Polycom
Encyclopedia
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
with approximately 3,200 employees worldwide and an annual revenue of approximately $1.2 billion in 2010. The company manufactures and sells telepresence
Telepresence
Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance of being present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location....
and voice communications solutions.
Company History 1990
Polycom was co-founded in 1990 by Brian L Hinman and Jeffrey Rodman, who were colleagues at PictureTel Corp.PictureTel Corp.
PictureTel Corp was one of the first commercial videoconferencing product companies. It achieved peak revenues of over $400 million in 1996 and 1997 and was eventually acquired by Polycom in October 2001.-History:...
when they decided to form Polycom.
Acquisitions
Polycom's development occurred both organically (by internal means), and by acquisition of other companies.| Acquisition Date | Company | Acquired company business | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1998 | ViaVideo | appliance-based video communications systems | |
| December 1999 | Atlas Communications Engines, Inc | integrated access device and DSL routers | |
| February 2001 | Accord Networks | provider of next-generation rich-media network products | |
| April 2001 | Circa Communications | IP telephony products | |
| October 2001 | PictureTel | PC-based video communications systems | |
| December 2001 | ASPI Digital | installed voice systems | |
| June 2002 | MeetU | web collaboration software | |
| January 2003 | VCAS software from AGT | video scheduling and management software | |
| January 2004 | Voyant Technologies | voice conferencing and collaboration network solutions | |
| August 2005 | DST Media | China-based video networking company | |
| January 2007 | Destiny Conferencing | immersive telepresence | |
| March 2007 | SpectraLink and KIRK telecom | workplace wireless telephony | |
| March 2011 | Accordent Technologies | Rich media streaming and management solutions | |
| October 2011 | ViVu Inc | Video collaboration software |
Note : 1st June 2011 - HP and Polycom, announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Polycom will acquire the assets of HP's Visual Collaboration (HPVC) business, including the Halo Products and Managed Services business of HPVC.
Company Product Trajectory
Polycom's first products to market were audio conferencing speakerphones. Soon after, the company added content sharing, video conferencing, and video network/bridging products to its portfolio.Polycom Telepresence and Video
Polycom entered the video conferencing market in 1998. Polycom introduced the ViewStation product line which included models with embedded multipoint capabilities, content sharing capabilities, and support for the emerging H.323H.323
H.323 is a recommendation from the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector that defines the protocols to provide audio-visual communication sessions on any packet network...
IP network protocol. In 2000, Polycom introduced a personal desktop video conferencing appliance called ViaVideo. The compact device was essentially a webcam with onboard processing capabilities, to offset the compute limitations of most desktop and laptop computers at the time. As computer processing power increased, Polycom transitioned the desktop solution to a software-based client called Polycom PVX.
In February 2001, Polycom acquired Accord Networks , which offered the MGC-100 line. In October 2001, Polycom acquired PictureTel .
In 2006, Polycom introduced its first high definition video conferencing system. Soon after, Polycom announced the Polycom RealPresence Experience (RPX) immersive telepresence solution, a room-within-a-room telepresence environment based on the design by Destiny Conferencing (formerly TeleSuites) which Polycom acquired Destiny Conferencing in January 2007.
In February 2007, Polycom introduced a new bridge platform called RMX 2000 designed to support high definition and telepresence applications. Polycom also expanded its telepresence and HD video product lines in 2007 with the Polycom Telepresence Experience solutions, and new executive desktop solutions, expanded its line of room-based conference rooms.
In 2008, Polycom delivered the Polycom Converged Management Application (CMA) a video network and system management application for provisioning and managing video networks. The CMA includes an application for broadscale desktop video called CMA Desktop. Later that year, Polycom introduced the Distributed Media Application (DMA) 7000, a network-based application that manages and distributes multipoint video calls within an enterprise network environment.
Toward the end of 2008, Polycom also announced its plans to support higher resolution – 1080p
1080p
1080p is the shorthand identification for a set of HDTV high-definition video modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scan, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i display standard....
and 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
at 60 frames per second (same frame rate as TV) – across its visual communication product line (endpoints, telepresence solutions and infrastructure solutions).
During 2010, Polycom introduced a new immersive telepresence solution, the Polycom Open Telepresence Experience (OTX 300) providing collaboration including 1080p, using half the bandwidth of other comparable systems.
Polycom Audio and Voice
The SoundStation was superseded by the SoundStation 2 in 2004 when AT&T discontinued its DSP16A processor on which the SoundStation was based. Due to technological advancements during the nearly 10-year period, the SoundStation 2 exhibited more features and sound transparency, although still limited to 3 kHz audio bandwidth due to its conventional analog POTS
Plain old telephone service
Plain old telephone service is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in many parts of the world....
connection. At this time, it was also supplemented by the SoundStation 2W wireless speakerphone
Speakerphone
A speakerphone is a telephone with a microphone and loudspeaker provided separately from those in the handset. This device allows multiple persons to participate in a conversation...
