OAKTON, Va., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T Government Solutions* business unit announced it has won an estimated $18 million task order to implement AT&T Telepresence Solution(SM), a fully-managed solution enabled by Cisco TelePresence(TM), for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).
Under the terms of the task order, AT&T will initially deploy 15 telepresence rooms at GSA office locations across the United States, creating a Managed Network Service (MNS) Telepresence. The telepresence rooms will be installed at the 11 GSA regional headquarters and 4 Washington, D.C. area locations, and will be available for use by the GSA and other federal agencies. The task order was awarded under the GSA Networx Enterprise contract vehicle and has a period of performance through the expiration of AT&T's Networx Enterprise contract on May 31, 2017.
GSA manages 9,600 federally owned or leased buildings - more than 350 million square feet of real estate. In addition, the agency provides and manages a wide range of services and supplies to 400 federal agencies, bureaus, and commissions, and over one million federal employees and contractors. The GSA MNS Telepresence offering will be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to all federal agencies. Regional meetings, training, inter-agency planning, crisis management, partner and supplier discussions will be scheduled utilizing this service and paid for on an hourly basis. This GSA innovation allows federal agencies to utilize the convenience of the AT&T Telepresence Solution with a pay as-you-use model through the GSA, thereby avoiding individual agency start up costs.
"GSA understands the enormous potential of telepresence technologies to realize productivity improvements and operational cost reductions in the federal workplace while maintaining vital collaboration and workforce performance," said Thomas Harvey, Senior Vice President, AT&T Government Solutions. "The AT&T Telepresence Solution is an industry-leading solution that allows agencies to collaborate, while reducing both travel costs and travel time. AT&T's Telepresence Solution can boost GSA's efforts to deliver operational excellence, infuse innovation in government, and help the agency significantly reduce the U.S. federal government's carbon and environmental footprint in the years to come."
The award provides a complete turnkey implementation of AT&T Telepresence Solution, which includes design, planning, deployment, concierge, maintenance and on-going support; network connectivity and transport; room-system hardware; and network-based inter-company bridging, at 15 GSA locations nationwide. In addition, GSA will have access to AT&T Business Exchange - a "meet-me" business-to-business global collaboration technology that allows multiple companies and organizations in different locations to connect to one another. To improve efficiencies and reduce expenses, GSA and federal agencies can now meet face-to-face over telepresence with suppliers and partners on an encrypted link. Many of AT&T's Business Exchange clients provide services to the GSA today.
"We are pleased to be working closely with AT&T to help GSA and federal agencies utilize the financial, environmental and productivity-enhancing benefits of the AT&T Telepresence Solution, which is enabled by Cisco TelePresence," said Mark Weidick, vice president and general manager, TelePresence Exchange business unit, Cisco. "This solution will enable GSA to meet its business objectives, while improving collaboration and innovation among government agencies."
AT&T Telepresence Solution is a flexible, scalable service that offers a full range of management and scheduling options and utilizes the state-of-the-art AT&T network. The technology allows government agencies, companies, and organizations to connect with each other and with their partners and suppliers globally through a secure, multi-point solution that provides 1080p high-definition video, actual-size display of participants, and high-performance, directional audio that easily identifies which participant is speaking. Although the participants are in different locations, telepresence features create a unique, 'in-person' experience that delivers visual, verbal, and perceptive non-verbal communications to create the impression of being physically in the same room with all participants.
The AT&T Telepresence rooms are currently available in 75 countries and territories, with plans to add other countries in the future.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
About AT&T Government Solutions
AT&T Government Solutions is a long-standing, trusted source of network-enabled solutions for the federal government, integrating unmatched network resources and IT and software engineering expertise with innovative technologies from AT&T Labs and industry-leading partners. With headquarters in Oakton, Va., AT&T Government Solutions is best known for network leadership in voice, data, video and managed services. AT&T Government Solutions is a proven solutions integrator, with expertise in areas such as Information Assurance, Network Solutions, Application Solutions and Mission Support.
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