Savoy offers ‘virtual' meetings

The Savoy hotel in London is to launch a videoconferencing service later this month.

The videoconferencing room, designed to hold eight people, will feature a high-resolution panoramic video screen showing life-size real-time images of the speakers. Users will also be able to exchange information using individual flat-screen monitors.

A spokeswoman for the hotel said the service would be the first public one in the UK and would enable users to hold "virtual" meetings and interviews with colleagues using compatible systems in other countries.

Although it is relatively expensive, with an hourly rental cost of £395 excluding VAT and a minimum rental period of two hours, the spokeswoman insisted there was a need for the service. "We wouldn't do it if we if we didn't think there'd be a big demand for it," she said. "We don't go in for gimmicks."

The system, which will be launched officially on 28 October, has been provided by TeleSuite.