(1888PressRelease)
September 25, 2008 - Completed in April this year, the Cisco TelePresence system uses sophisticated video conferencing equipment that allows parties in different office locations to talk together as if they were in the same conference room.
The new TelePresence system addresses a core need for more effective collaboration among the company’s 138,000 employees in 80 countries to work much more closely together in order to ensure and uphold P&G’s global leadership in the fast moving world of consumer brand marketing. This increased level of co-operation – both internally and with customers – opens the door to greater innovation, faster decision making and significantly reduced travel costs, as executives spend more time in their own office.
“P&G depends on its employees to work closely together in order to build its brand strategy and develop innovative new products,” said Tina M. Vaswani, Philippines’ Global Business Services (GBS) / Information Decision Systems (IDS) Manager for P&G. “With the introduction of TelePresence, videoconferencing can now play a pivotal role in building stronger multi-national teamwork because it is easy to use and attracts employees to access it on a regular basis.”
A total of 40 Cisco 3000 TelePresence studios have been installed throughout P&G’s network of offices across the globe featuring high-definition video conferencing technology that runs on a dedicated broadband connection to ensure smooth audio and video feeds. Each system is set up in a special conference room equipped with fixed cameras, sensitive microphones and large flat screens that portray life size images of individuals participating in the conference call from a remote site.
“TelePresence effectively makes users feel like they are all talking together in the same room and this removes concerns that made people reluctant to make videoconferencing calls on older systems,” said Ms Vaswani.
Previously, videoconferencing technology had proved less than satisfactory because the technology was unreliable and set-up was inconvenient. Poor audio quality and low video resolution prohibited effective and regular use and consequently its popularity was low.
The strong positive response to TelePresence has already prompted P&G’s management to expand from the existing point-to-point set up to a multipoint system that will allow users in several offices to take part in conference calls at the same time.
TelePresence videoconferencing addresses an important challenge laid down by the company’s Chairman and CEO, AG Lafley, when two years ago he mandated that 50 percent of product innovation and development should come from collaboration with partners and customers.
“Our vision was to find a technology that would make video collaboration so natural that participants would forget about the technology involved,” said Ms Vaswani. “I believe that we now have the best solution to meet this goal and we are very pleased with Datacraft’s role in helping to implement this system in a matter of just three months.”
Beyond its practical day-to-day value in boosting collaboration, TelePresence videoconferencing also plays a role in improving quality of life and minimising the company’s carbon footprint, by reducing business travel.
“This business win has demonstrated Datacraft's capabilities as Cisco's only certified TelePresence Partner in the Philippines. As business becomes increasingly international and as concern grows about energy efficiency, I believe that many more companies in Asia will follow P&G’s lead to adopt TelePresence videoconferencing as a daily business tool,” said Lim Puay Koon, Regional Director for ASEAN, Datacraft Asia.
About Procter and Gamble
Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Ariel(R), Always(R), Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Mach3(R), Bounty(R), Dawn(R), Pringles(R), Folgers(R), Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Oral-B(R), Actonel(R), Duracell(R), Olay(R), Head & Shoulders(R), Wella(R), Gillette(R), and Braun. The P&G community consists of over 135,000 employees working in over 80 countries worldwide. Please visit www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.
About Datacraft
Datacraft is the leading independent IT services and solutions company in Asia Pacific. The company helps clients plan, build, support and manage their IT infrastructures. Microsoft solutions, data centre storage and contact centre technologies, with advanced skills in consulting, training and managed services, to craft IT solutions for businesses.
A member of the Dimension Data Group, Datacraft is listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange. Headquartered in Singapore, Datacraft operates in more than 50 major offices and has over 1,460 employees across 13 Asia Pacific markets.
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