Polycom expands relationships with HP and Microsoft

href="http://dqchannels.ciol.com/content/reselleralert/109102306.asp">Polycom
has announced that they have
expanded href="http://dqchannels.ciol.com/content/reselleralert/109052003.asp">partnerships
with Microsoft and HP that will deliver open
and interoperable collaboration solutions that provide customers
greater flexibility and investment protection for their Unified
Communications (UC) environment. The deepened partnerships align with
Polycom's Open Collaboration Network strategy, and demonstrate the
commitment of Polycom, HP and Microsoft, enabling organizations to
choose best-of-breed unified communication solutions, rather than get
locked into a single-vendor platform. The strengthening of Polycom's
strategic alliances with HP and Microsoft also reinforce that High
Definition (HD) voice and video communication solutions are now
considered mission-critical business tools in UC environments.

Under the expanded agreement with HP,
Polycom video and voice solutions for unified communications and
stand-alone operation will be sold and delivered through HP as part
of the company's UC and Collaboration Services portfolio. This will
enable organizations to leverage HP's global presence for
evaluating, designing, implementing and supporting communications
systems that deliver a consistent, high-quality experience between
all locations to ensure maximum benefits and rapid return on
investment. The companies will also deliver interoperability between
Polycom's line of standards-based telepresence and video
conferencing solutions and HP Halo telepresence. “Adoption of
visual communications is growing rapidly and teaming with HP will
increase the global market presence for Polycom's standards-based
solutions that combine market-leading performance with flexibility
and investment protection,” said Bob Hagerty, CEO, Polycom. “We
are excited to expand our relationship with HP and to leverage the
synergies with other Polycom Open Collaboration Network partners to
deliver seamlessly interoperable UC solutions and services to
customers,” he added.

Under the expanded relationship,
Polycom and Microsoft will jointly develop and deliver an extended
portfolio of UC solutions that will enable more effective
collaboration for its customers. Polycom is a company that offers a
comprehensive portfolio of integrated solutions spanning voice, video
and application integration for Microsoft Office Communications
Server R2 and Microsoft Communications Server 14, Microsoft Exchange
Server 2007, Microsoft SharePoint Server and Microsoft Active
Directory.

Polycom is introducing three new CX
series phones, network-based IP phones, which includes two handsets
and IP conference phone optimized for Microsoft Communicator 14.
“Polycom is widely regarded as one of the pioneers in collaboration
technologies and is taking a leadership role in articulating the
value of integrating into leading UC environments,” said Matt
Davis, Director-Consumer and SMB Telecom Services, IDC.
“Microsoft's user interface at the PC level with Polycom's user
experience at the device level provide a flexible, scalable and
intuitive UC solution that enables customers to leverage the latest
technologies,” he added.

“Polycom delivers a broad portfolio
of exceptional voice and video experiences in a Microsoft
environment,” said Kirk Gregersen, Senior Director, Communications
Server Marketing at Microsoft. “Our customers are looking for
flexible solutions that integrate seamlessly and are highly reliable.
Polycom is working to expand its offering of fully integrated
end-to-end solutions for Microsoft environments as well as develop
next-generation communications that will result in higher
productivity and enhanced collaboration for businesses around the
globe,” he concluded.