Tata Group company, Tata Communications today entered into an alliance with Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), a global leader specializing in business travel management to jointly offer Tata Communications’ Cisco Telepresence Suites across the globe.

The services offered under the alliance will be known as CWT Telepresence Suite of services.

“CWT recognizes the intense pressure corporations are under to contain rising T&E costs and maximize return on investment,” said Pauline Quéré, CWT vice president, Customer Product Marketing. “By incorporating telepresence into the full range of products and services in our demand management offering, CWT provides a compelling alternative and solidifies its role as a key partner in helping clients demonstrate measurable return on investment. To that end, we are very pleased to be moving forward with Tata Communications, an industry leader in the telepresence arena.”

John Landau, senior vice president, Global Managed Services for Tata Communications, added: “Tata Communications became the world’s first provider of public Cisco TelePresence Suites in July 2008. Today, we offer state-of-the-art private and public rooms that enable companies to boost their productivity, cut costs, and conduct meetings as often as needed while reducing their carbon footprint. Furthermore, the seamless interconnectivity of our private and public rooms through our telepresence exchange minimizes distances across the globe and brings more people together quickly and easily. 

“Using Tata Communications’ telepresence services increases the accessibility of businesses beyond their major company offices to their wider ecosystem of users, including customers, suppliers, remote workers and business partners. We are excited to be working with Carlson Wagonlit Travel and look forward to helping them add a new dimension to their clients’ managed travel programs,” Mr. Landau added.

Tata Communications is offering its Telepresence services under various tariff models including the pay-per-use and public rooms for such services have been set-up in United States, England, India, South Africa and the Philippines. Similar to today’s deal with CWT, Tata Communications has entered into tie-up with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to open additional rooms worldwide in Starwood Hotels by the end of 2009.