BP boosts video conferencing, linking employees worldwide

BP is harnessing an Intel-based video conferencing system for use by thousands of employees worldwide.

The oil company was an early adopter of Intel's ProShare video conferencing technology and has rolled out 1,000 seats worldwide over the last three months.

Staff use the desktop systems to communicate with colleagues on oil rigs or at other remote locations.

BP estimates that it has so far saved about #52m in man hours by cutting down on travel. It claims that staff often spend more time travelling than at meetings. The company plans to give desktop access to every employee who would benefit from data and video conferencing.

There are 30,000 PCs at BP, and it is likely that several thousand staff will be hooked up to video conferencing system when it is fully rolled out. New users will have access to Intel's latest ProShare offering. This week, the chip maker launched a lower-cost Business Video Conferencing system based on new architecture.

The system, which costs around #700 a seat, is software driven and does not require additional compression/decompression cards. The previous kit cost #1,200.

Intel's field account engineer Arun Shenoy, who was responsible for the roll-out at BP, said cost has been a prohibitive factor in the relatively immature video conferencing market.

BT, which sells a rival video conferencing system, is partnering Intel on the launch of the system. The telco has no plans to further develop its own system, according to Shenoy. Instead it wants to concentrate on selling its ISDN services bundled with a range of video conferencing systems from a range of OEMs.

'Intel has a 40% market share in the video conferencing market. BT understands this,' said Shenoy.