, which was a DECT system (WDCT in North America), and by the SoundStation VTX1000 wired speakerphone, the first such speakerphone capable of 7 kHz audio operation over conventional POTS telephone lines.
In December 2001, Polycom acquired ASPI networks , a company specializing in installed voice systems. Polycom worked with a large number of audio visual integrators offering its Vortex product. In 2007, Polycom introduced the Vortex successor, the Polycom SoundStructure Series.
In the first quarter of 2001, Polycom introduced its first Voice over IP conference phone, the SoundStation IP 4000. In 2008, the SoundStation IP 6000 and SoundStation IP 7000 models were introduced, both of which offer Polycom’s HD Voice and Acoustic Clarity Technology. In 2003, Polycom introduced its first HD Voice product, the SoundStation VTX 1000 conference phone. Polycom HD Voice is wideband audio (audio bandwidth extension to 7, 14, 20, and 22 kHz) offering more than twice the clarity of narrowband voice (3 kHz). In 2006, Polycom introduced its Communicator, the C100S, which was the industry’s first wideband speakerphone for a PC.
In 1998, Polycom entered the circuit-switched desktop phone business by introducing a line of its SoundPoint phones. In the third quarter of 2001, Polycom entered the IP desktop phone business by launching the SoundPoint IP 500. Because it does not manufacture its own call server, Polycom phones use Session Initiation Protocol
Session Initiation Protocol
The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
(SIP) to connect to more than 25 different call control platforms. Today, Polycom offers a full line of desktop IP phones from the entry level to a color display, full-featured, HD Voice (first introduced to the SoundPoint line in 2006), applications-enabled phone targeted at executives. The company continues to expand its line of desktop and conferencing solutions.
In 2007, Polycom acquired SpectraLink Corp. in Boulder, Colorado. SpectraLink’s product lines consisted of Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
and proprietary wireless telephone systems as well as the KIRK digital enhanced cordless telephony (DECT) product line.
In 2008, Polycom also added applications enablement to its SoundStation and SoundPoint IP phones. The first product to market was the company’s Productivity Suite, which the company currently offers an open API for third-party developers.
In 2009, Polycom introduced two video-enabled products. The VVX 1500 business media phone, which combines a personal video conferencing system with a voice over IP (VoIP) telephone with Polycom HD Voice and an open application programming interface (API) and Web browser for real-time delivery of personalized Web content as well as integration with business applications. It also launched the CX5000 unified conferencing station by licensing the distribution rights for Microsoft Roundtable
Microsoft RoundTable
Microsoft RoundTable was a videoconferencing device with a 360-degree camera that was designed to work with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 or Microsoft Office Live Meeting. RoundTable provided remote meeting participants with panoramic video of everyone sitting around the conference...
.
In 2011, Polycom announced the VVX 500, a VoIP business media phone with a gesture-based touchscreen interface, and the capability to play full-screen HTML5 video embedded in web pages. The VVX 500 has a 320x240 3.5-inch display, making it smaller than the VVX 1500 in screen size, but also in desktop footprint.
Also in 2011, Polycom announced that they had shipped their 4 millionth conference phone.
Technologies
- H.264H.264/MPEG-4 AVCH.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
video codecs - Siren CodecSiren CodecSiren is a family of patented, transform-based, wideband audio codecs developed and licensed by PictureTel Corporation . There are three Siren codecs: Siren 7, Siren 14 and Siren 22....
s - Session Initiation ProtocolSession Initiation ProtocolThe Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
- Native 1080p high-definition cameras and displays
- Native 720p and 1080p high-definition encoding/decoding
- Low-latencyLatency (engineering)Latency is a measure of time delay experienced in a system, the precise definition of which depends on the system and the time being measured. Latencies may have different meaning in different contexts.-Packet-switched networks:...
architecture and low bandwidthBandwidth (computing)In computer networking and computer science, bandwidth, network bandwidth, data bandwidth, or digital bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it .Note that in textbooks on wireless communications, modem data transmission,...
utilization - Wideband advanced audio coding with low delayLatency (audio)Latency refers to a short period of delay between when an audio signal enters and when it emerges from a system...
(AAC-LDAAC-LDThe MPEG-4 Low Delay Audio Coder is audio compression format designed to combine the advantages of perceptual audio coding with the low delay necessary for two-way communication. It is closely derived from the MPEG-2 Advanced Audio Coding format...
) - Multichannel spatial audio with echo cancellationEcho cancellation'The term echo cancellation is used in telephony to describe the process of removing echo from a voice communication in order to improve voice quality on a telephone call...
and interference filters to eliminate feedback from mobile devices - Optimized environmental conditioning to provide the best audio and video and overall user experience
- Interoperation with legacy video conferencing