Among the many telepresence robots out there, rounding off an iRobot Ava 500: World's First Self-Navigating Telepresence Robot Is Classic 'Sci-Fi' Bossy! could be smart move for the sole reason that it's autonomous. Once your corporate jungle is mapped out by the robot, the user can always schedule a conference to join via an iRobot iPad app. A few minutes prior to the meeting, the user shall be assigned an available Ava 500 robot, which shall manoeuvre itself to the indicated conference room, all the while avoiding the hurdles challenging it in its path.

The Ava 500 keeps frequenting its charging dock in sessions, so it efficiently operates for a significant amount of time without the need of a manual assistance. The pricing on the Ava 500 is huge @ $69,500, but the cost is pretty much justified with the features it has included - the Cisco EX60 telepresence platform that pairs a camera with a 21.5-inch HD display, which initiates a call when required (this single component alone costs about $9000).

iRobot Ava 500 is available with select Cisco resellers like Yorktel. The partner companies are targeting remote management and call centers with this offering. They're even aiming Ava at supply chain and logistics, data center and manufacturing. Announced in June last year, the robot has already experienced several field trials at companies like Bayer.