AT&T has been to commercial customers around the globe for a year. 

Now AT&T Government Solutions is offering to agencies on the General Services Administration's Schedule 70 contract. AT&T also plans to add Cisco's high-end video conferencing systems to , a 10-year, US$25 billion telecommunications services program run by GSA. 

The AT&T Government Solutions offering includes Cisco's TelePresence systems bundled with room set-up, monitoring, maintenance and around-the-clock help desk support. The Cisco telepresence systems operate over AT&T's network.

AT&T didn't provide pricing for its telepresence solutions, saying that cost varies based on the number of locations, the length of the contract and the type of equipment used. However, Cisco's TelePresence 3000 package, which includes three display panels, costs $249,000, while the TelePresence 1000 package, which has one display panel, costs $59,000.

Don Herring, senior vice president of AT&T Government Solutions, predicts telepresence systems will take off in the federal market because they reduce travel costs and support intra- and inter-agency collaboration as well as collaboration between the public and private sectors, which is a priority for the Obama Administration.