The NDS Group and BSkyB is undertaking a global rollout of video conferencing services across 12 international operations and 18 offices including Sydney, Australia.

Easynet, the international managed network and hosting division of BSkyB, will roll out its managed service with a range of Polycom products from immersive telepresence suites to group video systems.

The new managed video conferencing solutions will deliver the benefits of high definition, highly interactive meetings through purpose-built, cinematic RPX telepresence rooms, as well as in more traditional conference and meeting room environments.

NDS CIO, Tony Harrison, said these deployments will reduce travel budgets, and create virtual meeting environments for more agile business operations in Australia, India, Korea, China and Hong Kong.

It will also help BSkyB and the NDS Group meet their environmental goals.

Being a carbon neutral company, Easynet constantly looks to reduce its CO2 emissions, and this solution will ensure global enterprise customers reduce emissions by removing the need to travel.

Harrison reports excellent results from the pilot telepresence video conference system installed in the UK and is looking forward to reaping the benefits of worldwide deployment.

Harrison pointed to collaboration gains and the benefits of saving staff time through reduced travel.

The new global service will be managed by Easynet's Video Network Operation Centre, which provides complete call scheduling, suite reservation services, call management and assistance, 24 hours a day, from a dedicated team of telepresence experts.

Easynet chief executive officer, David Rowe, said business requires a life-like experience to replicate the feel of face to face meetings.

Rowe said the quality of the HD service from Polycom creates an incredibly realistic, secure conference environment, that is easily justifiable.

Polycom's regional managing director, Steve Leyland, said with businesses becoming increasingly fragmented and globalised collaboration technologies allow dispersed teams and individuals to become fully engaged in virtual face-to-face meetings.

"It removes the distance between teams, and increases efficiency and productivity," he added.