Polycom to Quicken Delivery of Solutions to UC Networks

Polycom, a dealer in unified communications solutions, claimed that it is charting out new plans to deliver solutions to the UC market more quickly and also help drive video communications market growth.

The company also aims to innovate via new apps in emerging UC markets, notably mobile, SMB and customer.

Part of the plan is to offer newly developed standards-based H.264 Scalable Video Coding (SVC) technology for current and future solutions and UC initiatives. Also by delivering "universal bridging" capabilities to connect existing and emerging video applications, Polycom (News - Alert) extended its Intelligent Core infrastructure platform which in turn will help customers to protect their telepresence and video conferencing investments as new applications get released.

SVC (Scalable Video Coding) is an extension to the H.264 codec standard that is used by most of today’s video conferencing devices. SVC video technology allows video conferencing devices to send and receive multi-layered video streams composed of a small base layer and optional additional layers that enhance resolution, frame rate and quality.

Polycom said that the video communications market is growing very fast and new applications are being developed and released on a regular basis. In order to attain widespread adoption and deliver value for customers it is imperative for companies to maintain open interoperability and backwards compatibility. The UC Everywhere initiative by Polycom will drive broad video adoption within enterprise UC and emerging UC markets – SMB, mobile and consumer.

Polycom also announced a strategic partnership with software giant Microsoft (News - Alert) to deliver and market integrated UC solutions. The companies intend to work on desktop video communications and it is claimed that the combination of Polycom's H.264 SVC technology and Microsoft's solutions will enhance desktop video collaboration by offering reliable, high-quality experience across various network environments and enabling interoperability with existing standards-based telepresence and video conferencing systems.

"Microsoft and Polycom are committed to support open, interoperable UC solutions," said Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president of Office Business Productivity Marketing Group for Microsoft, in a release. "Video collaboration can help improve customer productivity and lower costs. By integrating H.264 SVC technology within our broader solution offering, Microsoft and Polycom can make it easier for millions of people to leverage video communications within familiar Microsoft applications."