Partner Article

Polycom SoundStation® Conference Phone

Polycom SoundStation® Conference Phone Remains a Meeting Room Icon For 25 Years

Recognised for its unparalleled audio quality and distinctive design, over 5 million units have been shipped worldwide to date

LONDON, UK – June 11, 2015: Since Polycom’s inception in 1990, the iconic Polycom SoundStation® has revolutionised voice conferencing and continues to be one of the most recognised in the business world. As Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in video, voice and content collaboration solutions, celebrates its 25th year, so too does the triangular-shaped HD audio solution for which the company is renowned for. The Polycom SoundStation remains a standard feature in small- to mid-size conference rooms globally, whether using analogue lines or Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony.

Polycom co-founders Jeff Rodman and Brian Hinman conceived the design for the SoundStation® conference phone in this San Francisco basement

For over a century, voice communication has been one of the most critical elements of conferencing across borders. With the continuing growth of globalisation and remote work teams, enterprises are demanding more out of their communication tools to ensure that group conversations remain clear, productive, and uninterrupted by background noise. Incorporating patented Polycom technology such as HD Voice™ audio conferencing solutions enable lifelike high-fidelity conversations, delivering twice the clarity of ordinary phone calls.

Polycom’s co-founder and Chief Evangelist, Jeff Rodman, explains that the difference HD Voice brings to an audio conference is that it brings more of the human voice to communications than that traditionally carried over a standard telephone or speakerphone. “For a century, traditional telephones have carried sound in only a very narrow range, from only 3/10 kHz to 3.3 kHz. But the range of the human voice is far beyond this. Speech is important from 1/10 kHz to about 14 kHz, a span of 140 times instead of 11 times. That’s very significant because it is in these wider ranges that you find a lot– more enunciation, making sense of accented speech, separating out background noise, and being able to distinguish between similar words like ‘sailing’ and ‘failing,’ for example. This range is outside of that which a standard telephone can carry and this is why people will often have to huddle around a speakerphone to work out what the person on the other end is saying.”

Considering its technical excellence, the Polycom SoundStation originated from humble beginnings; Polycom co-founders Jeff Rodman and Brian Hinman conceived the design in a San Francisco basement, to begin implementing their vision for effortless human collaboration in video, audio, and content, across great distances with this first step: transparent speech collaboration from anywhere.

Tim Stone, Vice President of Marketing at Polycom Europe, Middle East and Africa, states that the SoundStation’s status in meeting rooms across the world goes far beyond its extraordinary performance and iconic shape. “I have received a lot of positive feedback from customers who refer to Polycom’s SoundStation solution simply as ‘the Polycom’. The SoundStation is a familiar, trusted conferencing tool our customers rely on and feel comfortable operating.”

The iconic Polycom SoundStation® revolutionised voice conferencing and has been one of the most recognised products in the business world for 25 years

In addition to basic HD Voice technology, research, innovation and new advancements in SoundStation capabilities continue to deliver numerous benefits to customers, including:

▪ Panoramic microphone coverage that highlights the voice of the person speaking

▪ Ability to connect the mobile phone and call contacts direct from your phonebook

▪ Immunity to interference from mobile phones and other wireless devices

▪ Shorter, more productive meetings because there are no echoes, dropouts or feedback

▪ Interactive two-way conversation that makes distributed discussions feel natural again

▪ Advanced Voice over IP (VoIP) support, wireless technology, USB-based solutions, and flexible configuration options for any room type or telephony environment (new models)

“Polycom’s legacy has been built upon the reliability and quality of our conference phones, which have set the standard in audio conferencing worldwide,” said Marco Landi, President at Polycom Europe, Middle East and Africa. “While we have grown to become the industry leader in video and content collaboration, voice conferencing is always a core part of our direction and innovation, and is the reason that solutions like Polycom SoundStation remain iconic in modern meeting rooms and workspaces.”

For more on Polycom voice conferencing solutions, please visit: www.polycom.co.uk/voice

Further information

Read the guide to getting the most out of your conference calls. Find out more

Download the infographic What I Love About My Polycom Conference Phone

About Polycom

Polycom helps organisations unleash the power of human collaboration. More than 415,000 companies and institutions worldwide defy distance with secure video, voice and content solutions from Polycom to increase productivity, speed time to market, provide better customer service, expand education and save lives. Polycom and its global partner ecosystem provide flexible collaboration solutions for any environment that deliver the best user experience, the broadest multi-vendor interoperability and unmatched investment protection. Visit http://www.polycom.co.uk or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to learn more.

NOTE: The product plans, specifications, and descriptions herein are provided for information only and subject to change without notice, and are provided without warranty of any kind, express or implied. Polycom reserves the right to modify future product plans at any time. Products and related specifications referenced herein are not guaranteed and will be delivered on a when and if available basis.

© 2015 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. POLYCOM®, the Polycom logo, and the names and marks associated with Polycom’s products are trademarks and/or service marks of Polycom, Inc. and are registered and/or common law marks in the United States and various other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

For further information please contact:

Sarah Lloyd / Lisa Perry / Sonal Bisht

EMEA Communications, Polycom

sarah.lloyd@polycom.com

lisa.perry@polycom.com

sonal.bisht@polycom.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lisa Perry .