Hewlett-Packard and Tandberg announced Jan. 3 that they have partnered up to bring users video conference platforms.

With the announced alliance, users will be able to use HP's Halo Collaboration Studios, which simulates face-to-face meetings across long distances, as well as Tandberg conference room and desktop based systems.

As part of the agreement, HP, of Palo Alto, Calif., and the New York-based Tandberg will pursue a development program that will enable Tandberg's standards-based video conferencing system to run on HP's HVEN (Halo Video Exchange Network).

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"Interoperability between immersive studio environments, such as HP Halo, and standards-based video conferencing solutions has become a key requirement for our customers," Ken Crangle, general manager of the Halo Collaboration Studio Unit at HP, said in a company release.

HP's HVEN is a secure, high bandwidth, full duplex, worldwide fiber optic network and when it runs Halo, it helps users make decisions as a team and reduces the need for travel.

"With this alliance, customers can be assured of uncompromised video and audio quality and reliability every time they are in a video call, whether at the desktop, in the conference room or in a Halo Studio," Geir Olsen, executive vice president of Tandberg, said in the same release.

Click here to read about Tandberg's acquisition of Exabyte.

With the use of Tandberg products on the HVEN, users will have access to video applications such as high-definition video without the need for internal IT resources or improvements to corporate networks, the companies said.

"This alliance answers the need as we will be able to provide customers with a complete portfolio of conferencing and collaboration solutions from immersive telepresence studios to executive desktop solutions," Crangle said.

The two companies will begin marketing each other's platforms in the coming months.

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