Polycom

Polycom, Inc.

Type	Public (NASDAQ: PLCM)
Industry	Telecommunication, Telepresence, Videoconferencing, Teleconferencing
Founded	1990
Headquarters	Pleasanton, California
Key people	CEO: / Andrew M. Miller
Products	Teleconference, Telecommunications, Telepresence and Infrastructure equipment
Revenue	$1.2 billion USD (2010)
Net income	$68 million USD (2010)
Employees	3,200
Website	www.polycom.com

Polycom headquarters in Pleasanton

Polycom (NASDAQ: PLCM) is a multinational corporation with approximately 3,200 employees worldwide and an annual revenue of approximately $1.2 billion in 2010. The company manufactures and sells telepresence and voice communications solutions.

History

Company History 1990

Polycom was co-founded in 1990 by Brian L Hinman and Jeffrey Rodman, who were colleagues at PictureTel Corp. 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	[1]
December 1999	Atlas Communications Engines, Inc	integrated access device and DSL routers	[2]
February 2001	Accord Networks	provider of next-generation rich-media network products	[3]
April 2001	Circa Communications	IP telephony products	[4]
October 2001	PictureTel	PC-based video communications systems	[5]
December 2001	ASPI Digital	installed voice systems	[6]
June 2002	MeetU	web collaboration software	[7]
January 2003	VCAS software from AGT	video scheduling and management software
January 2004	Voyant Technologies	voice conferencing and collaboration network solutions	[8]
August 2005	DST Media	China-based video networking company	[9]
January 2007	Destiny Conferencing	immersive telepresence	[10]
March 2007	SpectraLink and KIRK telecom	workplace wireless telephony	[11]
March 2011	Accordent Technologies	Rich media streaming and management solutions	[12]
October 2011	ViVu Inc	Video collaboration software	[13]

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 VSX 7000 unit with dual displays.

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.323 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 ^[14], which offered the MGC-100 line. In October 2001, Polycom acquired PictureTel ^[15].

Polycom Digital Tabletop Microphone with mute button

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 ^[16] 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 and 720p 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

Polycom SoundStation IP 4000 SIP conference phone

The first SoundStation conference phone shipped in 1992. The original SoundStation was followed by versions offering extended performance (SoundStation Premier, Premier Satellite, SoundStation EX). The SoundStation first shipped internationally (to the UK) in 1993, followed by other products and an expanding list of countries.

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 connection. At this time, it was also supplemented by the SoundStation 2W wireless speakerphone, 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 ^[17], 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 (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.^[18] in Boulder, Colorado. SpectraLink’s product lines consisted of Wi-Fi 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.

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. ^[19]

Technologies

• H.264 video codecs
• Siren Codecs
• Session Initiation Protocol
• Native 1080p high-definition cameras and displays
• Native 720p and 1080p high-definition encoding/decoding
• Low-latency architecture and low bandwidth utilization
• Wideband advanced audio coding with low delay (AAC-LD)
• Multichannel spatial audio with echo cancellation 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

References

1. ^ Polycom Announces Agreement to acquire ViaVideo Communications. June 11, 1997
2. ^ Polycom to Acquire Atlas Communication Engines Cambridge Telcom Report, Nov 22, 1999
3. ^ Polycom Purchases Accord Network LTD. December 18th, 2000
4. ^ Polycom Purchases Circa Communication Ltd. April 2001
5. ^ Polycom To Acquire PictureTel Corporation. May 2001
6. ^ Polycom to Acquire ASPI Digital . December 2001
7. ^ Polycom to Purchase MeetU. June 2002
8. ^ Polycom to Acquire Voyant Technologies. November 2003
9. ^ Polycom purchases DST Media. August 25, 2007
10. ^ Polycom purchases Destiny Conferencing. January 8, 2007
11. ^ Polycom purchases SpectraLink and KIRK Telecom. March 26, 2007
12. ^ Polycom acquires Accordent video content management technology. August 25, 2007
13. ^ Polycom Announces Acquisition of ViVu, Inc. October 17, 2011
14. ^ "Polycom Inc. to purchase Accord Networks Ltd. for 13.67 times revenue". Polycom Inc (BNET). 2000-12-18. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3755/is_200012/ai_n8928531/. Retrieved 2010-07-23. 
15. ^ "Polycom to Acquire PictureTel Corporation for Approximately $362 Million In Stock and Cash". Polycom Inc (IVCi). 2001-05-24. http://www.ivci.com/international_videoconferencing_news_press_release_052401.html. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 
16. ^ "Polycom Acquires Destiny Conferencing". Polycom Inc (Asterisk VoIP News). 2007-01-09. http://www.asteriskvoipnews.com/polycom/polycom_acquires_destiny_conferencing.html. Retrieved 2010-07-23. 
17. ^ "Polycom Acquires ASPI Digital, Expanding Its Solutions for Custom-Room Environments; Acquisition Adds Installed Room Voice Conferencing Systems to Polycom's Industry-Leading Line of Communication Solutions.". Polycom Inc (The Free Library). 2001-12-04. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Polycom+Acquires+ASPI+Digital,+Expanding+Its+Solutions+for...-a080595720/. Retrieved 2010-07-24. 
18. ^ "Polycom Acquires SpectraLink". Polycom Inc (IP Communications The World’s Premiere IP Communications Resource). 2007-02-08. http://ipcommunications.tmcnet.com/hot-topics/ip-transition-enterprise/articles/4951-polycom-acquires-spectralink.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-24. 
19. ^ "Polycom Unveils New Multimedia Desktop Phone". TMCnet. 2011-10-19. http://business-solutions.tmcnet.com/articles/231303-business-solutions-polycom-unveils-new-multimedia-desktop-phone.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-25. 

External links

• Polycom Official Website
• Polycom CEO Andrew Miller Interview with Fox Business, July 16, 2010 "Polycom Continues to Gain Market Share in Industry"