Polycom Debuts Video System Supporting IP Standards

Polycom this week announced a new enterprise-class videoconferencing platform aimed at easing the deployment of multipoint video and unified conferencing via IP networks.

Polycom's push into the IMS market addresses the carrier's fundamental need to increase the stickiness of its customer relationships. By delivering added value in their services, carriers can reduce customer churn and improve retention. Competition will be tough for the $3 billion company, however. Just last week, similar announcements were made by Alcatel-Lucent, a company carrying a $17.9 billion market cap. What's more, while Polycom has been successful in selling endpoints--videoconferencing systems, speaker phones and SIP-based business-class phones--the company hasn't been as successful in delivering a unified communications system into non-videocentric environments. For Polycom, the synergy with IMS is really on the application side of the house. David Greenfield NWC Editor

The Polycom RMX 2000 is targeted at both large enterprises and service provider deployments, supporting videoconference infrastructures that support room-based systems as well extensive desktop rollouts.