Robotics introduces telepresence robot to businesses in Africa

At the IBM Business Connect 2016, which held recently in Lagos, ‘Double’- the first telepresence robot to be deployed in Africa for business integration, education and telemedicine made its debut to an excited audience of business leaders from the public and private sector.

‘Double’ which is currently being distributed in Nigeria by Robotics Africa Interactive Limited, is a creation of Double Robotic.

According to Robotics Africa, Double is helping telecommuters, remote workers, and students to feel more connected to their colleagues by giving them a physical presence in the office, classroom, or conference.

“Driving your own Double means you are free to roam around anywhere without scheduling a call or meeting. Double takes everything you love about video calls on an iPad and places that on a mobile base that puts the remote worker in control. By combining cutting edge technology with an intuitive, elegant design, Double is the ultimate tool for telecommuter.”

Although Double could be likened to videoconferencing which is presently the most important tool used by telecommuters in the workplace today, but remote workers are aware of the difficulty that may arise from scheduling a call or asking someone to set up a laptop for video chat.

Double removes that challenge because it comes fully equipped and ready to start. Once a user has a stable Internet connection where the robot is and where they will be controlling it from, the user is free to chat anytime and any day.

Similarly, most offices have a bit of ad-hoc verbal communication throughout the day. “How many of those little conversations do the remote workers miss? Typically, the remote worker is only contacted for higher priority items. This makes them second-class citizens, since they are not in the loop on many day-to-day activities.

“Double gives each remote worker a physical presence in the office all day, every day. They are there for the hallway conversations. You no longer need to say, “Can someone call Mary and let her know what we talked about?” The statement from Robotics Africa read.

With Double, the company noted, the challenge with hiring professionals who live outside town could be solved.

“Hiring is very difficult. It is even more difficult when you lose a valued team member and need to replace them. Next time an employee needs to move away, they can continue their job via Double. It is a win-win for everyone. Our mission is to connect the world through remote experiences.”