Polycom Partners with Skype Announces New Skype Product

Polycom announces a Skype client for Skype. The first joint product from this alliance is the Polycom Communicator(TM), a Skype Certified, co-branded USB speakerphone that leverages Polycom’s renowned Acoustic Clarity Technology(TM) to deliver hands- free, natural, two-way voice communication for Skype voice and video conversations, without echoes or feedback. The Polycom Communicator complements the new Skype for Business offering, providing an affordable and portable personal speakerphone solution that delivers business-quality, high- fidelity wideband voice communications for individuals or small groups. It delivers a best-in-class user experience with outstanding voice quality, integration with Skype software, and portability. In addition to the core speakerphone capabilities, the Polycom Communicator also offers high-quality audio output for playing music, games, etc. from a laptop or desktop PC.

“The partnership between Polycom and Skype is a natural fit,” said Will Stofega, research manager of VoIP services at IDC. “Skype is making inroads into business environments which require business-quality solutions. The Polycom Communicator delivers the full range of wideband voice quality for the Skype application and the experience is excellent. The hands-free design and tight integration makes the Polycom Communicator easy to set up and use.”

“Teaming with Polycom, we can offer Skype business customers high-quality, portable communications solutions, based on proven technology, that can help them extend Skype more broadly into their everyday work environment,” said Henry Gomez, Skype’s general manager for North America.

Polycom Communicator was introduced this morning in conjunction with the NASDAQ market opening by Polycom CEO Robert Hagerty, who was accompanied by Polycom CFO Mike Kourey and SVP of Voice Products Sunil Bhalla. The company is celebrating its tenth anniversary as a publicly traded company and the shipment of the two-millionth SoundStation conference phone — the award- winning, triangular-shaped conference phone line that has become an icon for voice conferencing quality in businesses around the globe.

“Personal and group collaboration is a critical communications need in this world of distributed workgroups. Skype’s unique offering, broad global user base, and growing adoption within business environments is a natural fit for Polycom’s leading communications and collaboration solutions,” said Robert Hagerty, chairman and CEO of Polycom. “We are pleased to launch our first Skype Certified hands-free, wideband USB speakerphone, which leverages our expertise in real-time voice communications and is a logical extension of our award-winning voice communications product line. The Polycom Communicator’s deep integration with Skype provides customers with unrivaled quality and performance in a personal PC speakerphone.”

The Polycom Communicator delivers:

— Exceptional voice quality — The device features high-quality, full-
duplex (two-way), hands-free voice communications; high-fidelity
wideband audio quality capabilities and Polycom’s renowned Acoustic
Clarity Technology that eliminates echoes and feedback. The device
also supports Skype’s full wideband voice capabilities.
— Multi-functional capabilities — In addition to the Skype phone
capabilities, the Polycom USB Communicator can also be used as a
high-fidelity speaker (up to 22 kHz) for other PC applications,
including audio presentations, music, games, etc. It also has a
built-in stereo headset port for private conversations.
— Freedom from a headset — Users can hold high quality Skype calls
without the hassle of a being connected via a headset cable or
having a device against or in their ear.
— Convenient call function buttons — With deep integration to the
Skype application, the Polycom Communicator features convenient
buttons enabling users to easily launch Skype on their computer and
control volume, mute, and pick-up and hang-up calls.
— Portable, compact design — About the size of a PDA, the
speakerphone connects to a computer via an integrated USB cable
which also provides power; no batteries or additional power sources
are required The USB cable conveniently stores within the device.
The small size and carrying case makes the Polycom Communicator easy
to transport between home, office and on the road.

The interview is on PodTech at www.PodTech.net/?p=552

This entry was posted on Monday, May 1st, 2006 at 9:37 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Post to your WordPress.com blog »