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When the new system is integrated into travel applications such as online booking tools or travel agency systems, employees, agents, travel arrangers, and other travel buyers will be able to reserve and schedule video conferencing rooms at the same time they book flights and hotels.
The president of Sabre, Greg Webb said advances in technology had changed the way people lived their lives and run their businesses, and he said the Sabre Virtual Meetings will create a step change in the way corporate employees communicate and collaborate with each other and their customers.
'By making telepresence scheduling as simple as booking airline travel, Sabre and Polycom will help companies and employees form closer relationships with customers, enhance internal collaboration and increase productivity.'
An industry-wide solution, Webb said the Sabre meeting room system will be open to multiple telecom and video conferencing providers, and be accessible through several travel and third-party distribution channels including global distribution systems, travel management companies, online booking tools, and directly on the Internet.
According to Webb, Sabre Virtual Meetings will increase the adoption and use of corporate-owned video conferencing solutions, 'delivering a faster ROI on those assets,' and he added 'the platform will increase use of public video conferencing rooms, such as those Polycom is helping to establish at Regus locations worldwide.'
And, IDC senior research analyst, Rich Costello, said the need for a centralised reservation system to facilitate business-to-business video meetings has grown tremendously in recent years. "Incorporating a global reservation system into existing travel distribution channels is an innovative approach. Polycom and Sabre are addressing a real business need through the Sabre Virtual Meetings and I anticipate it will continue to drive the use of video solutions.'
Sabre, a member of Polycom's extensive partner community, expects to launch the new reservation system in the first half of 2012 through travel management companies and directly with corporations.
