Whereas higher-end telepresence products do come with large price tag, some vendors also offer alternatives that deliver a similar, if not identical, face-to-face experience -- far more affordably. You won't get all the bells and whistles of a dedicated telepresence suite, but you may find these types of solutions can put a big dent in your travel budget while boosting productivity.

[ Learn more about the lay of the telepresence landscape. | How do these midrange telepresence systems compare to a managed alternative from Cisco? ]

I had a chance to test two affordable telepresence solutions, the Polycom QDX 6000 and the LifeSize Express 200. They both offer small, power-saving desktop hardware, television-like remote controls for simple operation, plus quality audio and video. For the lower price, Polycom's video is standard definition (wide screen), while LifeSize provides true high-definition pictures. On the flip side, Polycom works over marginal Internet connections and lets you connect more audio and video sources -- the main reason we rated it just slightly higher.

Polycom QDX 6000: Best value and performance at low bandwidthsThe Polycom QDX 6000 does not deliver high-definition video; that's reserved for the company's pricier HDX Series. Nevertheless, the system's wide-screen, DVD-quality (480p) images look great on large monitors.

Four more attributes make this system enticing: It's easy to set up and use; the $3,000 street price puts several units within buying reach; it's based on industry video standards (H.264, H.263, and H.261), so you can connect with partners that might have other vendors' hardware; and Polycom's own Lost Packet Recovery (LPR) algorithm delivers smooth video over slow or congested connections (as low as 256 Kbps).

I successfully tested a QDX 6000 by dialing in to an identical unit at Polycom (a cross-country hop over a relatively slow cable modem). Setup was simple, yet there are enough video and audio inputs and outputs to accommodate media-heavy meetings.

In the most basic scenario, you plug in the supplied wide-view camera and two wideband microphones, attach an Internet cable and power, and add your own wide-screen monitor (I used a Samsung 32-inch 6 Series high-definition LCD television connected using component video cables). With these five connections, the system was operational in less than five minutes.