Tata Communications and Whygo, a global specialist in public videoconferencing facility scheduling, have announced that they will team up to provide Telepresence solutions to Whygo customers.

The partnership allows Whygo to sell Tata Communications’ public Telepresence Suite hours, to its customer base, providing an additional option to videoconferencing users who prefer a life-like face-to-face meeting experience. Customers will also be able to quickly and conveniently schedule their Telepresence bookings online via Whygo’s portal.

“Telepresence is a communication option that is gaining traction internationally. We hope that through this partnership with Whygo, even more business executives can take advantage of the productivity this technology brings without the considerable cost of building a private room at their premises,” said John Landau, Senior Vice President, Global Managed Services, Tata Communications.

Whygo, which has operations in more than 20 countries, is Tata Communications’ first videoconferencing channel sales partner. Whygo also owns the world’s first online booking portal for public videoconferencing facilities with more than 2,500 locations worldwide.

“Whygo is excited about this opportunity to include Tata Communications’ global Telepresence network into our suite of offerings. We look forward to riding on Tata Communications’ aggressive Telepresence expansion plans to help us bring the Telepresence experience to even more enterprises and SMEs as a pay-per-use service,” said James Matthews, Managing Director, Whygo Group.

"The partnership with Whygo is yet another example of Tata Communications’ commitment to the global proliferation and mass market accessibility of telepresence. At the same time, Whygo's established presence in public video conferencing facility scheduling gives Tata Communications, a necessary channel to market for its public Telepresence Suites,” said Jonathan Edwards, Enterprise Communications Infrastructure Analyst with IDC.

The Whygo partnership follows Tata Communications’ recent announcement of its partnership with Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) to provide CWT Telepresence, an enhanced offering to CWT’s clients that lets them access Tata Communications’ network of Cisco Telepresence suites around the world. In addition, Tata Communications also announced its partnership with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide that will significantly increase its network of public Cisco TelePresence rooms with 10 new facilities opening in Starwood hotels around the globe. The first telepresence suites are planned for W Chicago City Center, Sheraton on the Park in Sydney, Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel and The Westin Los Angeles Airport. Tata Communications will continue to aggressively expand its Telepresence network and partner ecosystem to bring this cutting edge service to more users.

Tata Communications, the world’s first provider of public Telepresence rooms, has been operating these rooms with their community of partners since 2008 and now has presence in India (Mumbai, Bangalore (x2), Chennai, Hyderabad and Gurgaon), London, Boston, Manila and Johannesburg. Twenty-five more rooms will be added by mid 2010.