Polycom Powers TED2013 Conference With HD Video Collaboration

New Polycom® RealPresence® Group 500 system connects TEDActive audience in Palm Springs to TED main stage in Long Beach, delivering an immersive video collaboration experience to thousands for second straight year

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in open, standards-based unified communications and collaboration (UC&C), today announced that TED, the global nonprofit organization known for "Ideas Worth Spreading," is using Polycom® RealPresence® video collaboration solutions at this week’s annual TED conference (February 25 – March 1) to connect its two principal locations – TED2013 in Long Beach and TEDActive2013 in Palm Springs, Calif. – via immersive HD video. This is the second straight year that TED is using Polycom video collaboration solutions during its premier conference.

“TED collaborates with the world's most groundbreaking brands, and we are pleased to work with Polycom to extend the reach of TED, and to drive more collaboration and dialogue through the use of their video technology”

The Polycom-powered HD video solution will enable TED to deliver a live, full conference simulcast in Palm Springs, as well as interactive conversations between the two conference sites – with TEDActive host Kelly Stoetzel and audience members in Palm Springs interacting ‘face-to-face’ with TED2013 curator and host Chris Anderson on the main stage in Long Beach during TED2013, "The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered.” Polycom secure video collaboration solutions provide high-quality video (up to 1080p60 resolution), crystal clear audio, very low latency and robust reliability, delivering an experience that is as lifelike as being there in person, at a significantly lower price than other solutions.

"TED is at the forefront of sharing the most innovative and thought-provoking ideas around the world, and we are honored to once again help TED enhance the collaboration experience of their annual conference with secure Polycom HD video solutions,” said Andy Miller, president and CEO of Polycom. "The ideas exchanged at TED have the power to change the world, and Polycom has long embraced that spirit through the technologies we deliver. Polycom video collaboration solutions eliminate the barriers of distance, and have helped our customers to save lives with remote stroke diagnoses, educate students in some of the world’s most underserved communities, reduce the cost to deliver needed government services, and get to market faster with new products or life-saving drugs.”

"TED collaborates with the world's most groundbreaking brands, and we are pleased to work with Polycom to extend the reach of TED, and to drive more collaboration and dialogue through the use of their video technology,” said Chris Anderson, curator and host, TED.

To provide thousands of attendees between Long Beach and Palm Springs with a face-to-face experience, TED2013 is using the new Polycom® RealPresence® Group 500 system (part of Group Series), Polycom’s next-generation of HD video collaboration room systems that deliver a completely redesigned user interface (UI), the industry’s best HD video (up to 1080p60 resolution) for live video or content sharing, and crystal-clear HD audio. Polycom video room systems are used in a variety of environments including auditoriums, personal workspaces and corporate meeting rooms. Polycom also offers a full range of standards-based video collaboration solutions for any environment or device, including executive desktops and immersive theaters, and software for laptops, PCs, tablets, smartphones, and web browsers.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California almost 30 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring, along with the TEDActive simulcast. The annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TED Talks are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed, and TEDBooks, short e-books on powerful ideas. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world get help translating their wishes into action; TEDx, which supports individuals or groups in hosting local, self-organized TED-style events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDNews, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED.

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.

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