There’s a new airline in town. Only, it doesn’t actually fly any aircraft. Instead, Brussels-based Global Videoconferencing Network (GVN) provides an end-to-end videoconferencing solution integrated in travel industry channels. We spoke to Glenn Wastyn, President & CEO of GVN, and Norbert Osselaer, Senior Account Manager at BT Advise.

This is an interesting idea, but why call it a virtual airline when at its core, it’s a videoconferencing solution?

Glenn: The innovative idea here is that we are transforming an IT product – videoconferencing – into a virtual travel service by selling it through traditional travel industry channels. You already rely on your corporate travel agent to book flights and hotels; well, today you can arrange virtual travel using the same channel. As opposed to booking a flight, your travel agent can now also book a tele-presence session at a facility near you, typically a partner hotel.

Corporations make use of commercial airlines because they can’t afford to buy and maintain their own aircraft. The same principle often applies to high-quality tele-presence equipment. GVN allows you to share the hardware and operational costs between many customers and takes out the operational complexity.  It is a managed, pay-as-you-go videoconferencing service, but you can rely on your normal travel channels to use the service.  In that sense you could say we’re a virtual airline.  [Read more...]