An American multinational corporation known for developing voice, video, and content collaboration and communication technology, Polycom currently employs around 3,800 employees and is the largest pure-play collaboration provider in the industry. Polycom is also known for licensing H.264 video codecs, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Siren codecs, 1080p Hi-Def displays and cameras, low-latency architecture and bandwidth utilisation, advanced audio coding with low delay, multi-channel spatial audio with echo cancellation and inter-operation through video legacy conferencing.
Polycom has more than two decades of creation and innovation in its history, with over 950 technology patents that help to highlight their aim to unleash the true value of human collaboration. Polycom design and implement impeccable solutions for user experience, helping millions of people across the globe to enhance their productivity, accelerate innovation, save lives, expand education, and offer amazing customer service.
Years of Communication History
Jeffrey Rodman, and Brian L. Hinman – colleagues at PictureTel Corp co-founded Polycom during 1990, with a desire to transform the typical speaker phone into an indispensable and innovative solution for business. Over the years, Polycom have achieved their initial ambitions, and are now one of the most well-known global leaders in voice, video, and content collaboration.
During Polycom’s history, the company has seen a great deal of change and development. In 1992, Polycom introduced the world to it’s first “SoundStation” conference phone, which allowed them to earn $1.4 million in revenue during their first fiscal year. By 1996, Polycom appeared on NASDAQ as PLCM. In 1997, the company introduced the first document conferencing projector with live annotation – the ShowStation, and won “Audio Product of the Year” with the International Tele-Conferencing Association. When 1998 rolled around, Polycom was earning $100 million in annual revenue, and stepping into the video market with the “ViewStation”.
In 2001, Polycom acquired PictureTel, the place where the co-founders first met, and entered the VoIP business through the acquisition of Circa, leading to the launch of the SoundPoint IP 500 using open standard SIP protocol. Soon after, in 2003, the first HD voice product, the “SoundStation VTX 1000” emerged, designed to enhance the clarity of audio communication. 2008 allowed Polycom to unveil the “Real Presence” media application, and converged management application for multi-point enterprise video calls, and by 2010, the company had won “Product of the Year” for the seventh year running. In 2009, Polycom delivered HD video solutions to the healthcare industry, allowing professionals to converse over long distances in real-time to improve patient care. At the same time, CAPspace launched to connect educators using video collaboration or classroom projects.
As new technology evolved and emerged, Polycom expanded its product portfolio and partnerships. In 2011, they announced their acquisition of the HP visual collaboration unit, and entered the video content management space through their acquisition of Accordent Technologies. By 2012, Polycom had announced their journey to the cloud – delivering “Real Presence” cloud for service providers in need of video-as-a-service solutions. During 2014, RealPresence One emerged, as a virtualised solution for conferences and communication in businesses of all shapes and sizes. With RealPresence solutions, businesses working with Polycom can access video conferencing solutions anywhere, with nothing more than a browser and a web camera.
On the 15th of April, 2016, Polycom announced that they expected Mitel Networks to purchase them for $1.96 billion. However, this deal quickly fell through, and instead Polycom decided to take an all-cash offer for acquisition from a New-York based company the “Siris Capital Group”.
Why Companies Choose Polycom
Today’s leading businesses choose Polycom to acquire solutions that allow them to work with a remote and mobile collection of experts across a diverse network. Polycom’s product portfolio allows for the easy and efficient collaboration of professionals through telepresence, voice, and video solutions, so that people can connect from desktops, meeting rooms, and mobile settings.
Polycom are all about delivering exceptional video, audio, and voice solutions for business communication and collaboration. Though the first products in the Polycom portfolio were audio conferencing speakerphones, the company quickly adapted to the evolving needs of their target market, adding content sharing, video network and bridging products, and video conferencing to the mix.
Polycom have achieved a fantastic reputation for customer satisfaction and support thanks to their dedication to their customers. They are known for guiding businesses through the entire process of collaboration system integration, with design solutions, deployment assistance, on-going customer support, managed services, and even training opportunities.
Over the years, Polycom has received countless awards, including:
- IDC Marketscape’s “Leader in Video Conferencing“
- Aragon Research’s “Innovator of the Year for Video“
- Comms Business “Channel product of the year“
- ITSPA “Best VoIP CPE 2016“
- Internet Telephony “Product of the Year“
- Network Innovation Awards “Unified Communication Vendor of the Year“
- Microsoft Unified Communications “Partner of the Year“
Their dedication to versatility, high-quality communication and efficiency has made Polycom the must-have solution for conferencing in businesses across the globe.
