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Polycom Frees Users From Vendor Lock-In With Support for TIP, Allowing Non-Standards-Based Video Systems to Connect With Polycom Standards-Based Video Systems(Marketwire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) PLEASANTON, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 11/16/11 -- Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), the global leader in standards-based unified communications (UC), announced a new software update to the Polycom® RealPresence™ Platform that allows customers using Polycom and other standards-based video collaboration solutions to join calls with non-standard Cisco TelePresence Systems, and vice-versa. The latest RealPresence Platform software update, released today, also further extends interoperability across Microsoft and IBM UC environments. The Polycom RealPresence Platform is the most comprehensive software infrastructure for universal video collaboration, and this software update builds on Polycom's strategy to enable universal video collaboration across the widest range of business, video, mobile, and social networking applications, and delivers on the promise Polycom made earlier this year to liberate users who for years have been locked into proprietary telepresence solutions. The interoperability with Cisco TelePresence Systems is made possible by Polycom's support for the Telepresence Interoperability Protocol (TIP), which is a communications protocol developed by Cisco and only implemented on Cisco TelePresence System suites. "This is a great win for anyone using video collaboration. Our support for TIP is freeing users of non-standard Cisco telepresence by allowing them to connect to millions of other standards-based video systems that are deployed worldwide," said Sudhakar Ramakrishna, executive vice president and general manager of UC solutions and chief development officer, Polycom. "This solution further establishes Polycom as the leader of open standards and interoperability, and provides investment protection for our customers." A Simpler Enterprise UC Environment"Enterprises need to ensure they use open and interoperable protocols between network building blocks to ensure that they can achieve a high degree of functionality while preserving or migrating their existing investments," said Mark Fabbi, vice president, distinguished analyst, Gartner. "By leveraging multi-vendor networks rather than a single-vendor approach, enterprises can improve network capabilities while significantly reducing costs and simplifying network complexity." TIP integration was initially enabled on Polycom desktop, room-based and immersive-telepresence endpoints for point-to-point calls. The latest Polycom software releases include full native TIP support for video calls, and extended support for H.323 and SIP networks, which allows organizations to access shared UC environments such as IBM® Sametime® and Microsoft® Lync™, even if participants are using legacy systems. Benefits of the software update include: Affordable interoperability. The Polycom software helps reduce costs and complexity by eliminating the need for gateways and licenses. Ease of use. By deploying the Polycom® RMX® universal collaboration server within the platform, organizations can connect non-standard TIP systems to multi-party calls -- simply by dialing into a video conference virtual meeting room. Reliable, enterprise-quality multi-party collaboration. Polycom's virtualization management capabilities (Polycom® DMA™ 7000) efficiently distribute calls across massively scaled networks, while auto failover protections ensure that services remain available even if servers go down. Investment Protection. Organizations can add standards-based Polycom video solutions that work seamlessly with existing equipment.Broadening the Reach of the First Open 'Video Cloud' Polycom's latest software update also benefits the fast-growing community of "video as a service" providers. For enterprises and service providers alike, increased interoperability is a valuable roadblock-remover, as demonstrated by the newly incorporated Open Visual Communications Consortium™ (OVCC™). The OVCC is an independent, expanding group of global video exchange providers, network providers, and equipment providers that was co-conceived by Polycom and leading global service providers to expand open video communications across any network, vendor platform, and device. About Polycom RealPresence PlatformThe Polycom® RealPresence™ Platform, announced on Sept. 14, is the most comprehensive software infrastructure for video collaboration. The platform includes universal video collaboration, video resource management, virtualization management, universal access and security, and video content management. The unique open-standards approach of the Polycom RealPresence Platform ensures integration with hundreds of unified communications and social networking applications, and integrates with core networking and security infrastructure to deliver secure collaboration with any number of people across heterogeneous networks with up to 50 percent less bandwidth consumption than other solutions. The Polycom RealPresence Platform also provides security, reliability, management, and massive scalability to support video as a cloud-based service to enterprises, SMBs, and consumers. The RealPresence Platform already supports up to 25,000 concurrent video sessions and 75,000 device registrations -- five times more than Polycom's closest competitor. AvailabilityFor customers with active service contracts, Polycom is providing TIP interoperability support in software at no cost to customers with Polycom® RealPresence™ Experience (RPX™) Series and Polycom® Open Telepresence Experience™ (OTX™) immersive telepresence systems, and Polycom RMX solutions. TIP is available on Polycom's HDX series for an affordable per license cost. All elements of the Polycom RealPresence Platform are currently available through Polycom's certified channel partners. For more information on the RealPresence Platform, visit www.polycom.com/products/uc_infrastructure/realpresence_platform/index.html or call 1-800 POLYCOM. About PolycomPolycom is the global leader in standards-based unified communications (UC) solutions for telepresence, video, and voice powered by the Polycom RealPresence Platform. The RealPresence Platform interoperates with the broadest range of business, mobile, and social applications and devices. More than 400,000 organizations trust Polycom solutions to collaborate and meet face-to-face from any location for more productive and effective engagement with colleagues, partners, customers, and prospects. Polycom, together with its broad partner ecosystem, provides customers with the best TCO, scalability, and security -- on-premises, hosted, or cloud delivered. Visit www.polycom.com or connect with Polycom on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. NOTE: The product plans, specifications, and descriptions herein are provided for information only and subject to change without notice, and are provided without warranty of any kind, express or implied. The parties reserve the right to modify future product plans at any time. Products and related specifications referenced herein are not guaranteed and will be delivered on a when and if available basis. © 2011 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. POLYCOM®, the Polycom "Triangles" logo and the names and marks associated with Polycom's products are trademarks and/or service marks of Polycom, Inc. and are registered and/or common law marks in the United States and various other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1803042 Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine Press Contact: Shawn Dainas Polycom, Inc. +1 925 924 5676 [email protected] Source: Polycom, Inc. |