Polycom Expands Microsoft® Lync™-Enabled Portfolio with New Dedicated Room System for Lync 2013, a Breakthrough Content-Sharing Application and Additional Qualified Solutions

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in open standards-based unified communications and collaboration (UC&C), today announced a new dedicated room system for Microsoft® Lync™ 2013, a multi-way content sharing application, additional interoperable solutions, and customer momentum in support of Microsoft’s inaugural Lync Conference. Polycom’s portfolio of 40 video, voice, and content sharing solutions are interoperable or optimized to work with Microsoft Lync, driving a majority of customers to choose Polycom and Microsoft over other vendors for a complete UC&C solution.

“We chose Polycom primarily for their experience and reputation; secondly, the interoperability with other systems; and thirdly because of the strength of its strategic relationship and commitment to integrate with Microsoft Lync”

Together, Polycom® RealPresence® video and voice solutions and Microsoft Lync unify communications across work environments – on the go, home and work offices, conference rooms, and immersive theaters. With the combination of Lync and RealPresence solutions, employees can launch video collaboration sessions easily and intuitively from within familiar interfaces and normal workflows, from any work environment on- or off-premises. They simply click a name in their Lync contact list to securely collaborate face-to-face via Polycom video at their desktop or in a conference room.

“We have long worked with Microsoft to ensure our solutions are interoperable and we’re excited to do so again with Lync 2013,” said Ted Colton, Global Vice President of Strategic Alliances, Polycom. “Today our mutual customers are benefitting from the ability to eliminate the barrier of geographic distance between employees. The combination of Polycom and Microsoft software gives employees greater flexibility and a seamless UC solution for video, voice, conferencing and collaboration, from anywhere, anytime. And with our new dedicated room system purpose-built for Lync 2013, it’s only going to get better and drive more value for our mutual customers.”

Next-generation dedicated Lync room system

Polycom will launch a new dedicated video conferencing room system combining Microsoft Lync 2013 and Polycom video collaboration technology. The solution will feature high-end Polycom camera and microphone options (for traditional front-of-room cameras and center-of-table 360-degree cameras), touchscreen monitors, and a tabletop touch controller. The new Polycom room system will be purpose-built for Lync 2013 to extend the familiar Lync user experience to the video conference room environment and will include rich presence, contact search and instant messaging as well as powerful video conferencing with rich collaboration capabilities including white boarding, PowerPoint presentations, application sharing and editing, and more. Its tight integration with Microsoft Outlook will help users both in the meeting room as well as remotely start and manage meetings more efficiently, ultimately increasing usage and driving a greater return on investment. The Polycom room system for Microsoft Lync will include several features that specifically take advantage of Lync 2013 such as built-in multi-party video and will leverage the industry’s first open standards-based SVC (Scalable Video Coding) implementation – unveiled by Polycom in Fall 2012.

Enhanced content sharing

Polycom also announced the Polycom® RealPresence® Content Sharing Suite, a software application for the Polycom® RealPresence® Platform software infrastructure. The new software solution allows Lync users to share content back and forth with standards-based video collaboration devices such as room-based video solutions (such as Polycom® HDX® systems) or mobile apps (such as Polycom® RealPresence® Mobile 2.0 app). Lync users have always been able to view content as part of the video stream but the new software from Polycom allows Lync users to view and share documents and presentations in a separate content video stream, allowing for high-definition display of content (up to 720p HD), larger display of participants, and an overall enhanced user experience.

Expanded interoperability options

Polycom offers a broad and rich portfolio of solutions that are interoperable or optimized to work with Microsoft Lync – 40 solutions in total. Anchored by the flagship Polycom® CX family of products, built for custom integration with Lync, Polycom has an expansive portfolio of solutions that have achieved formal qualification for Microsoft Lync 2010 interoperability including:

Polycom® RealPresence® Collaboration Server (RMX® 1500 and 2000), software for multiparty video and voice collaboration that connects the most people at highest quality and lowest cost. The RealPresence Collaboration Server is a key component of the Polycom RealPresence Platform software infrastructure.
Polycom® RealPresence® Room video collaboration systems (Polycom® HDX® 6000, 7000, and 8000) and the Polycom HDX 4500 executive desktop video system.
Polycom® VVX® 500 business media phones that improve productivity by simplifying communication processes and business workflows. The media phones can be video-enabled when used with the Polycom® VVX® Camera.
The Polycom® SoundPoint® IP series desktop phones (SoundPoint 450, 550, 560, and 650).

Additionally, Polycom’s latest HD video collaboration systems for rooms and budgets of all sizes, the Polycom® RealPresence® Group Series (300, 500 and 700), can also connect with Microsoft Lync 2010. The new RealPresence Group Series solutions include a simple and intuitive new user interface, and offer the industry's best HD video and content-sharing (up to 1080p60 resolution), and crystal-clear audio.

Polycom and Microsoft across industries, around the world

Customers around the world, of all size and in all industries, are using Microsoft Lync together with Polycom RealPresence video and voice solutions as their comprehensive UC&C solution to keep their global teams connected, communicating, and collaborating.

