Providea (News - Alert) Conferencing, a provider of visual collaboration and telepresence technology solutions, announced the launch of Providea Gateway Service.

The cloud-based service provides an open video conferencing network for businesses using any enterprise-grade video conferencing device such as that from Cisco, Polycom or LifeSize and consumer-grade endpoints such as Skype (News - Alert) and Google Talk.

"Customers need to collaborate on their own terms on a range of devices that provide a rich and consistent user experience," said Todd Luttinger, president and CEO of Providea Conferencing, in a statement. "Providea's Gateway (News - Alert) Service offers a cost-efficient, simple way to bring enterprise and consumer-grade users together with no additional hardware or bridging investment."

There is an increasing demand for interoperability between high-end video conferencing and telepresence with consumer-based video services such as Skype and Google Talk.

Providea Gateway enables the integration of consumer and enterprise video conferencing users from around the world without any capital layouts or complex integration.

 Providea’s expertise encompasses video endpoints, infrastructure, multimedia, UC Integration and a strong portfolio of network, professional and managed service offerings.  The company offers products from leading manufacturers and network carriers in the industry including Cisco, Polycom, LifeSize, AT&T (News - Alert) and Masergy. 

Earlier in May, Providea achieved TelePresence Video Express Authorized Technology Provider (ATP (News - Alert)) status from Cisco. This designation recognizes Providea Conferencing Limited as having fulfilled the training requirements and program prerequisites to sell, deploy and support Cisco TelePresence Video products and solutions at the Express level.

This follows the company’s recognition in April as Polycom Partner of the Year-United States.

In a related announcement, Providea launched new managed service offering, Providea LegalStream, enabling law firms to leverage video conference meetings beyond real-time by capturing, streaming and sharing live or recorded content.

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