Polycom Supports Broader Visual Communication, Video-Enabled UC Networks with New Platform

Polycom, a company that specializes in telepresence, video and voice communication solutions, announced enhancements to its video infrastructure to drive broader deployments of visual communication and video-enabled unified communications or “UC” networks.

 

The enhanced platform supports a variety of visual communications and UC networks including telepresence, video conferencing and desktop video collaboration.

 

These enhancements are added to the Polycom (News - Alert) Converged Management Application or “CMA” and the Polycom Distributed Media Application or “DMA,” the company said.

Polycom CMA is a comprehensive management and provisioning platform supporting Polycom and other standards-based telepresence and video conferencing endpoints and infrastructure solutions.

 

DMA is a network-based application for managing and distributing multipoint calls across conference platforms, and provides higher network scalability, reliability and redundancy.

Polycom DMA 2.0 enhancements include intelligent call routing for improved quality of experience and network; expanded fault tolerance for improved reliability; extended interoperability and UC integration; and simultaneous support for both scheduled and ad-hoc conferences, company officials said.

 

CMA 5.0 enhancements include greater video network management control and flexibility; expanded system and conference monitoring; broader management support for Polycom systems; and reporting tools for monitoring usage, measuring ROI and billing, the company said.

 

Polycom has also expanded its integrated solution for Microsoft (News - Alert) Office Communications Server to simplify provisioning and management of Polycom systems in a Microsoft UC environment. This will let users easily launch Polycom video solutions from presence-enabled Microsoft applications, to easily schedule and join video meetings through Microsoft Outlook, and to support large-scale desktop video deployments, company officials said.

 

With these enhancements, Polycom platform offers greater network efficiency, improved reliability and fault tolerance, and allows customers to more effectively provision and manage broad-scale visual communication networks and video-enabled Microsoft unified communication environments.

 

“Visual communication is a mission-critical application for many customers, and Polycom's standards-based solution is the only fully redundant and most network efficient, reliable and scalable platform for broad-scale visual communications as well as video-enabled unified communications networks,” Joe Sigrist, senior vice president and general manager of video solutions at Polycom, said in a statement.

 

Sigrist added that through Polycom Open Collaboration Network or “POCN” partners, the company is delivering integrated unified communications and collaboration solutions that provide customers with open interoperability, flexibility and investment protection, such as the new, expanded solution for Microsoft environments.

 

Polycom CMA release 5.0 and Polycom DMA release 2.0 are scheduled for availability in April.