Starwood and Marriott Introduce 'Telepresence' Systems
Ha! We don't know if this is a coincidence or what, but both Starwood and Marriott announced today that they'll be introducing hi-tech "telepresence" systems in many of their hotels. Both hotel giants are promising these teleconferencing systems in select rooms (within select hotels) that give business travelers an "in-person meeting experience."
Telepresence, according to the Hotel Check-In blog, involves "multiple, 65-inch HD monitors that show life-size images" — and the AT&T versions of these Matrix-y things are going into big city Marriotts. Per Hotel Check-In:
Marriott agreed to install AT&T's Telepresence systems in 25 hotels across the globe in cities such as New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Hong Kong, Shanghai, Frankfurt and London. The systems will go into a mix of Marriott, J.W. Marriott and Renaissance hotels. Marriott expects some will be up and running by late October.
And also today, Starwood announced something similar — they've partnered with a company called Tata (hehe) Communications to introduce their own "telepresence" rooms. Their press release says:
10 new facilities opening in Starwood hotels by the end of 2009. The first telepresence suites are planned for Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, Sheraton on the Park in Sydney, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, The Westin Los Angeles Airport and W Chicago-City Center. Looking ahead, Starwood anticipates expanding the offering to hotels in key international business markets like Brussels, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.
The Starwood hotels are going to be using a Cisco telepresence system, while, again, Marriott is sticking with AT&T. We're usually not business travelers (and we're satisfied with instant messaging, email and online video chats when absolutely necessary), but this looks kinda fun, no?
[Photo: dolanh]
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