Lonza, one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries, uses Polycom and Microsoft solutions to implement a more flexible working environment for its 11,000 staff across 90 sites so employees can work more effectively away from the office and securely join video meetings from home or on the move.
UK-based global technology firm Smiths Group PLC uses Microsoft and Polycom at 400 locations in over 50 countries, creating a virtual link for over 23,000 employees. Smiths is also using Polycom RealPresence Mobile 2.0 app for mobile staff using tablets and smartphones to extend video collaboration beyond the office to virtually anywhere.
LOTOS Group, a major producer and supplier of oil products across Poland and abroad, has equipped its 5,000 employees with a combined Polycom and Microsoft UC&C solution to encourage knowledge sharing company-wide.
University of the West of England, one of the largest universities in the UK with 30,000 student and 3,000 staff spread over four campuses, uses the Polycom and Microsoft interoperable solution to enable distance learning among the faculty of UWE and other institutions and students. For example, when an international college in Asia is running a master's program associated with UWE and a student wants an interview with his or her tutor, they connect over video.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, with 17,000 healthcare staff serving 340,000 people in Northern Ireland, uses Microsoft and Polycom to deliver care closer to where it’s needed, saving time and helping to save lives. The interoperable solutions allow healthcare professionals to make decisions faster and more efficiently.

"We chose Polycom primarily for their experience and reputation; secondly, the interoperability with other systems; and thirdly because of the strength of its strategic relationship and commitment to integrate with Microsoft Lync," said Ernst Hutter, Head of Global IT Infrastructure, Lonza. "The combination of Microsoft Lync and Polycom video collaboration has significantly changed our way of working in the last two years. We have more and more home users and this has allowed the organization to implement a more flexible working environment, so employees can work more effectively away from the office and securely join video meetings from home or on the move."

Continuing commitment to Microsoft alliance

Last month, Polycom announced its intent to acquire Sentri, Inc., a leading provider of advanced services with expertise in Microsoft technologies (including Lync), UC&C, video collaboration, cloud services and networking. Sentri is Gold certified by Microsoft in communications, messaging, portals and collaboration, and desktop technology; Microsoft Premier Support for Lync™ Partners (PSLP) certified; and has two Microsoft Certified Master engineers. Sentri’s deep expertise integrating Microsoft Lync with Polycom solutions is a key element of the acquisition.

Availability

All Lync 2010-interoperable Polycom video and voice solutions and the RealPresence Content Sharing Suite are available today. Polycom intends to deliver the new Lync room system in 2H 2013. For more information about today’s news and the overall Polycom and Microsoft relationship, please visit www.polycom.com/Microsoft. To view a video about Polycom and Microsoft, please click here.

Demonstrations

Polycom will be demonstrating its interoperable solutions in booth #2 as a platinum sponsor of the Microsoft Lync 2013 Conference, February 19-21, 2013, in San Diego, CA. Polycom will showcase solutions including:

An early look at the new Polycom room system for Lync 2013
Polycom RealPresence Content Sharing Suite
Polycom® RealPresence® video and voice solutions for Lync (including the Polycom HDX 4500 and Polycom VVX business media phones)
Vertical applications for Lync (such as the Polycom® HDX® Practitioner Cart solution for healthcare environments)
Polycom® RealPresence® video content management for Lync (including the Polycom® RealPresence® Media Manager solution)

Additionally, Polycom will present two sessions:

“Polycom: Integrating Traditional Video with Microsoft Lync,” Tuesday, February 19, 2-3:15pm, Windsor Complex. Polycom will discuss how customers can leverage existing video assets to extend collaboration beyond the desktop.
“Lync 2013 Video Conferencing & Interoperability,” Thursday, February 21, 9-10:15am, Ballroom. Attendees will learn about advances in video technologies, such as Scalable Video Coding, which Lync 2013 leverages to dramatically improve the conferencing experience.

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.com or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to learn how we’re pushing the greatness of human collaboration forward.

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. Polycom reserves 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.

© 2013 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. POLYCOM®, the Polycom 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.

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding future events, including statements regarding the features and functionality of the new solutions, Polycom’s intent to deliver the new solutions in the second half of 2013, and Polycom’s intent to acquire Sentri, Inc. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the parties satisfying the closing conditions to acquire Sentri; the impact of competition on our product sales and for our customers and partners; the impact of increased competition due to consolidation in our industry or competition from companies that are larger or that have greater resources than we do; our ability to bring our new products and offerings to market in a timely manner due to engineering, manufacturing or other delays; changing market demands; potential fluctuations in results and future growth rates; risks associated with general economic conditions and external market factors; the market acceptance of our products and changing market demands, including demands for differing technologies or product and services offerings; our ability to successfully integrate our acquisitions into our business; possible delays in the development, availability and shipment of new products; increasing costs and differing uses of capital; changes in key personnel that may cause disruption to the business; our inability to achieve the expected results from adjustments being made to our expense profile; the impact of restructuring actions; and the impact of global conflicts and changing laws that may adversely impact our business. Many of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, and in other reports filed by Polycom with the SEC. Polycom disclaims any intent or obligations to update these forward-looking statements.