OREANDA-NEWS. February 17, 2012. CROC has implemented a video conferencing system for M.Video, the leading Russian consumer electronics retail chain, which now has a convenient business tool for prompt decision-making.

This is CROC's first such large-scale project in the retail sector. Thanks to the implementation, M.Video managers at head office and in all retail chain stores are now able to communicate via video conferencing with each other. Video conferencing software clients were installed at each M.Video store and hardware video terminals were deployed at the head office. These solutions allow for up to sixty-user multipoint video conferencing sessions. In addition, the sessions can be arranged without administrator assistance, said Dmitry Tokar, Deputy Director General for Large Retail Chains, CROC.

The video conferencing system is based on Cisco TelePresence solutions and the project was implemented in two phases. In the first phase, a server node was created and video conferencing software was installed on the workstations of all M.Video shop directors. These resources were integrated with the company's enterprise-level services. In addition, video terminals were installed at the workplaces of all senior managers as well as in the conference hall of the central office. As a result, more than 230 shops were connected to the enterprise video conferencing network.

Our chain comprises more than 260 hypermarkets from Yakutsk to St. Petersburg. Therefore, it is critical for us to set up meetings and take most of our business decisions online. Video conferences will help us to train employees remotely and, consequently, cut costs and raise business management efficiency, said Igor Veselov, IT Operations Director, M.Video.

In the second phase, 50 new shops were opened and connected to the video conferencing network and the capacity of the server core was tripled. Moreover, video conferencing via the Internet was enabled in order to facilitate interaction with third parties that were not connected to the enterprise video conferencing network. In addition, senior managers were provided with the opportunity to work remotely via video conferencing. The company set up a distance learning center with 15 video classrooms in the regions as well as a video record and transmission system.

The benefits of Cisco TelePresence include high reliability, ease of use and management, scalability and the excellent quality of video images. Integration with enterprise services, such as Active Directory, e-mail and IP telephony, created a unified video communications environment and provided users with new communications opportunities, said Irina Stepanova, Regional Director, Collaboration Technologies, Cisco, Russia and CIS.