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October 14, 2011

Polycom Reflects on Decision to Go Mobile with TMCnet at Interop

Unified communications company Polycom had some pretty brag worthy news to spread this week; it unveiled Polycom RealPresence Mobile, the first enterprise HD video software solution for tablets which is now available on Apple iPad 2, Motorola XOOM and Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1, with more mobile devices to follow.

Since Polycom customers are already accustomed to high-quality, secure, reliable video experience in the office, according to company officials, the Polycom RealPresence Mobile, powered by the Polycom RealPresence Platform, extends Polycom's HD video collaboration technology beyond the office and conference room by delivering it to tablets. Mobile professionals can use their tablet to talk face-to-face with other colleagues joining via desktop and immersive video room systems, tablets, or laptops.

Now, whether in the field, in the car, in an airport or working from home, customers can use their tablet to connect and collaborate visually with their co-workers, partners and suppliers, Polycom explained.

“It’s a very rich extension of all the benefits a IT manager wants,” John Antanaitis, vice president of product marketing for Polycom, told MobilityTechzone about the new release at Interop 2011 last week. “We see this initially as a business tool. A big part of we want to do is extend the benefits of historic enterprise to mobile, to social, and beyond the enterprise. Because it is software-based, and because of the RealPresence platform having great scalability and being completely open, there is no reason this couldn’t be picked up with a service provider as well.”

The RealPresence Mobile software application can currently be downloaded for free from the Apple App Storeand Android Market.

So how specifically can this new application benefit all of the different verticals out there?

In one scenario, a doctor who is seeing a patient and needs to check the last time the patient had a test done can log into the records in real-time on his tablet. Moreover, he can take images of the exam with his device, send to other colleagues, or store patient records all on the spot.

In the same vein, if a person works at a manufacturing facility and is called to the floor to identify a problem, he can take the platform with him, record his information, and report back to others at the company about what he is seeing in real time.

“Our thought process is we have almost all of our customers saying, ‘What are you doing about mobility? We need a mobile solution,’” Antanaitis said. “They want to deploy video collaboration but don’t want a solution that isn’t encrypted, that they can’t manage, and that they can’t provision. They don’t want a foreign solution; they want something that lives and breathes as the rest of their video collaboration solution.”

When asked about how this app is different than other conferencing apps out there, Antanaitis said the main difference is that a lot of those applications are proprietary, not standards-based. This app connects back to standard-based systems. Moreover, content sharing is not offered on most of the other solutions on the market.

“As much as I love to see coworkers, the reason we get together on a day-to-day basis is to forward our work product,” Antanaitis said. “So that content– whether on PowerPoint or diagnostics from the manufacturing floor or patient records – I want to be able to move that forward. From our perspective that is a critical element.”

“It’s about the ability to not just connect to the mobile client but to enrich the mobile client with the power of the platform,” he added. “… It’s about extending the full enterprise solution set for the IT manager and the user.”


Carrie Schmelkin is a Web Editor for MobilityTechzone. Previously, she worked as Assistant Editor at the New Canaan Advertiser, a 102-year-old weekly newspaper, covering news and enhancing the publication's social media initiatives. Carrie holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and a bachelor's degree in English from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jamie Epstein


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