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Shane Abrahams

Video-conferencing, long the stuff of science fiction, is fast becoming an important tool for companies looking to reduce executive travel costs.

 To meet rising demand for meetings via video, teleconferencing market leader Darome Teleconferencing last week launched its video-conferencing bureau service in Asia.

 Darome provides a multi-point bridging service, whereby the company sets up a video-conference call among several parties in different locations.

 Darome does not supply video-conferencing equipment. Customers must have their own equipment and ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) connection, or use a network of public rooms Darome has set up across the region.

 An ISDN digital line is needed for high quality video-conferencing.

 Darome's Asia sales manager Piers Bishop said video-conferencing offered Asian corporations a cheaper alternative to business travel.

 He said a three-site, multi-point video-conference between Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo could cost as little as HK$6,420, while flying participants to Hong Kong would cost more than HK$26,000.

 Most of the company's clients already had their own equipment and Darome simply handled the bridging service, which Mr Bishop said represented a small portion of the total cost of the exercise.

 For its standard bridging fee, Darome charges HK$15 per site, per minute.

 The ISDN line rental and transmission charges represent most of the cost. High-end video-conferencing equipment can cost upwards of US$200,000.

 Darome offers various types of calls: continuous presence, where all the participants are permanently displayed on screen; voice activated, where the picture of whoever is speaking appears automatically on screen; and director control, where a Darome operator switches between the parties.

 The continuous presence service is limited to five sites, but the other services can have many more sites.

 Darome has been testing its service since last summer, and claims to have several regular customers.

 However, the firm will have to compete with Hongkong Telecom CSL's well-established video-conferencing service.

 CSL has a public-room studio in Exchange Square, which customers can rent, and which has its own technicians on site to monitor the call.

 CSL also offers a dial-in bridging service. According to Jenny Yee, CSL's marketing manager for the video-conferencing service, the company charges its bridging fee on an hourly basis.

 Fees depend on whether you are dialling into the bridge, or dialling out from the company's studio. The cost per hour, per site for dial-out is HK$760, or HK$12.66 per minute. For dial-in calls, the fee is HK$860 per hour, per site.

 Ms Yee thought Darome would be quite competitive, but added the market was growing in Asia.

 CSL could connect up to four sites, but Ms Yee said it planned to upgrade its system this year to handle up to 16 sites.

 She said: 'We think that this is a very promising area, and one that we want to expand on.' 



Video-conferencing operators provide a bridge to the future