Orange Business expands Telepresence inter-exchange with Tata Communications

customers will benefit from extended global collaboration via intercompany Telepresence experience

Orange Business has expanded Telepresence Community, its B2B Telepresence solution, through an interoperability agreement with Tata Communications’ Global Meeting Exchange to allow customers to conduct Telepresence meetings seamlessly on each respective network. The collaboration will provide customers of each organization with open access to connect across a much broader business ecosystem.

Launched in July 2010, Telepresence Community enables Orange customers that have invested in immersive video technology to not only hold Telepresence meetings within their own enterprise, but also with customers, suppliers and partners that are either connected to the global MPLS platform of Orange Business or that of a partner carrier.

This agreement enables meetings to take place between Telepresence Community customers and any private or public room on the Tata Communications Global Meeting Exchange, and vice versa. Tata Communications currently has the largest global network of public Telepresence rooms and is present in 31 major cities across five continents, with its 33 rooms spanning 17 countries.

Technip, a world leader in oil engineering, technologies and services, participated in a beta test of this new inter-Exchange service. As an existing Orange Telepresence Community customer, Technip held successful Telepresence meetings with one of its business partners who is a Tata Communications’ Telepresence services customer connected to the Global Meeting Exchange and meetings with the Tata Public Room at the Taj Boston.

Commenting on the trial, Bruno Bligny, in charge of the Telepresence project at Technip, said:  "We see this expansion of the Orange Telepresence Community and the partnership with Tata Communications as a major benefit for investing in this collaborative technology in order to enhance communication with our global team, our customers and our partners.”

According to Marc Blanchet, senior vice president of Global Communications Solutions, Orange Business:  “Video will be a major growth area over the next few years as enterprises realize the benefits it delivers in terms of increased productivity, intimacy with partners, cost savings and environmental protection. In fact, we have already seen a 130 percent increase in sales of Telepresence rooms over the past 12 months. Interconnection with Tata Communications is particularly exciting due to its growing base of global and regional enterprise customers and ongoing investment in public Telepresence rooms around the world. This collaboration significantly broadens the scope of Telepresence opportunities.”

Peter Quinlan, vice president, Telepresence Managed Services, Tata Communications, commented:  “We are pleased to now support meetings between customers on Tata Communications’ Global Meeting Exchange and those within the Orange Telepresence Community. Based on the excitement expressed by our customers in initial successful meetings held in advance of this announcement, we anticipate strong demand for collaboration across the Orange and Tata Communications Exchanges. We are also pleased to welcome Orange customers to Tata Communications’ Public Room network, which they can now access for even greater collaboration opportunities across their business ecosystem.”

With Orange Business, customers benefit from a Telepresence network accessible in 140 countries and Telepresence Community in 45 countries with additional coverage planned in 2011. Telepresence Community – Inter Carrier is available to customers using TelePresence equipment from Cisco Systems; in addition, plans are underway to expand to vendors with other systems in order to enlarge the global Telepresence community.

A video interview with Andrew McFadzen, head of Global Marketing, Network Solutions, Orange Business, is available online

About Orange Business
Orange Business, the France Telecom-Orange branch dedicated to B2B services, is a leading global integrator of communications solutions for multinational corporations. With the world's largest, seamless network for voice and data, Orange Business reaches 220 countries and territories with local support in 166. Offering a comprehensive package of communication services covering cloud computing, enterprise mobility, M2M, security, unified communications, videoconferencing, and broadband, Orange Business delivers a best-in-class customer experience across a global landscape. Thousands of enterprise customers and 1.4 million mobile data users rely on an Orange Business international platform for communicating and conducting business. Orange Business is a four-time winner of Best Global Operator at the World Communication Awards. Learn more at www.orange-business.com

France Telecom-Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with 169,000 employees worldwide, and sales of 45.5 billion euros in 2010. Orange is the Group's single brand for Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the company operates. France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment A) and on the New York Stock Exchange.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Brand Services Limited, Orange France or France Telecom.