Cisco Telepresence System Student
University
August 3, 2013

Abstract
This paper will discuss the Telepresence System from Cisco. This paper will discuss what the system does, who uses it, and how it works. The Cisco Telepresence System is important to education because it provides educators the opportunity to connect students and educators globally without the need for travel and physical presence. This system is important because it provides real time face to face collaboration of users. It incorporates high quality audio and video and provides users with the sense of actual physical presence. Keywords: Telepresence, endpoint, immersion, multipurpose

Cisco Telepresence is a system that allows companies and individuals to collaborate from different remote locations. Cisco Telepresence uses high definition video as well as advanced audio to deliver face to face experiences over the internet. (Cisco, 2013) In a Cisco Telepresence system, high definition video cameras feed large high definition video screens with life-size images of the participants. High-fidelity acoustics are also used to localize the sound to an image, and thus give the participants the perception that the voice is coming from the screen of the participant that is speaking. (Educase, 2009) Although Cisco Telepresence is in essence a video conferencing system, it really is much more than that. With the Cisco Telepresence system, the participants on the other end are life size. The video quality is so clear, that participants can look each other in the eye and even make out their facial expressions. There is no delay or jitter when participants move or talk. (Davis, 2009) Cisco Telepresence contains three classes of service. These classes of service are Immersive, Optimized and Extended reach. The immersive service class or immersive experience is the class of service that is usually referred to as the executive class. It is called that because it is usually utilized by large enterprises. Installation of a Telepresence system of this class requires a room readiness assessment. In this room readiness assessment Cisco determines if the room size, lighting and the network connection to the room are adequate. (Cisco, 2011) These rooms contain Telepresence systems called endpoints. The immersive class usually consists of an endpoint equipped with three sixty five inch 1080p plasma screens. Those screens are mounted in a curved pattern at the front of the room similar to a half moon. Tables that seat six are placed facing the screens in the opposite half-moon pattern and essentially form an oval. Some systems also seat an additional twelve people in a second row. These rooms also contain a unique LED light reflector that is integrated to reduce glare. This light reflector is either free-standing or wall-mounted. A three camera cluster is mounted as to provide optimal eye contact as well as a whole room view. There are integrated microphones into the table. A Cisco Telepresence touch panel allows users the simplicity of starting and managing meeting with just a touch of a button. (Cisco, 2013) Multiple speakers mounted at the top of each screen give spatial audio simulation when the person on that screen is talking. (Cisco, 2012) Since these rooms are sending and receiving so much video and audio, these sessions can utilize up to fifty Mbps. (Cisco, 2011)
There are two endpoint models in the immersion class, The Cisco Telepresence TX9000 series and The Cisco Telepresence TX1310. The TX1310 utilizes only one sixty five inch screen. The TX1310 has the option of 1080p with thirty frames per second for content delivery, compared to the TX9000 which has it built in as a standard option. Both have 1080p with sixty frames per second video. (Cisco, 2013) The optimized class can also be referred to as the multipurpose experience. Telepresence endpoints in this class are perfect for non-dedicated rooms. Users can