Polycom Announces Availability of an Industry First: Polycom® RealPresence® CloudAXIS™ Suite Extends Secure, Enterprise-Grade Video Collaboration to Anyone with a Web Browser
Polycom,
Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in open, standards-based
unified communications and collaboration (UC&C), today announced
availability of Polycom® RealPresence® CloudAXIS™ Suite, extending
secure, reliable and high-quality enterprise-grade video collaboration
to anyone with a browser and Web camera. RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite is
a pure software extension of the Polycom® RealPresence® Platform,
enabling universal access to enterprise-grade video collaboration to
hundreds of millions of people, allowing customers to easily meet
face-to-face with any business (B2B) or consumer (B2C), whether they are
on a PC, mobile device or video room system. In addition, by integrating
Skype, Facebook and Google Talk contacts in the industry’s first global
presence-aware personal directory, the solution combines the
click-to-connect convenience of a Web app with the enterprise-grade,
secure experience required for businesses to scale to hundreds or
thousands of video users.
“Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite makes it easy for businesses to
collaborate face-to-face via video with colleagues, customers, partners,
students, patients and consumers around the world, with the security,
reliability, scalability and quality that is expected from an
enterprise-grade solution,” said Andy Miller, President and CEO,
Polycom. “With the availability of Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite,
we are delivering on our vision and promise to make enterprise-grade
video collaboration ubiquitous and available to anyone, which we believe
will help drive a network effect of video and transform how people and
industries collaborate and work.”
Video SmartStart: Turnkey, All-Inclusive Solutions with Breakthrough
Pricing Provide Installation and Adoption Services for New Customers
Making it simple and affordable for customers to install Polycom
RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite, Polycom today announced Video SmartStart,
new turnkey all-inclusive offerings that provide everything a customer
needs to deploy Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite, including the
Polycom RealPresence Platform, and implementation and adoption services.
Video SmartStart is available in two sizes: Video SmartStart 100 (for up
to 100 video users) and Video SmartStart 500 (for up to 500 video
users). Video SmartStart offerings are available to customers today with
breakthrough pricing, and can be purchased as a single line-item (CAPEX)
or as a 3-year lease (OPEX).
“With more businesses moving toward video collaboration, there’s a
critical need in the video marketplace for technology that easily and
securely connects people inside an organization to people outside the
firewall,” said Richard Costello, Senior Research Analyst, Enterprise
Communications Infrastructure, IDC. “Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS
Suite is the type of innovation that will redefine how businesses around
the world get work done. By letting customers easily deploy, use and
scale videoconferencing technology, Polycom is making it possible for
organizations to connect to anyone so they can improve productivity, as
well as leverage video collaboration for new use cases and applications.”
Initially available to enterprises for private cloud deployments,
Polycom CloudAXIS Suite features include:
-
Enterprise-Grade Security, Reliability and Quality – As a
software extension of the Polycom®
RealPresence® Platform - the industry’s most interoperable,
secure, reliable and scalable software infrastructure for universal
video collaboration - the Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite lets
businesses invite users outside the firewall into their
enterprise-grade video collaboration sessions, which are set up with
the same security layers the host organization has already built into
their RealPresence Platform.
-
Global Presence-Aware Directory – This unique feature available
only from Polycom lets users add their contacts from social
apps including Skype, Google Talk and Facebook, as well as input
business e-mail addresses, into any video collaboration session. Hosts
can click-to-connect from the integrated directory, sending a video
conference link via a calendar invite, instant message through social
or business apps, or an email. Users join the pre-scheduled or
ad hoc meeting simply by clicking on the URL sent by the meeting host.
-
Simple and Intuitive Video Collaboration Experience – Joining
the enterprise-grade video call as an invitee is as simple as clicking
the URL sent by the meeting host, which launches the secure meeting in
the invitee’s browser, and provides an experience that leverages
Polycom’s high quality video and legendary HD audio technology. The
intuitive browser-based user interface makes it easy to participate in
video meetings, and includes features such as group chat, content
sharing, mute/screen view controls, and the ability to record meetings.
-
Investment Protection – Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite
also enables enterprises to leverage their investment in existing
standards-based video systems including room/group, desktop or mobile
video solutions for video collaboration and content-sharing sessions.
Users of Android or iOS-based smartphones and tablets can join
meetings by clicking on the URL sent by the meeting host, which will
launch the Polycom® RealPresence® Mobile app on their device.
Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite is designed to run as a virtual
edition on industry-standard hardware and represents a significant step
forward in delivering video collaboration virtualized from the
datacenter.
A Range of Use Cases for Browser-Based Video Collaboration
Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS brings a new level of usability and
scalability to a number of vertical industries and business functions.
Retailers and financial institutions can now stay visually connected to
their customers to improve service levels and extend service reach.
Manufacturers can collaborate with remote vendors and suppliers to
streamline processes and reduce time-to-market. HR and organizations can
interview candidates face-to-face regardless of location to save time
and make better hiring decisions. Educational institutions can now
connect teachers with students to personalize and enrich the overall
learning experience.
For healthcare organizations such as National Health Service (NHS)
Lothian, which provides healthcare services for the second-largest
residential population in Scotland of approximately 800,000 people,
Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite will let clinicians conduct patient
medical assessments over video. “Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite
will provide healthcare clinicians with an easy-to-use and secure method
of communicating with patients at home using their own devices – such as
a PC or tablet – and software which they are already familiar with,”
said Iain Robertson, Head of IT infrastructure and Operations at NHS
Lothian. “Patients will be able to avoid unnecessary trips to hospital
clinics and have pre-scheduled video meetings, and our clinical staff
will initiate the consultations by sending a URL to the patients. This
‘virtual clinic’ model will change the way we provide care, making it
easier and more efficient for all parties involved, and is building on
the existing video capability of the organization.”
Availability
Availability of Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite to enterprise
customers began March 31. Initially, Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS
Suite is available on computers running Windows OS, with availability on
Mac coming soon. Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS Suite is compatible with
Polycom RealPresence Mobile 2.3 app, which is available today for iOS-
and Android-based tablets and smartphones. Video SmartStart offers are
available in select countries beginning April 19 at a breakthrough price
of 50 percent off MSRP. Solutions availability may vary by
country. For more information, visit www.polycom.com
or call 1-800-POLYCOM.
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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.
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