Having done very well for itself by creating business-level products for the guts of two decades, Cisco has, of late, tried to dip its toe into the murky world of consumer products. The latest rumour in this regard in that the company is set to unveil a man-on-the-street-friendly version of its popular TelePresence videoconference systems.

Yep, that would be the popular TelePresence videoconference systems which can, at their most expensive, cost a few hundred thousand euro. The consumer version will likely come in at about €375 though, so that’s quite a lot of corners cut then.

A full announcement is expected next week (6 October), though a Cisco spokesman declined to give details on what exactly will happen on that date except to say that it would be a “major, new consumer product”.

The €375 price tag that we’re putting out there is a result of an interview which Robert Lloyd, a senior executive at Cisco, gave to Reuters in May when he said that the company expects to begin selling a consumer version TelePresence for about $500 each.

The corporate TelePresence systems feature high-quality video and sound, with limited delays, making users feel “like they’re almost meeting in person”, giving executives the chance to have high-end meetings without having to take a visiting business associate out on the lash. Not only is that booze-money saved but, of course, travel expenses are slashed to boot. Cisco has said TelePresence is one of its “fastest-growing products”.

Whether consumers will baulk at spending €375 to €400 on a videoconferencing system is a big question here though. For many out there, Skype and other low-cost video chat services will do for the minute, indeed we get the feeling that Cisco’s main customers for the new product may actually still remain in the business sector – except this time it will be SMEs taking on the cheaper versions of TelePresence.

Those involved in distance learning have also been mentioned as possible customers but will these niche markets justify Cisco’s leap of faith? Best wait until next week to see exactly what they have in mind before we judge them too harshly.