Cisco Conducts First 'Virtual Auction' for Comic Relief with Christie's

Cisco Systems, a provider of network solutions, has announced it is bringing in a new dimension to auctioneering through one of its innovative products, TelePresence.

Auction house Christie’s is scheduled to collaborate with Cisco (News - Alert) to conduct a virtual auction for a fund raising occasion to support Comic Relief, a charity based in the United Kingdom, on Red Nose Day. The staff of the seven Cisco offices in U.K. and Ireland is likely to participate in this auction.

"Christie's is only too happy to support this innovative charity event. I have had experience of taking numerous bids in auctions via our online bidding service, Christie's LIVE, but this is the first time that I have taken an auction that embraces this ground-breaking video technology. As a result, everyone will be able to participate and experience the tension and excitement of the event,” said Hugh Edmeades, Chairman, Christie's South Kensington.

The staff will be able to bid for items like a signed Chelsea football, O2 box tickets to see Beyoncé or Britney Spears and a Formula One race helmet among other things. The Cisco offices participating in the auction include London, Feltham, Reading, Manchester, Edinburgh, Motherwell and Dublin.

This will be the first time that the staff will participate in a virtual auction and will put on red noses while participating in the auction that is expected to raise £100,000. "By utilizing Cisco TelePresence, we are able to collaborate with each of our offices through one real-time event, bringing a new dimension to the excitement of the auction experience. We've had phone bidding for some time; now it's time to accept video bids," said David Meads, director of Cisco U.K. and Ireland. 

Cisco has been supporting Comic Relief since 2000. “Do something funny for money”, the slogan used by Comic Relief is the basis for all its fund raising activities. The funds raised by staff are complemented by a matching contribution from the company. Cisco has also been working with Oracle, VMWare and 3PAR to provide a virtual data centre for Comic Relief’s web based donation services. As per a report published on Cisco’s website, Comic Relief has been able to process $32.5 million as donations through Cisco equipment.