Selling Umi as a product for enterprises offers two possible future directions for the system. It could be a high-quality platform for telecommuters to stay connected with the business, Yankee's Kerravala said.

For videoconferencing from home, Cisco recommends a PC-based desktop system from its Tandberg acquisition that is designed specifically for business use. That product costs about $300 and carries no special service fee. But Umi provides better quality, includes features such as recorded video messages for contacts, and can work on a TV in a home office, separately from the PC, Kerravala said.

"I think the Umi product is one of the best quality video systems I've ever seen," Kerravala said. The Tandberg-based platform, on the other hand, is designed for use on slower Internet connections, so there could be room for both, he said.

Because Umi is not very widely used, customers have had a fairly closed community of potential contacts to talk with, Kerravala said. This has been a weakness in the consumer arena, where Skype offers millions of other users, but it wouldn't be an issue for business meetings, he said. In addition, a service charge of $10 or $25 per month would be reasonable as a work expense, he said.

Telecommuting is one enterprise application Cisco is studying, but the one the company has highlighted is business-to-consumer connections. Medical centers could use Umi for virtual house calls by physicians, and universities could use it for distance learning, Cisco said. A trial with a health-care provider is already taking place, according to Cisco.