With Tata Communications, Starwood Intros In-Hotel Cisco TelePresence Meeting Suites

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has announced its first in-hotel Cisco TelePresence meeting suites with a virtual, interactive meeting spanning across two continents. 

 

The W Chicago City Center and Sheraton on the Park Sydney are the first in Starwood’s global portfolio to introduce the new meeting facilities, showcasing Cisco (News - Alert) TelePresence technology. 

 

Cisco TelePresence provides a high definition, conferencing facilities, allowing participants to meet their colleagues, customers and business partners across a virtual table.

 

Starwood officials said that guests and corporate clients were brought together in a “true-to-life” meeting setting, despite more than 9,000 miles apart and the 17 hour time difference. In both the locations, participants were able to meet “face-to-face” using HD video, superior audio and life-size imagery.

 

“The launch of the new Cisco TelePresence meeting suites at the W Chicago and Sheraton on the Park Sydney is another example of Starwood’s commitment to innovation by offering our clients an exciting, new meetings solution that facilitates a ‘face-to-face’ meeting in the same room regardless of global location,” said Christie Hicks, senior vice president of global sales at Starwood. 

 

Last year in June, Starwood announced a partnership with Tata Communications. In collaboration with the company, Starwood plans to build Cisco TelePresence rooms in 10 properties worldwide.

 

Peter Quinlan, director for managed telepresence services at Tata Communications (News - Alert) hopes that through the partnership with Starwood, even more business executives can take advantage of the productivity the technology offers and save on costs that can be invested in their core competencies.

 

“We intend to make telepresence available to as many users as possible with our global network of public telepresence rooms and our suite of managed telepresence network services for businesses,” Quinlan said.

 

In the first half of this year, Starwood is expected to inaugurate two more Cisco TelePresence meeting suites -- Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers and Sheraton Centre Toronto.

 

The other Starwood location that is expected to open this year is The Westin Los Angeles Airport. It also plan to expand the offering to key domestic and international business markets such as Dallas, San Francisco, Brussels, Paris, Hong Kong and Frankfurt. 

 

Moreover, using the Tata Communications online portal, reservations for the telepresence rooms can be made instantly, said Starwood officials.

 

Having meeting facilities in a comfortable setting with access to business services at times that fit individuals’ schedule can help to take some of the grind out of travelling, said Mark Weidick, vice president and general manager for TelePresence Exchange Business Unit at Cisco.

 

“The value of public suites facilities increases exponentially as more rooms from more providers come on stream, so this announcement represents another key milestone in making these facilities more practical for business,” added Weidick.