Today, LifeSize has announced the release of their new Unity Series of products. This currently includes the Unity 50 (above left) and the Unity 500 (above right). LifeSize plans to add additional products to this line later this year. With these systems, LifeSize is offering plug-and-play videoconferencing. In the past, installing a VC system could involve separately purchasing customized furniture, integrating the technology with the furniture, running cables everywhere, supplying power to each element, etc. With the Unity systems you just run two cords (power and IP) and you are up and running. Not only does this make the initial setup a snap, it creates flexibility as it is a simple matter to unplug the system and move it to a different location.

A long time ago I read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and one passage in particular stuck with me. The author's friend had a very cool, very expensive, BMW motorcycle and it was making a strange rattling noise. The author found the problem and told his buddy he would put in a "shim" which would fix it. Back in his garage, the author cut a small piece of aluminum off a beer can, cleaned it, shaped it, and smoothed it out. He then brought it out to his friend and wedged it into the right spot on the bike. It fit perfectly, fixed the rattle, and his buddy was thrilled. Later, his buddy asked how he happened to have the right shim back in his garage. When the author showed him the cut up beer can the BMW owner was horrified. He wanted, and expected to get, an authorized BMW replacement shim from a Germany factory. He would have been happy to spend hundreds of dollars on an official BMW shim, instead of the beer can solution, even if he would never know the difference.

Perspective, illusion, suspension of disbelief. The fundamental and timeless elements of a good magic trick. They can also be applied to today's communication technology for amazing results. After all, the telepresence experience is essentially the use of proper perspective (and other cues) to create the illusion of actual presence. Microsoft's MirageTable uses these techniques to provide a 3D traditional face to face telepresence meeting combined with an advanced augmented reality session.

We continue our series profiling the leading firms in the telepresence and visual collaboration industry with a profile of Providea Conferencing. You can also browse our Company Profile section for previous companies profiled including AT&T, Glowpoint, MASERGY, AVI-SPL, DVE and others. You can subscribe via RSS or e-mail to receive Company Profiles of other leading telepresence firms as they are published. All the Company Profiles will be published in the upcoming hard copy Telepresence Options 2013 Yearbook which you can receive for free by subscribing here. You can check out Providea's visual collaboration solutions in our Telepresence and Videoconferencing Catalog.

Company Overview

Providea Conferencing is a leading global provider of visual collaboration and telepresence technology solutions. End-to-end expertise encompasses video endpoints, infrastructure, multimedia, UC Integration and a strong portfolio of network and managed service offerings -- providing flexible solutions that fit the unique communications needs of our customers. Representing the top manufacturers and network carriers in the industry, including Cisco, Polycom, LifeSize, AT&T and Masergy, we are uniquely positioned in the video conferencing and telepresence marketplace as a true single-vendor solution provider.

Experience has taught us that our customers view video conferencing as an essential communications tool as well as a smart investment. For over a decade, Providea Conferencing has been at the forefront of this industry helping our customers deploy, manage and scale their video investment\ in order to realize maximum ROI. We are recognized for our expertise to properly plan, design, implement and support video networks, making this real-time, face-to-face technology seamless to our customers. This expertise has gained us "trusted advisor" status to some of the largest names in business.