HP yesterday announced a major partnership with video conferencing specialist Tandberg designed to make their respective telepresence and video conferencing portfolios fully interoperable.

Under the terms of the alliance, the two companies have agreed to integrate Tandberg's standards-based conference room and desktop-based video communication systems with HP's Halo Video Exchange Network high bandwidth fibre optic network.

The two companies said that the partnership would give Tandberg customers higher quality video, while users of HP's Halo Collaboration Studios will be able to communicate with Tandberg users.

“Interoperability between immersive studio environments, such as HP Halo, and standards-based video conferencing solutions has become a key requirement for our customers,” said Ken Crangle, general manager of HP's Halo Collaboration Studio Unit. “This alliance answers that need.”

The video conferencing market has enjoyed rapid expansion in recent years as firms seek to reduce the financial and environmental cost of corporate travel.