New Polycom Videoconference System Comes With Microsoft Lync

Videoconference system vendor Polycom has introduced a new room video telepresence system that comes with the Microsoft Lync unified communications platform built right in. Because the Polycom CX7000 Unified Collaboration System features tight integration with Lync, participants in video meetings will experience the same user interface (UI) they are familiar with when using Lync on their desktop computers, as well as the familiar Polycom UI.

The new videoconference system is being unveiled at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference going on this week in Los Angeles. The integration of Lync provides benefits to users of the system as well as to an enterprise's information technology staff, said Jim Kruger, senior vice president of solution marketing at Polycom.

To the users, holding a meeting is easy because they can schedule one and it automatically shows up in their Microsoft Outlook Calendar. When they enter the meeting room, they'll use a mouse and keyboard, activate the "Click to Join" icon and start their conference. And if they have to call a conference on short notice, they can select participants from an onscreen corporate directory and start the meeting right away.

"Whether you pre-schedule it or do it ad hoc, it's a very simple user interface," said Kruger.

For IT managers, the CX7000 with Lync appears on the IT network as just another desktop computer running Lync, he said: "The actual product acts as though it's just another Lync client on the desktop. So the management of it, the plug-and-play connectivity of it, is just that simple."Because Microsoft Lync is such a widely used platform, other videoconference system vendors have to find some way to integrate it into their offerings, too, and there are a couple of different ways to do it, said Scott Morrison, an analyst with Gartner.

One is to perform transcoding to convert Microsoft coding to videoconferencing industry standards through a multipoint control unit, Morrison said. However, there could be some problems with video quality and latency and that transcoding can be expensive and not easily scalable as enterprises expand their use of videoconferencing. Cisco Systems TelePresence offering does transcoding.

Another approach is to run a separate software client that re-creates the look and feel of the Lync UI, he said. Videoconference technology vendors such as LifeSize, Radvision and Vidyo use this method. The downside is that the client has to be installed on every end point device that will use the system and there could be compatibility problems with Lync software updates.

Running Lync natively on Polycom "allows the enterprise to invest in no more infrastructure than they need to for their Lync deployment," said Morrison. "They are only adding the cost of physical endpoints to the mix."

Gartner forecasts a compound annual growth rate of 15.2 percent in the video endpoint systems market in which Polycom competes, through 2015. Polycom withheld pricing information on the CX7000 until the system is released later this year.

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