To thank Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard for validating the market for high-definition video conference, LifeSize Communications is launching three offerings that make the technology more affordable and accessible.

The new LifeSize Express, LifeSize Team MP and LifeSize Conference, launched Oct. 23 at Fall Interop in New York, are aimed at different environments and multiple locations and are intended to help make more immersive and authentic video conferencing available to a broader range of customers than the telepresence offerings of Cisco and HP, said Craig Malloy, founder and CEO of LifeSize, in Austin, Texas company.

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"Telepresence is a new product category Cisco and HP are pushing [that] generally refers to large, preconfigured, prebuilt rooms [that are costly and] are not standards-based," Malloy said. "This capability should not only be for the board rooms of the richest companies in the world but any organization. LifeSize can turn any conference room or office into a telepresence environment at a quality level as good as any system you can buy at any price point."

Read more here about Cisco's Telepresence System.

LifeSize, which shipped its flagship LifeSize Room offering two years ago, has worked for the last five years to improve the codec technology, reduce the costs and increase the efficiency of its system, he said.

The new LifeSize Express is intended for smaller conference rooms or for small to midsize enterprises looking to adopt video conferencing for the first time. It includes an end point the size of a wireless router, a high-definition pan-tilt camera and remote control in an easy-to-install system.

It supports high definition's 1280 x 720 resolution and 30 frames per second and can operate at up to 1.5M bps, all for $6,000.

The midrange LifeSize Team MP offering is a high-definition multipoint control unit that allows for four-way calling from a single device. It also supports 1280 x 720 screen resolution at 30 frames a second operating over a 1M-bps link. It is intended to lower the cost for multipoint high-definition video conferencing. It starts at $8,999.

The new LifeSize Conference offering goes head-to-head with the Cisco Telepresence or HP Halo products. It is aimed at integrators and audio-video consultants and delivers the infrastructure required to build-out custom telepresence suites, Malloy said.

It is intended for "large auditoriums or large conference rooms where you want the most immersive environment possible," he said. It supports up to three high-definition cameras, includes a wireless touchscreen control panel and provides a full table view of up to three different remote sites. It also supports up to three video monitors and a data sharing content screen. It is priced at $40,000.

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