Polycom, Inc., continues to roll out new software, endpoints and solutions, making numerous forward-looking product and corporate announcements over the last few months. The company manufactures a wide array of standards-based voice and video communications endpoints, video management software, Web conferencing software, multi-network gateways and multipoint conferencing solutions.
Several top vendors are partnering to integrate Polycom IP
video conferencing solutions within their enterprise portfolios, including
Alcatel,
Avaya,
Cisco,
IBM (News - Alert),
Lucent,
Microsoft and
Nortel. In addition, standards-based Polycom SoundPoint telephones work with IP PBX (
News -
Alert) and soft switch/application servers from a growing list of vendors, including eight new certified members recently added to its VoIP
Interoperability Partner (VIP) Program:
3Com (News - Alert),
Aptela,
CommuniGate,
Fonality,
Inter-Tel,
NEC Philips Unified Solutions,
pbxnsip and
TeleWare.
The certified partners, now 19 members in total, also include
Digium (News - Alert),
Comverse/Netcentrex Converged IP Communications,
Objectworld,
Pingtel,
Whaleback Systems,
BroadSoft (News - Alert),
Sphere,
Sylantro,
ADTRAN,
Interactive Intelligence and
Nortel.
Recently, Polycom announced the acquisition of
SpectraLink Corporation, a market leader in workplace wireless telephony, extending Polycom’s portfolio of VoIP products into the mobility marketplace to meet a growing demand for wireless solutions by Polycom customers. SpectraLink offers WiFi
and proprietary enterprise wireless systems and handsets, as well as DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephony) technology from Danish company
KIRK acquired by SpectraLink in 2005. The acquisition positions Polycom as a provider of both fixed and mobile communications.
Polycom is "future-focused," introducing a number of new solutions in recent months such as the Polycom RMX 2000 real-time media conferencing platform, an on-demand platform that enables ad-hoc, multi-point video conferencing in conference rooms, on desktops and via mobile devices. Polycom sees a transformation in the way businesses use video conferencing, noting a trend away from scheduled video conferences (that require technical personnel for assistance) toward unattended, on-the-fly conferencing, combining both audio and video participants.
Also, new in conferencing is the Polycom RealPresence Experience High Definition (RPX HD), a series of telepresence solutions for an interactive “face-to-face” meeting experience.
High Definition (HD) Voice is Polycom’s revolutionary technology for high-fidelity voice quality and enhanced clarity that incorporates wideband audio, enhanced signal processing, Acoustic Clarity Technology and a specialized system design. The enhanced clarity of Polycom HD Voice is part of the company’s “UltimateHD” strategy which includes HD Voice, HD Video, HD Infrastructure, and HD Global Services. Two new SoundPoint VoIP enterprise-class telephones (SoundPoint IP 650 and SoundPoint IP 550) feature the new technology. These models are joined by two new cost-effective, entry-level models, SoundPoint IP 320 and SoundPoint IP 330, which target common areas, cubicle workers and contact center agents.
The new SoundPoint phones expand the company’s standards-based telephone family to a full range of telephone models for the employee, the attendant or the conference room. Below is a snapshot of the newest SoundPoint phones from Polycom. Visit
www.telecomtactics.com for more details on all Polycom phones (earlier models, still offered, include SoundPoint IP 601, SoundPoint IP 501, SoundPoint IP 430, SoundPoint IP 301 and Sound Station IP 4000 conference phone).
New Polycom SoundPoint VoIP Phones
Visit www.telecomtactics.com for more detail. |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| VENDOR |
Polycom, Inc. |
Polycom, Inc. |
Polycom, Inc. |
Polycom, Inc. |
| MODEL |
SoundPoint IP 320 |
SoundPoint IP 330 |
SoundPoint IP 550 |
SoundPoint IP 650 |
| INTRO YEAR |
2007 |
2007 |
2007 |
2006 |
| TARGET |
Common areas |
Cubicle workers, call centers (2-port Ethernet switch) |
Enterprise users |
Managers, executives, attendants (supports expansion modules) |
| PRICE |
US $139 |
US $179 |
US $369 |
US $449 |
Sandra M. Gustavsen, Senior Analyst/TelecomTactics
Access Intelligence LLC
1111 Marlkress Road, Suite 203
Cherry Hill, NJ 08003
856-424-1100 x11
Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) | X |
| The IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN standard is usually referred to as Wi-Fi-Wireless Fidelity or RLAN-Radio Local Area Network. The 802.11 standard has evolved into a number of sub-standards 802.11a/b/g/n....more |
Internet Protocol (IP) | X |
| IP stands for Internet Protocol, a data-networking protocol developed throughout the 1980s. It is the established standard protocol for transmitting and receiving data
in packets over the Internet. I...more |
Voice over IP (VoIP) | X |
| A real-time communications system that converts voice into digital packets containing media and signaling data that travel over networks using Internet Protocol....more |
Ethernet | X |
| An industry-standard network hardware specification (IEEE 802.3) developed by IEEE that offers dedicated network (and Internet) access. Standard Ethernet is half-duplex transmission system. That is, d...more |
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