Polycom Delivers the Right Real-Time Video Collaboration Solution for German Law Firm Luther

Employees find the Polycom and IBM Sametime solution the most user-friendly and easiest to integrate for secure, HD face-to-face collaboration from anywhere on any device

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in open standards-based unified communications and collaboration (UC&C), today announced that German Law Firm Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft has implemented Polycom® RealPresence® video solutions, integrated with IBM Sametime®, across 17 locations around the world. The joint IBM and Polycom solution allows each of Luther’s 700 employees to connect and collaborate, securely using high-definition Polycom video from anywhere on any device. In fact, Polycom video collaboration has become Luther’s default choice of communication tool.

“With Polycom leading the innovations and long history in standards-based technologies, we feel confident we have made the right investment.”

“We have given our employees freedom,” said Andreas Gaebisch, CIO at Luther. “Freedom to connect and hold their meetings from anywhere using video, without having to worry about dial format, location, bandwidth, quality or security.”

Luther is a leading German commercial law firm, ranked by Chambers as one of the top law firms in Europe. The company is represented at 11 German economic centers and has international offices in Brussels, Budapest, London, Luxembourg, Shanghai and Singapore. As global business requirements demand hours of meetings and collaboration between offices, partners, and customers, Luther wanted a more effective and productive meeting experience.

Gaebisch says that for three months he and his team searched and tested for the optimum video collaboration solution that would integrate with Luther’s existing network and IBM’s social communications platform. Polycom came out ahead with its solutions that run on the secure and open standards-based video software infrastructure provided by the Polycom® RealPresence® Platform, which integrates seamlessly with IBM Sametime. Employees at Luther were already familiar with IBM Sametime software as a social communications tool, and found Polycom RealPresence video solutions easy to use, efficient, and a great option to business travel. Together, the IBM and Polycom solution enables every employee, simply by clicking on a name in their Sametime contact list, to initiate a secure, face-to-face HD video meeting, or join any meeting room.

“Seeing is believing, and with video you see people’s reactions and misunderstandings are therefore much less frequent than in a simple phone conversation,” Gaebisch explained.

Video collaboration has improved team performance, and Luther is noticing a culture change is taking place. People are choosing to hold meetings using video, including through IBM Sametime and on Polycom HDX room systems, which are powered by the Polycom® RealPresence® Platform – the most comprehensive and interoperable software infrastructure for universal HD video collaboration. Because the Polycom Platform is based on open standards, Luther is able to hold secure video meetings with customers, partners, and other law firms even if they are using other providers’ products. In early October 2012, Polycom announced powerful enhancements to the RealPresence® Platform, including the industry’s first open standards-based SVC (Scalable Video Coding), with 3X HD multipoint video call capacity for greater scalability, dramatically lower TCO, superior performance, and backwards- and forwards-compatibility to protect customer investments.

Luther conducts a wide range of meetings and collaborations over video, including:

• Team communication and visually collaborating and sharing data in real time on cases
• Witness interviews, case work
• Recruitment interviews
• Manager and executive internal and team meetings across multiple locations

“When investing in new technology you want the assurance it will still be a standard in five years,” said Gaebisch. “With Polycom leading the innovations and long history in standards-based technologies, we feel confident we have made the right investment.”

About Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH

Luther is a leading German commercial law firm that offers comprehensive legal and tax services. The full-service law firm is represented at 11 German economic centres and at important investment locations and financial centres in Europe and Asia with international offices in Brussels, Budapest, London, Luxembourg, Shanghai and Singapore. Clients are medium-sized enterprises and large corporations, as well as the public sector. Luther works closely with other commercial law firms in all the prevailing jurisdictions worldwide. On the Continent, Luther is part of a group of independent leading law firms who have worked together for many years on joint cross-border projects. Luther is also the German member of Taxand, a global organisation of tax advisory firms.

Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH is a law firm with a business approach: innovative awareness aspires Luther to provide clients with customised legal advice that addresses individual needs and delivers the greatest possible economic benefit. The lawyers and tax advisors have a solid understanding of interdisciplinary matters and a wealth of experience in collaborating on complex tasks. Further information is available at: www.luther-lawfirm.com

About Polycom

Polycom is the global leader in open standards-based unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) solutions for voice and video collaboration, trusted by more than 415,000 customers around the world. Polycom solutions are powered by the Polycom^® RealPresence^® Platform, comprehensive software infrastructure and rich APIs that interoperate with the broadest set of communication, business, mobile and cloud applications and devices to deliver secure face-to-face video collaboration in any environment. Polycom and its ecosystem of over 7,000 partners provide truly unified communications solutions that deliver the best user experience, highest multi-vendor interoperability, and lowest TCO. Visit www.polycom.co.uk or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to learn how we’re pushing the greatness of human collaboration forward.

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