Polycom Expands Relationships with HP and Microsoft to Deliver Best-of-Breed Unified Communications and Collaboration Solutions

HP, Microsoft support Polycom Open Collaboration Network strategy of offering enhanced collaboration, greater flexibility and investment protection for customers' UC environments

22 Mar 2010 : Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in telepresence, video and voice communication solutions, today announced expanded partnerships with Microsoft and Hewlett Packard (HP) that will deliver open and interoperable collaboration solutions that provide customers greater flexibility and investment protection for their Unified Communications (UC) environment.

The deepened partnerships align with Polycom's Open Collaboration Network strategy, and demonstrate the commitment of Polycom, HP and Microsoft to enabling organisations to choose best-of-breed unified communications solutions, rather than get locked into a single-vendor platform. The strengthening of Polycom's strategic alliances with HP and Microsoft also reinforce that High Definition (HD) voice and video communications solutions are now considered mission-critical business tools in UC environments, and that visual communication is set to go mainstream within two to three years.

HP
Under the expanded agreement, Polycom video and voice solutions for unified communications and stand-alone operation will be sold and delivered through HP as part of the company's Unified Communications and Collaboration Services portfolio. This will enable organisations to leverage HP's global presence for evaluating, designing, implementing and supporting communications systems that deliver a consistent, high-quality experience between all locations to ensure maximum benefits and rapid return on investment. The companies will also deliver interoperability between Polycom's line of standards-based telepresence and video conferencing solutions and HP Halo telepresence.

"Adoption of visual communications is growing rapidly and teaming with HP will increase the global market presence for Polycom's standards-based solutions that combine market-leading performance with flexibility and investment protection," said Bob Hagerty, CEO of Polycom. "We are excited to expand our relationship with HP and to leverage the synergies with other Polycom Open Collaboration Network partners to deliver seamlessly interoperable UC solutions and services to customers."

The agreement furthers existing relationships between both companies and unified communications providers such as Avaya and Microsoft. Specifically, it includes Polycom's integrated voice and video solutions for Avaya and Microsoft UC environments, as well as an expanded portfolio of Polycom VoIP phones for Microsoft Communications Server "14".

"To address the challenges of operating globally, organisations are looking to visual and unified communications solutions to help them be more efficient, productive and competitive," said Mark Golden, vice president, Network Services, HP. "With the addition of Polycom technologies to our portfolio, HP can provide clients around the world with a complete range of open voice and visual communication solutions that simplify business communications while speeding collaboration with clients and key partners."

Microsoft
Under the expanded relationship, Polycom and Microsoft Corp. will jointly develop and deliver an extended portfolio of UC solutions that will enable more effective collaboration for its customers. Polycom is the only company that offers a comprehensive portfolio of integrated solutions spanning voice, video and application integration for Microsoft Office Communications Server R2 and Microsoft Communications Server "14," Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft SharePoint Server, and Microsoft Active Directory.

Polycom is introducing three new CX series phones, network-based IP phones, which include two handsets and the industry's first and only IP conference phone optimised for Microsoft Communicator "14." The new phones are also the first Microsoft-optimised phones to feature Polycom HD Voice™ technology and offer the most robust feature set of any endpoints designed for Communications Server "14."

"Polycom is widely regarded as one of the pioneers in collaboration technologies and is taking a leadership role in articulating the value of integrating into leading UC environments," said Matt Davis, director of Consumer and SMB Telecom Services, IDC. "Microsoft's user interface at the PC level with Polycom's user experience at the device level provide a flexible, scalable and intuitive UC solution that enables customers to leverage the latest technologies."

"Polycom delivers a broad portfolio of exceptional voice and video experiences in a Microsoft environment," said Kirk Gregersen, senior director of Communications Server Marketing at Microsoft. "Our customers are looking for flexible solutions that integrate seamlessly and are highly reliable. Polycom is working to expand its offering of fully integrated end-to-end solutions for Microsoft environments as well as develop next-generation communications that will result in higher productivity and enhanced collaboration for businesses around the globe."

According to industry analyst firm Gartner, total demand for visual communications solutions and services is projected to reach US$8.6B, with a compound annual growth rate of 17.8% between 2008 and 2013.¹

About the Polycom Open Collaboration Network
The Polycom Open Collaboration Network is comprised of leading unified communications and network companies that share a vision around providing open and interoperable collaboration solutions that give customers greater flexibility and investment protection for their UC environment. By working with leading unified communications platform providers, Polycom is able to deliver its productivity-enhancing and cost-saving telepresence, video and voice collaboration products as an integrated part of core unified communications environments, making the technologies easily accessible within the everyday workflow as part of a comprehensive solution that is easy to deploy and manage.

About Polycom
Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM) is the global leader in telepresence, video, and voice solutions and a visionary in communications that empower people to connect and collaborate everywhere. Visit www.polycom.asia for more information.

1 - Gartner, "Video Conference Products and Services Market Forecast, Worldwide 2007 to 2013," Sept. 28, 2009.

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Contacts

• Naomi Jackson
  Polycom, Inc.
  +61 416 541 544
  naomi.jackson@polycom.com