Polycom Touch Control Provides Unprecedented Telepresence Ease of Use

Polycom Touch Control will drive visual communication adoption, accelerate unified communications integration and expand applications

PLEASANTON, Calif. - Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in telepresence, video and voice communication solutions, today announced the Polycom Touch Control™, an innovative interface device for Polycom room telepresence systems that allows users to control all aspects of their experience using a touch-screen that will be instantly familiar to millions of mobile phone and device users. By simplifying how users find colleagues, place calls, share content and access advanced features, the Polycom Touch Control shortens the learning curve for new users and facilitates broader adoption of visual communication which helps organizations drive faster return on investment and greater productivity.

“The Polycom Touch Control addresses a long-standing issue within the conferencing industry --- the inadequacy of the handheld remote control,” said Ira Weinstein, analyst and partner at Wainhouse Research. “For many casual users, video conferencing remotes have too many buttons and offer too many functions. On the other hand, for many super-users and administrators, the remotes are missing key features and capabilities. By leveraging the power of a leading mobile platform and user interface design techniques from the mobile phone industry, Polycom was able to create a flexible, configurable remote suitable for users of every level.”

Dramatically Simpler User Experience – For Casual and Power Users
Providing a user experience similar to industry-leading mobile devices (like smart phones, mp3 players, etc.), the Polycom Touch Control’s seven-inch color screen allows casual and power users to easily navigate key functions from basic dialing and content sharing, to advanced features using finger gestures to touch and slide universally recognizable icons and navigate intuitive arrows and tabs. The graphical interface makes it easy for users to locate contacts and dial video calls using a corporate directory, local address book, or presence-enabled contact list. The Polycom Touch Control also makes it easy for anyone (even visitors without network access) to share content during a video call or to present content using the room’s audio/visual systems during a non-video meeting. Multiple content sharing methods are available with Touch Control to allow users to quickly and easily share content using the integrated USB ports.

Powerful Unified Communications Integration
The flexible Polycom Touch Control will also help accelerate adoption of video-enabled unified communications by making it easy and seamless for users to launch video calls within the leading unified communications applications of Polycom Open Collaboration Network™ partners. For example, leveraging the Polycom Conference for Outlook integration, the Polycom Touch Control can display the Microsoft Outlook meeting calendar for a room or user and allow participants to join a meeting using telepresence by simply tapping the “join now” button on the screen.

“Simplifying the user experience is a key differentiator for Polycom and one that we are leading in a number of ways, from video-enabling applications people use every day like Microsoft Outlook, to delivering a more intuitive interface like the Polycom Touch Control,” said Joe Sigrist, senior vice president and general manager of visual communications at Polycom. “Historically, the remote control was the front line for the user experience. The Polycom Touch Control is a revolutionary interface for telepresence and video conferencing that our beta testers quickly embraced and unanimously love.”

Easy System and Component Management
In addition to simplifying the experience for users, the Polycom Touch Control is an intuitive interface for IT administrators, who can easily access system settings and in future software releases access other Polycom solutions such as the RSS 2000 and 4000 servers and Polycom SoundStructure installed-room audio systems. The Polycom Touch Control devices can also be centrally managed using the Polycom Converged Management Application (CMA).

Additional information is available at www.polycom.com/touchcontrol.

Availability:
The Polycom Touch Control is planned for availability in Q4 2010. Polycom solutions are available through certified Polycom reseller partners.

About Polycom
Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM) is the global leader in telepresence, video, and voice solutions and a visionary in communications that empower people to connect and collaborate everywhere. Visit www.polycom.com for more information and follow us on Twitter @AllAboutPolycom.