Tandberg Experia. I also like the simple remote of the LifeSize offering.

During the Tandberg analyst day in early October 2007, I had a chance to participate in an Experia telepresence session from Reston VA to Dallas, London and Oslo. The simple in-table five button command panel is designed for dealing with a session in progress (initiation takes place automatically with the TMS (Tandberg Management System) or through the on-wall (near room entrance) control panel.

The in-table button array was organized, well labeled and only about eight inches long. It didn't block the view or cause other experience challenges. To the right and left of the 2 center seats were PC monitor (VGA) cables for marrying up to the presenter's computer. Besides the usual monitor assignment button pushes on the PC, to broadcast the PC presentation to remote locations simply involved the PC Left button or the PC Right button.

The document camera was built into the ceiling and involved a rectangular light source that lit up the transmission area. Zoom made the lit box bigger or smaller depending on when you depressed it. Pushing once would zoom in, stopping and pushing again would zoom out. Simple, elegant. Much better than 2 zoom buttons.

The AV button engaged a VCR device, for example, and broadcast the signal to all participant locations.

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