Using Cisco TelePresence technology, both Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts have launched virtual meeting suites.
The suites, which contain a wall of large, high-definition monitors with real time audio, enable small groups of 20 or less to come meet with participants in one or more other telepresence locations.
Other Starwood locations with the suites include the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney, Australia and are soon expected to include the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, Sheraton Kuwait, Sheraton Centre Toronto and Westin Los Angeles Airport. Marriott locations where suites are up and running include the Renaissance Washington DC, Marriott Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square.
"I think it is very significant," said Betsy Bondurant, president of Coronado, Calif.-based Bondurant Consulting. "Telepresence technology is very interesting. There is a lot of collaboration that can be done. You can see facial expressions, work on white boards and see body language. That is all invaluable."
Meetings tech guru Corbin Ball, CEO of Corbin Ball and Associates, noted that telepresence suites are useful, but expensive to build.
"They can cost up to $300,000 to set up, but if you can rent one of the rooms for a meeting instead of flying across an ocean, it can be the next best thing," he said.