s martbridge Trading Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Today’s high-priced SmartBridge systems may be out of reach for most, but if industry experts are right, it won’t be long before this revolutionary visual conferencing tool is as much a part of corporate America as coffee mugs and staplers.

With offerings from major players such as Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Teliris, TANDBERG and Polycom, a SmartBridge system – replete with life-sized projection technology, spatial audio, high definition cameras and optimized networks – can easily cost upwards of $250,000. It’s a price point aimed directly at deep-pocketed CEOs with a distaste for modern-day travel inconveniences.

But SmartBridge offers more than simply a hassle-free alternative to delayed flights and security checks. As companies become increasingly global in scale, and gas prices reach unprecedented highs, SmartBridge promises to drastically cut travel costs while greatly improving productivity.

"Even though SmartBridge is expensive, it could save executives a half a dozen trips a year, and that’s pretty impressive," said Claire Schooley, a Forrester Research senior analyst.

VIRTUAL WHEELING AND DEALING

Establishing a virtual meeting place, however, isn’t the only application of SmartBridge technology. With its high definition cameras and huge projection screens, systems are also able to illustrate physical characteristics and cues, such as a sweaty brow, in great detail. All of which renders SmartBridge an ideal vehicle for business negotiations and sales pitches. Then there is SmartBridge’s potential for allowing human resource executives to interview job candidates from afar while still getting a feeling for an applicant’s personality. In the not-so-far future, it’s likely that SmartBridge will aid geographically scattered engineers and product managers in the product development process.

Perks aside, there are a few factors currently standing in the way of SmartBridge’s ongoing evolution. For starters, most SmartBridge solutions are unable to communicate with one another. As a result of such interoperability, companies are forced to use SmartBridge on an internal basis only, communicating from branch to branch rather than externally, among suppliers, distributors and customers.

“Interoperability is a big issue in the future in terms of really having SmartBridge adopted broadly,” said Schooley.

Signifying a step in the right direction, HP and TANDBERG announced an alliance in January to make their respective SmartBridge and video conferencing portfolios interoperable. As a result, businesspeople will be able to collaborate using everything from the SmartBridge experience of HP’s Halo Collaboration Studios to TANDBERG’s conference room and desktop-based systems.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING IN-PERSON

Another factor hindering future applications of SmartBridge is the importance of face-to-face communication. While today’s systems can make you feel as if you’re in the same room as far-away participants, there’s simply no replacing real-life physical proximity.